The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #128220   Message #3107314
Posted By: Gibb Sahib
05-Mar-11 - 04:51 AM
Thread Name: The Advent and Development of Chanties
Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
1903        Webb, Alfred. "Sailors' Chanties." _The Irish Monthly_ (January 1903): 37-42.

Irishman Webb heard/sang chanties in 1853 when he was about 19 yrs old, when he went to Australia for his health (and tried his hand at gold digging). Here he recalls three unique versions of chanties.
//
Fifty years ago I made two long voyages in old wooden sailing ships of the period, of seven hundred and one thousand tons respectively, innocent of double topsails, wire rigging, or modern appliances. Upon the first I took somewhat to sailor work. Upon the second I served with the starboard watch, working on deck and aloft, and in bad weather having to live in the wet clothes and do with the broken rest incident to sailoring. My experiences then will never be forgotten as long as life lasts. …
The cadences of the "chanties" which were then a necessary accompaniment and incentive to the heavier work of a ship, leading men to heave together as they could not do without them, often come back to me. They are now seldom heard, at least by ordinary passengers. The rattle of the steam-winch, of the "falls," and capstan, are different accompaniments to thoughts of departure, passage, and arrival, to the old tunes. And in the general working of a steamer "Yo, ho!" or "Hay ho!" in the pulling on some of the minor tackle is the most that is likely to be heard.
//

"Nothingness" is back:
//
The words were nothing. They were generally invented for the voyage or on the minute. There could be no completeness. Each verse had to stand for itself, for at any moment, and the sooner the more welcome, an abrupt termination would be put to the performance by the boatswain's shrill whistle, "Belay." My notation is of the roughest (would have been rougher but for some kind assistance), yet I hope sufficiently accurate to enable my readers to judge what the originals may have been. All were sung in solo and chorus—the most proficient chantyman of the watch or crew taking the one, and the rest of the voices at the work the other; the pull on the rope being made at recurring intervals, and a momentary pause taken afterwards.
//

CHEERLY as a halyard chanty:
//
The first I shall give is "Cheerily, men!" generally used when hoisting the topsail yards after reefing.
[w/ score, in 4/4]

Cheerily men!
Oh upreef'd topsail hi ho!
Cheerily men!
High in the sky, hi ho!
Cheerily men!
Oh! rouse him up, her, hi ho!
Cheerily, men!
Oh! he hi ho,
Cheerily, men!

I remember a second verse. How nonsense and often worse stick in the memory while the better is forgotten:—

    Cheerily men! 

Who stole my jacket, hi ho!
    Cheerily men! 

Sold the pawn ticket, hi ho!
    Cheerily men! 

Oh, that was shameful, hi ho!
    Cheerily men! 

Oh ! he hi ho,
Cheerily men!
//

After so many sightings of "Mister Stormalong," the STORMY version is back.
//
The next is one of the best known of these chanties, "Storm along."

[w/ score]

I wish I was old Stormy's son.
Storm along, my hearties.
Gathering nuggets all the day,
Storm along, my hearties,
Away, away, away, away.
O'er the roaring seas, my hearties.
Storm along, my hearty boys.
Storm along, my hearties.

No second verses need be given. It will be seen how admirably these chanties are fitted for improvisation. All the performer here has to do, indefinitely to prolong the song, is to think of places where he and his fellows would like to be, and what they would there like to be doing. They can wish to be " in Liverpool town," "drinking whiskey all the day," or "in Erin's Isle," "with my true love all the day," and so on.
//

BOWLINE
//
The third and last of my own recollection I shall give is "Haul the bowline." Different words could be alternated in the second and third bars. It has not been explained why the "bowline" in this and other sea songs is so honoured. It is a rope of secondary importance in the rigging of a vessel, and hauling upon it generally implied the blowing of a contrary wind.

[w/ score]
Haul the bowline, Katey is my darling,
Haul the bowline, the bowline haul!
//

//
When originally noting down these tunes, I was unaware there was any literature of the subject; but when about to prepare them for the readers of this magazine I thought it best to make inquiries and learned that an article had appeared in Harper's Magazine for July, 1882, and that Boosey & Co., of London had published in a volume Fifty Sailors' Songs and Chanties. The latter, with words and pianoforte accompaniment, is all that could be desired. The notation of the three chanties I have given corresponds in neither of above with mine; but doubtless the renderings were as widely different as the nationalities and experiences of the performers. Fifty Sailors' Songs and Chanties is, to any who have experienced sailor's life, a valuable publication. Although most chanties, under the circumstances as heard sung, gave the impression of depth of feeling and far-awayness I have endeavoured to describe, they are by no means all as original as the three I have noted, and many others in Messrs. Boosey's collection. Some are but variants of well-known tunes. "Highland Laddie" differs little from its Scotch namesake. "Paddy Doyle's Boots" is, if I mistake not, a German folk-tune. "The Girl with the Blue Dress" and "Hoodah Day" are " The Camptown Races." "The Wide Missouri" and "Hanging Johnnie" are, perhaps, a hymn tune—so lovely when sung as an anchor tune that I venture, by the permission of Boosey & Co., to intrude it here.
//
Hmm, so Davis/Tozer's 3rd edition (50 songs) was out by this time?
This is the first I remember seeing Paddy Doyle called a German folk tune.