1920        Terry, R.R. "Sailor Shanties (I)." _Music and Letters_ 1(1):35-44.

This would be Terry's first published work on shanties, the first of 2 articles which would later become his book collection.

After some generic/stereotypical comments, Terry takes note of the literature on chanties that had grown since their demise in practice.
//
When the sailing ship ruled the waters and the shanty was a
living thing, no one appears to have paid heed to it. To the
landsman of those days—before folk-song hunting had begun—the
haunting beauty of the tunes would appear to have made no appeal.
This may be partly accounted for by the fact that he would never
be likely to hear the sailor sing them ashore, and partly because of
the Rabelaisian character of the words to which they were sung
aboard ship. We had very prim notions of propriety in those
days, and were apt to overlook the beauty of the melodies, and to
speak of shanties in bulk as "low vulgar songs." Be that as it
may, it was not until the early 'eighties—when the shanty was
beginning to die out with the sailing ship—that any attempt was
made to form a collection. W. L. Alden in Harper's Magazine,
and James Runciman—in the St. James' Gazette [1884, I think – LA Smith quoted him] and other papers—wrote articles on the subject, and gave musical quotations.
//

Critique of LA Smith:
//
In 1888 Miss L. A. Smith of Newcastle-on-Tyne published The Music
of the Waters, a thick volume into which was tumbled indiscrimi-
nately and uncritically a collection of all sorts of tunes from all
sorts of countries which had any connection with seas, lakes,
rivers, or their geographical equivalents. Scientific folk-song
collecting was not understood in those days, and consequently all
was fish that came to the authoress's net. Sailor shanties and
landsmen's nautical effusions were jumbled together higgledy-
piggledy, …But this lack of discrimination, pardonable in those days,
was not so serious as the inability to write the tunes down cor-
rectly. So long as they were copied from other song-books they
were not so bad. But when it came to taking them down from the
seamen's singing the results were deplorable. Had the authoress
been able to give us correct versions of the shanties, her collection
would have been a valuable one. One example (of what runs all
through the book) will be sufficient to show how a lack of the rudi-
ments of music renders valueless what would otherwise have been
a document of importance. This is the Tyneside version of "Johnny Boker," one of the best known of all shanties :
[score]

Here follows the version of Miss Smith; she gives no words, and
entitles it "Johnny Polka" :—
[score]

It will be seen that the notes are given correctly, but their respective
time values are all wrong, and the barring which this involves
makes the version a travesty.
//

Continues, comparing his Tyneside work to Smith's.
//
The book contains altogether about thirty-two shanties collected
from sailors in the Tyne seaports. [Actually, probably only 14-18 of them at most were collected by Smith.] Since both Miss Smith and
myself hail from Newcastle, her "hunting ground " for shanties
was also mine, and I am consequently in a position to assess the
importance or unimportance of her work. I may therefore say
that although hardly a single shanty is noted down correctly, I can
see clearly (having myself noted the same tunes, in the same dis-
trict,) what she intended to convey, and furthermore can vouch
for the accuracy of some of the words which were common to north
country sailors, and have not appeared in other collections. As
examples I may mention those of " Rio Grande," " Lowlands,"
" Blow the man down," " Hilo my Ranzo Way," " Santy Anna,"
and " Heave away my Johnny." If I have dealt at some length
with Miss Smith's book it is not because I wish to disparage a well-
intentioned effort, but because I constantly hear The Music of
the Waters quoted as an authoritative book on sailor shanties ;
and since the shanties in it were all collected in the district where
I spent boyhood and youth, I am familiar with all of them, and can
state definitely that they are in no sense authoritative. I should
like however to pay my tribute of respect to Miss Smith's industry,
and to her enterprise in calling attention to tunes that then seemed
in a fair way to disappear.
//

Now, on to critiquing Davis/Tozer:
//
About the same time appeared a collection entitled Sailors'
Songs or Chanties, in which the music was "composed and arranged on traditional sailor airs " by Dr. Ferris Tozer. These two
pieces of information rule the book out of court, since (a) a sailor
song is not a shanty, and (b) to "compose and arrange on traditional
airs" is to destroy the traditional form.
//

On Whall.
//
Other collections have since appeared, but (for reasons into which
I prefer not to enter here) none of them are genuinely authoritative
save Capt. W. B. Whall's -Sea Songs, Ships, and Shanties. Capt.
Whall studied music under Sir John Stainer, consequently we have
the necessary combination (which all the other collections lack) of
seamanship and musicianship.
//

Establishing his authority.
//
Since I follow the profession of a
church organist, it may reasonably be asked "by what authority "
I speak concerning shanties, and shanty collecting. I ought there-
fore to explain that my maternal ancestors have followed the sea
as far back as the family history can be traced. I have "grown
up with" sailor shanties,—sung to me by sailor uncles and grand-
uncles since I was a child. I have in later years collected shanties
from all manner of sailors, but chiefly from Northumbrian sources.
I have collated these later versions with the ones which I learnt at
first hand from sailor relatives as a boy. And lastly, I lived for
some years in the West Indies,—one of the few remaining spots
where the shanty is still alive.
//

Etymology/spelling again.
//
The derivation of the word is unknown. Two have been pro-
posed, but without producing any evidence that could satisfy a
philologist. One of them, (un) chanti has the disadvantage of
suggesting that the word rhymes with "auntie"; and when, in
consequence of this derivation, the word is spelt "chanty," the
ordinary reader is led to pronounce it " tchahnty " which arouses
the irritation and contempt of the sailor, who always, everywhere
makes it alliterate with " shall " and rhyme with " scanty." Its
pronunciation is best represented by "Shanty " as in the Oxford
Dictionary, which assigns 1869 for its introduction into literature.
There is very little to be said for the derivation from shanty, a hut,
but that from (un) chani will not bear serious inspection.
As to the origin of shanty tunes I have a third explanation, but
it cannot be printed. They would appear to have been sung in
British ships as early as the 15th century. But as Capt. Whall
deals with this point in his book, nothing further need be said here.
The varied character of the sailor's tunes indicates a variety of
sources. Mediterranean voyages would account for Italian in-
fluence, as, for example, in the following, which has not been
printed before. Although sung to me by a Northumbrian sailor,
it is redolent of the languor of Venetian lagoons, of moonlight, and
swift stealing gondolas, and the tinkling guitar, with ite unchanging
tonic and dominant harmonies :—

My Johnny. [w/ score]

We're homeward bound today But where is my Johnny;
My own dear Johnny, My own dear Johnny,
Well drink and court and play, But always think of Johnny.
My lively Johnny, Goodbye.

This is clearly a definite song annexed wholesale, and fitted with
English words. Its modern tonality will not attract folk-song
collectors, but my sailorman informed me that it was a favourite
"interchangeable" shanty in his ship.
//
The above "Italian influenced" song was reprinted in Hugill, and I've rendered it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04a09UGm_X8

Begins to present his uniquely collected items, with [BILLY BOY]:
//
Folk-songs learnt ashore in his native fishing village provided
much of the material from which the sailor's shanty was fashioned.
Sometimes there would be no adaptation, and the song (especially
if it had a double refrain) would be sung complete, as in the following
example. It is Northumbrian in origin, and deals with the same
topic as "My boy Billy" collected by Dr. Vaughan-Williams.

Both words and tune are different from Dr. Vaughan-Williams's,
but the idea is the same :—" Billy " has been out courting, and
undergoes cross-questioning concerning the qualifications of his
lady-love as housewife. The theme seems common (with varying
words and tune) to several English counties.

BILLY BOY.

Where hev ye been aal the day, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Where hev ye been aal the day, me Billy Boy?
I've been walkin' aal the day with me charm-in' Nancy Grey,
And me Nancy kittl'd [=tickled] me fancy,
Oh me charmin' Billy Boy.

Solo Is she fit to be yor wife, Billy Boy, Billy Boy ?
Chorus Is she fit to be yor wife, My Billy Boy ?
Solo She's as fit to be me wife As the fork is to the knife,
Chorus And me Nancy kittled, etc.
//

[GOOD MORNING LADIES ALL]
//
Although I had the following from a Northumbrian sailor, I
should hesitate to ascribe the tune to a Northumbrian source with-
out further corroboration. Again the theme—or at least the title—
is a familiar one, but I have not come across the tune (or variants
of it) in any other part of the country. It was used as a halliard
shanty :—

GOOD MORNING, LADIES ALL.

Now a long good-bye to you my dear.
With a heave Oh haul!
And a last farewell and a long farewell.
And good morning ladies all.
//

Another item that Terry remembers from youth in a fishing village. However, its use as a chanty is dubious.
//
The following beautiful tune I used to hear when a child in the
fishing villages of Cresswell and Hauxley. I have the authority of
Mr. James Runciman for its being used as a capstan shanty. I
cannot remember the words, but Mr. Runciman printed two verses
in his book The Romance, of the Coast. I can now find no one
in the district who remembers the song, and my efforts to recapture
the words (by enquiries in Newcastle newspapers) have so far
proved fruitless. Sir Walter Runciman—who knows practically
all the shanties which had a vogue in Blyth ships—tells me that he
nevef heard this particular tune so used. He thinks it must have
been " made into a shanty " only aboard the ship in which Mr.
James Runciman heard it. I give the chorus, as my memory is
not to be trusted for the rest of the words :—

Hev ye seen owt o' maa bonny lad.
And are ye sure he's weel—Oh?
He's gyen ower land, Wiv his stick in his hand.
He's gyen te moor the keel—Oh.
//

A long explanation why he thinks some chanties were localized in his native area. Basically, well-trained sailors tended to stay with the same ship.
//
In my boyhood the Northumbrian coast was specially rich in
folk-songs known to the inhabitants of every fishing village. A
considerable proportion of these were bilinear in form, with a lilt
or refrain after each line. The presence of this double chorus
made such folk-songs specially suitable for shanties. Up to now
I do not think it has ever been satisfactorily explained in print why
shanties' of this type were so strictly localised. The facts would
seem to be these. At Blyth and Amble, for example, there was a
flourishing Seaman's Union. Its objects were not so pronounced
as the Seamen's Unions of to-day. It was to some extent a benefit
club, and only on matters of grave importance did it approach
shipowners in its corporate capacity. The duty on which it most
prided itself, and which it carried out with the utmost rigour was
the examination of apprentices when they bad completed their
indentures. Every apprentice when " out of his time " aspired to
a position as Able Seaman either aboard' the vessel in which he had
served his apprenticeship, or some other ship belonging to the
same port. But sailors in those days were very jealous of their
prestige and their privileges. In their pride of seamanship they
resented the presence of a lubber aboard their ship. Consequently
before they would consent to sail with any time-expired apprentice,
the latter was obliged to appear before a small board or committee
of the sailors of the union, and undergo a very searching exami-
nation on all points of practical seamanship. If he passed this
severe test he was at liberty to sail in any ship, and was received
by any crew as a comrade and an equal. If he failed, he could
only ship aboard a vessel as " Half Marrow," receiving only half
an ordinary AB's pay. In such contempt was the Half Marrow
held, that many ships' crews would not sail with one, and I have
even known engagements (contracted during apprenticeship) broken
off because a girl's pride would not allow her to marry a sailor
whom she regarded as a discredit to his profession. I have also
known cases where a Half Marrow, scorned by every ship in his
native seaport, was obliged to migrate to the Tyne or even to
Bristol, in order to obtain employment aboard a type of ship which
carried a miscellaneous crew, and where the corporate pride of
seamanship was not so pronounced. In those days sailors became
so attached to their ship that they were content to spend their
whole lives in her, and almost broke their hearts if circumstances
obliged them to make a change. It will thus be seen that any
local folk-song which obtained a footing aboard the ships of any
one port would not be likely, owing to the more or less fixed
personnel of the crews, to travel farther afield.
//

I am surprised how much his [ROLL THE COTTON DOWN] resembles Bullen's, and that after just referring to Bullen's ideas. It is very similar, and yet seems to be subtley changed at liberty! (And what's the deal with not mentioning Bullen by name?
//
Another source of shanties was undoubtedly negroid. The
following well-known shanty is a type with which sailors would
necessarily become familiar at cotton seaports :—

ROLL THE COTTON DOWN.

I'm bound to Alabama
Oh roll the cotton down,
I'm bound to Alabama
Oh roll the cotton down.

I have seen it stated in the preface to a recent collection of
shanties that those of negro origin are characterized by what we
should now call ragtime. This is far from being the case. If there
is one thing more than another which distinguishes negro music,
it is its direct and insistent rhythm. Everything the negro does
is rhythmic… Ragtime is a product of the stage nigger,
not of the real negro. I never found any negro use syncopation.
The popular impression that he does so is no doubt due to careless
observation of the way in which he beats time to any given tune,
viz :—by a tap of the foot followed by a clap of the hands. The
foot-tap always comes on the strong beat, and the hand-clap on
the weak one. Since the bare foot makes no sound, the casual
observer does not notice its action, but he does both see and hear
the hand-clap (off the beat) and thinks he is listening to syncopation.
A moment's reflection will show that ragtime or any other form of
syncopated music is just the thing which could not be used for a
shanty where the pull on the rope must necessarily occur on the strong beat of the music.
//
I can agree that the "business" parts of a chanty are not to be syncopated, but to say that Black music contains no syncopation…???!

"American influence." [SHENANDOAH]
//
American influence both as regards music and phraseology is
traceable throughout the history of the shanty. One quotation
of a beautiful tune—known to every sailor—will suffice :—

SHENANDOAH.

Oh, Shenandore, I long to hear you
Away you rolling river;
Oh, Shenandore, I long to hear you,
Away I'm bound to go 'cross the wide Missouri.
//

Mention of borrowing from longshore material, eg [A-ROVING], [JOHN BROWN'S BODY], [SACRAMENTO].
//
Another source about which there is a certain amount of mis-
apprehension is to be found in popular airs which were annexed in
their entirety. " A-roving," " John Brown's Body," and others
were used in this way. "Camptown Races" became "The Banks
of Sacramento " and so on. As an old sailor once said to me " You
can make anything into a shanty."
//

Then makes an argument for a different origin of [PADDY ON THE RAILWAY], saying it was developed from or originally was a shanty. I believe his facts are not straight!
//
Bullen included in his collection the equally well-known " Poor Paddy works on the Railway," and his expressed dislike for it was doubtless due to the commonly accepted opinion that it was not a genuine shanty, but
had been imported wholesale from "The Christy Minstrels" who
flourished in the 'fifties. But I think it is not sufficiently under-
stood that just as sailors borrowed and adapted tunes from any
and every source, so did the Christy Minstrels. Without wishing
to be dogmatic, I have the following reason for thinking that "The
Christies " annexed " Poor Paddy " from the sailor, and not vice
versa. Mr. James Runciman (who died in 1891 [born 1852!]) gave me a shanty which he had learnt from a great-uncle of his, the melody of which
is nothing more or less than that of " Poor Paddy." I place the
two side by side for purposes of comparison :—

THE SHAVER.

When I was a little tiny boy, I went to sea in Stormy's employ.
I sail'd away across the sea, When I was just a Shaver, a Shaver.
It's I was weary of the sea, when I was just a Shaver.

Solo Oh they whacked me up, and they whacked me down.
The Mate he cracked me on the crown.
They whacked me round, and round, and round.
Chorus When I was just a Shaver. It's I was weary, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEIfuL_dIOY

POOR PADDY WORKS ON THE RAILWAY.

In eighteen hundred and forty one, My cordaroy breeches I put on,
My cordaroy breeches I put on, To work upon the railway, the railway. I'm weary of the railway, Oh poor Paddy works on the railway.

So here at any rate we have an instance of a tune, universally
attributed to the Christy Minstrels, but which (whatever its original
source) was actually sung at sea before the Christy Minstrels came
into existence. [OK, but they came into existence in 1843.] (A " Shaver "—by the way—is the north country equivalent of the Cockney term " Little Nipper.")
//