The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #172056 Message #4163491
Posted By: Gibb Sahib
25-Jan-23 - 01:38 AM
Thread Name: Reuben Ranzo
Subject: RE: Reuben Ranzo
And the "ahs" might be the remnant of an earlier "Lorenzo" - or not.
Same here—sorry to jump the chronological gun, but it's worth grouping this with the above in that respect; see second version, below.
Briggs, L. Vernon. _Around Cape Horn to Honolulu on the Bark “Amy Turner” 1880_. Boston: Charles E. Lauriat Co., 1926.
The bark left Boston in July 1880 and arrived Honolulu later that year. Here's a photo of Lloyd Vernon Briggs (1863-1941). I no longer have the book in my hands (I'm going from my notes here), but I believe Briggs was a passenger on his way to med school in Hawai'i...
[begin excerpt] During the four weeks that we were off Cape Horn we heard the shanties every time the men were able to get on deck and pull at a rope. Such songs as “The Ship Neptune”, “Here Comes Old Wabbleton a-Walking the Deck”, “Wey, Hey, Knock a Man Down”, “Whiskey for My Johnny” or “Orenso was no Sailor, Boys”, encouraged the sailors to lay out twice their usual strength. ... Many of these shanties (or “chanteys”) are quaint and very old. Their verses are legion and vary on every ship. I will give some of the words sung on the “Amy Turner”, which I have taken down or had written for me by the sailors. ...
A hoisting and windlass shanty frequently heard in bad weather was:
RANZO
Solo: Oh Ranzo was no sailor, boys— Chorus: Ranzo, boys, a Ranzo! Solo: Oh Ranzo was no sailor, boys— Chorus: Ranzo, boys, a Ranzo!
He shipped aboard a whaler, boys—
And he could not do his duty—
Oh, they took him to the gangway,
And they gave him one-and-twenty.
Oh, the Captain was a good man,
And he took him to the cabin,
And he taught him navigation.
Oh, the Captain had a daughter,
And she loved poor Reuben Ranzo—
Oh, poor Reuben Ranzo!
Oh, he now sails captain of her,
And he thinks of the times he used to have
While he hugs the Captain’s daughter.
Three cheers for Young Reuben Ranzo!
And I’ll bid adieu to the girl I loved—
Adieu to the girl with the red topped boots
We touch our glass with a good-bye lass—
(These words are as copied for me by a sailor. The last two lines are apparently improvised and difficult to fit to the tune.)
Another version of the same shanty was written for me by Lawrence, an old sailor of our crew.
ORENSO
Solo: Orenso was no sailor— Chorus: Orenso, boys, Orenso! Solo: Orenso was no sailor— Chorus: Orenso, boys, Orenso!
He was apprenticed to a tailor—
And he did not like his master—
So he thought he’d be a sailor,
And he shipped on board, a whaler—
He shipped as able seaman.
And he could not do his duty.
The Mate he was a bad man;
He lashed him to the capstan,
And he gave him six-and-thirty.
The Captain was a good man;
He took him to the cabin,
And he learned him navigation;
And he had a only daughter—
Orenso used to court her.
Now he’s married the Captain’s daughter.
Now he sails the South Seas over.
He is captain of a whaler,
And when he gets a sailor
That can not do his duty,
He takes him down the cabin
And learns him navigation. [end excerpt]
That added syllable in Alden has prompted me (but probably no one else!) also to consider the added syllable in the various "ju-ranzo" choruses.