The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #126347 Message #2869236
Posted By: John Minear
22-Mar-10 - 10:07 AM
Thread Name: From SF to Sydney - 1853 Shanties Sung?
Subject: RE: From SF to Sydney - 1853 Shanties Sung?
And here are our references *so far* for "FIRE DOWN BELOW".
{1839} BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY vol 4, New York, Sept. 1839
"The Stoker's Chant" / "Fire Down Below" [riverboat fireman] ----- {1839} BURTON'S GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE
"Fire! Down Below" ----- {1850s} OCEAN LIFE IN THE OLD SAILING SHIP DAYS, John D. Whidden. Whidden's source is his "old friend, Captain George Meacom, of Beverly [Mass.]." Meacom refers to his own recollection of the 1850s, and his testimony seems to be reliable.
"Fire Down Below" ----- {1853} A JOURNEY IN THE SEABOARD SLAVE STATES Frederick Law Olmsted, 1861
"Oahoiohieu" / "The Sailor Fireman" ("Lindy Lowe") [riverboat] ----- {1854} ETHIOPIAN MELODIES, Christy and White, 1854
"Fire Down Below" ----- {1879} WE FOUR, by Laura L Rees