The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #126347 Message #2856379
Posted By: Gibb Sahib
04-Mar-10 - 08:26 PM
Thread Name: From SF to Sydney - 1853 Shanties Sung?
Subject: RE: From SF to Sydney - 1853 Shanties Sung?
Abrahams is citing 2 references to show maritime work songs in the West Indies in the 1830s.
The first is from TRANSATLANTOC SKETCHES (1833), in which a river trip in Guiana in 1831 is described. There is a rowing song which is a variation of what is now known as "The Sailor Likes His Bottle O".
The passage seems to also refer to "Bear Away Yankee," which Abrahams himself collected in the Caribbean and which gives the title of his book. Pg. 54.
The other reference is also to a rowing song, "Fine Time o' Day." It appears with musical transcription in WEST INDIA SKETCH BOOK (1835). Pg. 241.