The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #119219   Message #3388450
Posted By: Gibb Sahib
10-Aug-12 - 03:53 PM
Thread Name: Sea Chanteys/Shanties page-Gibb Sahib
Subject: RE: Sea Chanteys/Shanties page-Gibb Sahib
I made it a mission this summer to learn "all" of the chanties in F.P. Harlow's book. That is, all the chanty repertoire that I had not learned previously (e.g. that was not in Hugill's collection). The goal, at this point, was not to render each of Harlow's unique versions. If I had already done a song, say, "Rio Grande"—in whatever version—I did not learn Harlow's specific form. (Although, in the past when Hugill presented many textual variants with just one melody, I did sometimes utilize Harlow's melodies.)

So what I was after here was just catching up on all the repertoire items not previously done. These included anything that Harlow indicated was a chanty. In learning them, however, I discovered that several songs mysteriously labeled as such were probably not chanties. It's not always clear why Harlow claimed they were.

These are the remainder of items not already posted. They may not provide much entertainment value, but I hope they have some reference value for others exploring these lesser-known songs/variants, and they certainly had educational value for me in that I got a better sense of how Harlow cobbled together those last, funny sections of the book.

"Japanese Short Drag"

Darkie Sunday School

Married to a Mermaid

Dixie's Isle

Aboard the Henry Clay

It's Advertised in Boston

The Greenland Whale