1830s

Summary:

Quite a significant increase in references to this decade. The brake/pump windlass comes into existence in this decade.

African-American worksongs:
Rowing in North Carolina, Georgia, Guyana, Maryland, Florida (twice), and on the Ohio River. We also see phrases from corn shucking and cotton stowing songs that match rowing ("Jenny Gone Away") and bear similarity to chanties. The riverboat firemen also sing "wild" songs, The stevedores' songs at the capstan in Guyana are "never-ceasing."

More texts of capstan songs in British vessels. They don't seem to have much by way of choruses. "Cheerly" continues to be used for hauling in deepwater vessels, along with the various yo-heave-ho's. A reference from the English Channel from as late as 1840 suggests that this was still basically the "system" in British vessels.

Pointing the way, I think, to the chanties as we would come to know them, a U.S. ship uses a capstan song "Bonny laddie, Highland laddie." Note, however, that while this march-like song is quite consistent with many later chanties, the ship was still using "Cheer'ly" for hauling. It's possible that at this time "halyard chanties" (double-pull form) had not yet come into general use.


"Grog time" and "Off to Georgia" themes continue in the Black songs.
"Sally" is a part of different songs across the board. There is a "ho! Sally, ho!" and "Roun' de corn, Sally!" for rowing. Dana used "Round the corner, Sally" for driving hides in California. There's a "and sing Sally-ho!" for halyards crossing the Atlantic. The latter phrase seems to have been picked up as a model for the Norwegian poet Wergeland's capstan songs. And at the brake windlass in America there is "Oh! Sally Brown."

Two references are particularly illustrative. Weston 1836 shows a ship on a translatlantic voyage at a time when, I would argue, chanties had still yet to hit the scene. It is great because it does note chants for halyards, heaving, braces, and even holystoning. Some kind of singing-out had become a definite need in packet ships, therefore. However, the hauling chants are the already established "Cheer'ly" and "Sally-ho!", and the heaving was the familiar "yo heave ho." What is fascinating is that the observer of these ends up at a minstrel performance in New York, where songs like "Coal Black Rose" (later adapted as a chanty) were performed. One could imagine a scenario whereby, in the 1830s, chanting has become useful on ships and where minstrel songs were about to become a major influence.

The second, more familiar reference is Dana. Writing about the same time, I submit that the scene he describes is quite comparable to Weston. We again get the sense that singing-out had become standard for various tasks, but that the cries are of the older sort, with the rudimentary "heave round hearty" phrases. Also, Dana's comment about how the Italians sang while rowing while his people had not yet learned that technique, is striking. What I think most jumps out of Dana, by way of pointing towards chanties, are the titles "Captain gone ashore!", "Time for us to go!", and "Round the corner, Sally". The first and last might very well be connected to the "Grog Time" and "Round the Corn" songs that had previously been noted only among African-American workers. (**Also, "Tally hi O" should be in there somewhere -- I may have to revise my list to reflect the various Dana editions.)

Also notable in the last regard are the alleged references to Tahitians having picked up the sailor songs of "Round the Corner," "Bottle O," and "Tally," as the first two, again, can be traced to Black rowing songs -- which we might imagine had been adopted by deepwater men.

Sources:

1830s

- "Oh, Jenny gone away" [TOMMY'S GONE?] Virginia/corn-shucking ("The Family Magazine" 1835)

1830

- "Sally was a fine girl, ho! Sally, ho!" Cape Fear River, North Carolina/Blacks rowing (Cecelski 2001)

1831

- "De neger like the bottley oh!" [BOTTLE O] and "Velly well, yankee, velly well oh" Guyana/Blacks rowing (Alexander, 1833)

- their never-ceasing songs, as they walked round the capstan, or when "screwing" or "swamping" sugars in the hold, schooner CLEOPATRA, Georgetown, Guyana/Blacks loading sugar+molasses [fiction?](THE LOG OF MY LEISURE HOURS, 1868)

[1832: Invention of Dobinson's pump windlass]

1832[or earlier]

- "Pull away now, my Nancy, O!" and/with "To the Greenland sea/ Black although she be" East India Company ship/capstan (THE QUID 1832)

1832

- "I'm gwine to leave de ole county (O-ho! O-ho!)/I'm sold off to Georgy! (O-ho! O-ho!)" and "Roun' de corn, Sally!" [ROUND THE CORNER] Maryland/Blacks rowing (Hungerford 1859)

1832-33

- the wild song of the negro fire-men, Ohio River/steamboat firemen (Latrobe 1835)

1833

- "'Tis grog time o' day!" [GROG TIME] rowing on ocean ("Waldie's Select Circulating Library," Dec. 1833)

1833, July

- "Pull away, my hearty boys—pull away so cheerily," ship JOHN DENNISON, Greenock (Scotland) > New York/warping out (hauling – hand over hand?) (Weston 1836)

- "Then pull away strongly, boys, and sing Sally-ho!," ship JOHN DENNISON, Greenock (Scotland) > New York/halyards (Weston 1836)

- The windlass went cheerily round with the assistance of the emigrants, who lent a willing hand. The words "Yo heave "ho!" were sung cheerily by one of the seamen at the bar, ship JOHN DENNISON, Greenock (Scotland) > New York/windlass (capstan?) (Weston 1836)

- The yards were braced round to catch the wind, accompanied by songs of various metres, according to the length of the pull and the number pulling, ship JOHN DENNISON, Greenock (Scotland) > New York/braces (Weston 1836)

- The seamen were put to holystone the deck, and as they rubbed, one of them sung a song, rubbing and keeping time, ship JOHN DENNISON, Greenock (Scotland) > New York/holystoning (Weston 1836)

- "O rose, de coal-black rose!" [COAL BLACK ROSE], New York/minstrel performance (probably T.D. Rice) attended by sailors (Weston 1836)

1834, Feb.

- Their extemporaneous songs at the oar, St. Johns River, FL/Blacks rowing (Brown 1853)

1834, Aug-1836

- "singing out" at the ropes in their hoarse and peculiar strains, brig PILGRIM

- "Heave, to the girls!" and "Nancy oh!" and "Jack Cross-tree," brig PILGRIM/ songs for capstans and falls

- "Heave round hearty!" and "Captain gone ashore!" and "Time for us to go!" and "Round the corner, Sally" [ROUND THE CORNER] and "Hurrah! hurrah! my hearty bullies!" brig PILGRIM, California coast/driving in the hides (pull)

- the loud cry of "Yo heave ho! Heave and pawl! Heave hearty ho!" brig PILGRIM/spoke windlass

- Sailors, when heaving at a windlass, in order that they may heave together, always have one to sing out; which is done in a peculiar, high and long-drawn note, varying with the motion of the windlass

- "Cheerily, men!" [CHEERLY] brig PILGRIM/catting anchor

- lightening their labors in the boats by their songs, Italians rowing (Dana 1840ff)

1835

- A line was sung by a leader, then all joined in a short chorus; then came another solo line, and another short chorus, followed by a longer chorus, Jacksonville, FL/Blacks rowing (Kennard 1845)

- Our sailors at Newcastle, in heaving their anchors, have their "Heave and ho! rum-below!", English author speaking gen. of work-songs throughout the ages (Disraeli 1835)

1835, September

- "Ho! cheerly" [CHEERLY] US ship PEACOCK, the Gulf of Mazeira [coast of Arabia]/ as they marched round the capstan, or hauled in the hawser by hand (Howland 1840)

- "Bonny laddie, Highland laddie" [HIGHLAND] capstan (Howland 1840)

1837, April

- "Oh! Sally Brown" (peculiarly musical, although not refined) [SALLY BROWN] Ship QUEBEC, Portsmouth >New York/pump windlass (Marryat 1837)

1838-39

- "Jenny gone away" [TOMMY'S GONE?] and "Fare you well, and good-by, oh, oh!/oh, oh!" Altamaha River, Georgia/Blacks rowing (Kemble 1864)

1838, June

Brief: 1838, June - The fall was manned, the song rose cheerily on the morning air, whaling ship HUDSON, Brazil/ halyards (Hazen 1854)

1838, December

- "Fire the ringo, fire away!" [MARINGO] Mobile/cotton-screwing (Gosse 1859)

1838-1843

- "Sing, Sally! Oh!" and "Singsallijo!/ Singsallijo! / Hurra! Hurra! for Singsallijo!", composed, published Sjömandsviser (sailor songs) for Norwegian sailors by Henrik Wergeland/mainly for capstan? (Wergeland 1853)

1839, Sept.

- "Fire down below!" [SAILOR FIREMAN] Dramatic scene in a steamboat/Black fireman (BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY 1839)

- "So early in the morning the Sailor loves his bottle oh," [BOTTLE O] and "Round the corner, Sally" [ROUND THE CORNER] and "Tally Ho, you know" [TALLY] & a dozen others, Tahiti/local women singing sailor songs (Reynolds and Philbrick)