Been a while. Here's another entry for consideration.

TITLE: High O Come Roll Me Over

Print: Hugill; Masefield 1906 ("Roll Him Over"); Shay
Performers: Jim Mageean (1978); The Keelers *1991); The Portsmouth Shantymen; Shanty Crew (1996)

Hugill's notes about it are very brief. He got it from Harding, and most interestingly that Barbadian claimed at the time (1932) that it was still being used in the West Indies for "rolling logs." There is only one "pull" per chorus, and I suspect this is why Hugill also states he thought it would have been good for tacks/sheets -- though Harding and Masefield both ascribed it to halyards. Shay also had a version in one of his collections, but I don't have that to verify (oddly, Hugill mentions that "I have seen another version in print" but does not mention Shay by name). As usual, it would be very nice if any interested person having that text could comment as to how it compares to Hugill's version. Masefield's, by the way, is text-only, and differs very little from Hugill's (the chorus "Aha, come roll him over" as opposed to "high-o, come roll me over"). Masefield also incorporated the song, in an incidental fashion, in one of his short stories from around the same time (in A TARPAULIN MUSTER, 1907).

I'd hazard a guess that Jim Mageean was first to record a version of this, on the 1978 album "The Capstan Bar" . His is at a quick tempo, and formed into a 2/4 (or otherwise duple) meter....whereas the notation in Hugill sets it in 3/4. Melodically, too, it differs quite a bit from what Hugill put down, though I can't imagine Mageean had another source (?). An oral source?...or just a free interpretation of the general contour of Hugill's print version? As usual, any ideas on that would be great to hear. Mageean's interpretation can be heard on this page, HERE, towards the end of the program.

I've not yet heard Portsmouth Shantymen's version, but the Shanty Crew's version is clearly cut from the same cloth as Mageean's/The Keelers'. Interesting thing about theirs: it is not in meter.

The notation of Hugill, if we are to consider that it is one of the very few sources for learning this chantey, is notably irregular in its own rhythm. This is one of those cases where I'd suspect there is something funky that goes on that his basic notation is not able to capture well. Either the song was indeed not in strict meter (think of the breath-like rhythm of slow chanteys like the menhaden ones) or there was some overlapping of soloist and chorus that, when rendered by a singer without chorus, or notated on a single staff, does not come out quite right.

Gibb