1860s

Summary: The American Civil War is on, and the shanties that we know are finally starting to pop up everywhere. Is it because so many chanties were being created/adapted then? Or, were they perhaps being reconstituted in some way that made them more "notable"? Or, is the preponderance of chanties just an illusion having to do with the legacy of written works and those who wrote them? Previously, I had the notion that most of the chanties were done being created by the Civil War. However, the queer lack of references to much repertoire in the 1850s does not support that.

If I'm not mistaken, all the vessels referred to here were America, though that may not necessarily mean anything, what with transatlantic runs and mixed nationality crews.

Here's a rough idea of what new was added to the repertoire for the 1860s -- and this list only includes reasonably contemporary references:

SHENANDOAH
RIO GRANDE
SACRAMENTO
SANTIANA
GOODBYE FARE YOU WELL
HEAVE AWAY MY JOHNNIES
TOMMY'S GONE
REUBEN RANZO
WHISKEY JOHNNY
BLOW BOYS BLOW
BLOW THE MAN DOWN
BONEY
HAUL AWAY JOE
PADDY ON THE RAILWAY
OUTWARD AND HOMEWARD BOUND
BUNCH OF ROSES
BOWLINE
JOHNNY BOWKER
GOOD MORNING LADIES
Nancy Bell
Sally in the Alley"
True blue, I and Sue/And England's blue for ever"
LOWLANDS AWAY
Oceanida"
BLACKBALL LINE
SLAPANDER
HANDY MY BOYS
Land ho, boys, Land ho"
HILO BOYS
JOHN CROW

Sources:

ca.1861-1880s

- "Shenandoah" [SHENANDOAH] and "Sally Brown" [SALLY BROWN] and "Rio Grande" [RIO GRANDE] and "Dixie's Isle" [OH SUSANNA?] and "Blow for California" [SACRAMENTO] and Santa Ana [SANTIANA] and "Mister "Stormalong"" [MR. STORMALONG] and "Maid of Amsterdam" [A-ROVING] and "Homeward Bound" [GOODBYE FARE YOU WELL] and "Heave Away, Lads" [HEAVE AWAY MY JOHNNIES] and "The Dreadnought" [DREADNOUGHT] and "Ten Thousand Miles Away" [TEN THOUSAND MILES], gen. discussion, remembered by ex-sailor from U.S./windlass (Coast Seamen's 1909)

- "Tom is Gone to Ilo" [TOMMY'S GONE] and "'Ranzo, Boys, 'Ranzo" [REUBEN RANZO] and "Whiskey, Johnny" [WHISKEY JOHNNY] and "Blow, Boys, Blow" [BLOW BOYS BLOW] and "Blow the Men Down" [BLOW THE MAN DOWN" and "John Francois" [BONEY], gen. discussion, remembered by ex-sailor from U.S./topsail halyards (Coast Seamen's 1909)

- "Johnny Bowker" [JOHNNY BOWKER] and "Haul on the Bowline" [BOWLINE] and "Haul Away, Joe" [HAUL AWAY JOE], gen. discussion, remembered by ex-sailor from U.S./sheet shanties (Coast Seamen's 1909)

- [PADDY DOYLE], gen. discussion, remembered by ex-sailor from U.S./bunt shanty (Coast Seamen's 1909)

- "Miss Rosa Lee" and "Somebody Told Me So" and "Yankee John, Storm Along" [YANKEE JOHN STORMALONG], gen. discussion, remembered by ex-sailor from U.S./timber stowing ascribed to Blacks in South (Coast Seamen's 1909)

1861, April

- "On the plains of Mexico" [SANTIANA] Battle of Fort Sumter, Charleston/hauling up guns onto fort w/ capstan (THE UNITED SERVICE, May 1884)

1862

- "Sally Brown, the bright mulatter" [SALLY BROWN] Ship SPLENDID New York > China/windlass (Sauzade 1863)

- "Hurrah Santa Anna!/All on the plains of Mexico" [SANTIANA] Ship SUSAN HINKS, Boston > Calcutta/capstan (FIFTY-THREE YEARS, 1904)

- "O, dey call me Hangman Johnny!" [HANGING JOHNNY] South Carolina/Freed slaves in Union Army coming in from picket duty (Higginson 1867).

1865

- "I'm Gwine to Alabamy, Ohh..../Ahh..." Slaves' songs collection Mississippi steamboat song (Allen 1867)

- "Shock along John, shock along" Slaves' songs collection, Maryland/corn-shucking (Allen1867)

- "Ho, round the corn, Sally" [ROUND THE CORNER] slaves' songs collection/corn-shucking (Allen 1867)

- "Heave away, heave away!/ Heave away, Yellow gal, I want to go!" [HEAVE AWAY MY JOHNNIES], Savannah/firemen's song (Allen 1867)

c.1865-66

- "Paddy on the Railway" [PADDY ON THE RAILWAY] and "We 're Homeward Bound" [OUTWARD AND HOMEWARD BOUND?] Schooner (?) NASON, out of Provincetown/windlass (Clark 1867)

- A chanty gang was engaged to hoist out the cargo, Zanzibar/stevedores (Clark 1867)

c.1866

- when the sugar began to roll in, the crew found I was at the head of the rope, and a "chanty man." We rolled the sugar upon the stages, over the bows, and at every hogshead I gave them a different song, American schooner, St. Jago, Cuba/ working cargo (Clark 1867)

c.1865-1869

- "Come down you bunch o' roses, come down" [BUNCH OF ROSES] and "Sally Brown's a bright Mulatto"[SALLY BROWN] Ship (all Black crew) DUBLIN Boston > Genoa/ topsail halyards (Adams 1879)

- "Walk along my Sally Brown," [WALKALONG SALLY] and "Hoist her up from down below" Ship (all Black crew) DUBLIN Boston > Genoa/ working cargo (Adams 1879)

- "Haul the bowline, the bowline haul" [BOWLINE] and "Way, haul away; O, haul away, Joe" [HAUL AWAY JOE] and "Do, my Johnny Boker, do."[JOHNNY BOWKER] Barque ROCKET/ tacks and sheets (Adams 1879)

- "Ranzo, boys, Ranzo" [REUBEN RANZO] and "Shantyman and Sally Brown" [SALLY BROWN] and "Blow, boys, blow!/Blow, my bully boys, blow!" [BLOW BOYS BLOW] and "Away, hey way!/John Francois" [BONEY] and "Hurrah, you high low/My Tommy's gone a high low" [TOMMY'S GONE] and "Hurrah, you rolling river/Ah hah, I'm bound away o'er the wild Missouri" [SHENANDOAH] and "Whiskey Johnny/ Whiskey for my Johnny" [WHISKEY JOHNNY] and "Way, hey, knock a man down/ This is the time to knock a man down" [BLOW THE MAN DOWN] Barque ROCKET/ halyards (Adams 1879)

- "And away you Rio! Oh, you Rio!/ I'm bound away this very day, I'm bound for the Rio Grande" [RIO GRANDE] and "Oh, poor Paddy come work on the railway" [PADDY ON THE RAILWAY] Barque ROCKET/ capstan or windlass (Adams 1879)

- continuous running solo of " way-hey he, ho, ya,"…accompanying the hand-over-hand hoisting of jibs and staysails, and for short "swigs" at the halyards…"hey lee, ho lip, or yu" and the more measured "singing out," for the long and regular pulls at the braces, Barque ROCKET/sing-outs (Adams 1879)

1867

- "Dere ain't but one more river to cross", Af-Amer gospel-cum-boat song (Higginson 1867)

1867, July

- "Away, away, blow a man down" [BLOW THE MAN DOWN], Steamer CALEDONIA, NY > Glasgow/ halyards (Daily Courier 1867)

1868

- "What boat is that my darling honey?, Oh, oh ho, ho ay yah yah-ah!/Ah a... yah a...ah!"
Steamboats /Black firemen (McBRIDE'S 1868)

1868, April

- "Away, you rollin' river!/Ah ha! I'm bound away/On the wild Atlantic!" [SHENANDOAH] Atlantic, capstan (Riverside Magazine 1868)

- "Heave away, my Johnny, heave away!/An' away, my Johnny boy, we're all bound to go!" [HEAVE AWAY MY JOHNNIES] Atlantic/ ?? (Riverside Magazine 1868)

1868, Aug.

- "cheerily men" [CHEERLY]
journal article/braces (ONCE A WEEK 1868)

- "Good-bye, fare you well/ Hurrah, brave boys, we're outward bound" [GOODBYE FARE YOU WELL] and "There's plenty of gold in the land, I'm told/ On the banks of Sacramento" [SACRAMENTO] and "Then fare you well, my pretty young girls/ We're bound for the Rio Grande" [RIO GRANDE] and "Valparaiso, Round the Horn" [PADDY LAY BACK] and "Hurrah, Santa Anna/ All on the plains of Mexico" [SANTIANA] and "Good morning ladies all" [GOOD MORNING LADIES] and "Nancy Bell" [HURRAH SING FARE YOU WELL?] and "Sally in the Alley" and "True blue, I and Sue/And England's blue for ever" and "Lowlands" [LOWLANDS AWAY] and "Oceanida" and "Johnny's gone" [TOMMY'S GONE?] and "The Black-ball Line" [BLACKBALL LINE] and "Slapandergosheka" [SLAPANDER] journal article/capstan (ONCE A WEEK 1868)

- there is the hand over hand song, in very quick time, journal article/ hand over hand (ONCE A WEEK 1868)

- "So handy, my girls, so handy/So handy, my girls, so handy" [HANDY MY BOYS] journal article/halyards (ONCE A WEEK 1868)

- "Haul the bowline, the bowline haul" [BOWLINE] and "Land ho, boys, Land ho" and "Haul away, my Josey" [HAUL AWAY JOE] and "Oh, Boney was a warrior, away a yah/John Francivaux" [BONEY] journal article/ single pull hauling (ONCE A WEEK 1868)

1869

- "Hoojun, John a hoojun" [HOOKER JOHN] Brig WILLIAM, Portland, Maine, possible fiction/ hoisting molasses (Kellogg 1869)

- "O, stow me long/ Stow me long, stow me" [STORMY] Fictional American vessel/ windlass (Kellogg 1869)

- "Hand ober hand, O/ Scratch him/Hand ober hand, O" Fictional American vessel/ hand over hand (Kellogg 1869)

- "Ho-o, ho, ho, ho/ Fire down below" [SAILOR FIREMAN] Fictional American vessel/ walk-away (Kellogg 1869)

- "Bonny laddie, Highland laddie/ My bonny Highland laddie" [HIGHLAND] Fictional American vessel/no context (Kellogg 1869)

- "Hilo, boys, a hilo" [HILO BOYS] Fictional American vessel/ topgallant halyards (Kellogg 1869)

- "Heave and she goes, stamp and she goes/O, my poor sailor-boy, heave and she goes" Fictional American vessel/ capstan (Kellogg 1869)

- ''John, John Crow is a dandy, O" [JOHN CROW] Fictional American vessel/ studding-sail halyards (Kellogg 1869)

1869 Oct. – 1870

Don't tally: Repeat of RC Adams, though earlier pub. date.[[- "I wish I was in Mobile Bay" and " I'm bound for the Rio Grande," [RIO GRANDE] ship GOLDEN FLEECE, Boston > Frisco, Hong Kong, Manila/pumping (Nehemiah Adams 1871).

- "Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!"[REUBEN RANZO], ship GOLDEN FLEECE, Boston > Frisco, Hong Kong, Manila/topsail halyards (Nehemiah Adams 1871).

- "'Way! haul away! haul away! Joe!" [HAUL AWAY JOE] and "Haul the bowline, the bowline haul!" [BOWLINE], ship GOLDEN FLEECE, Boston > Frisco, Hong Kong, Manila/tacks+sheets (Nehemiah Adams 1871). ]]