The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #7339   Message #44222
Posted By: Pete M
04-Nov-98 - 05:03 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Spanish Ladies
Subject: RE: Spanish Ladies
Umm, not quite Mario,
you get a white sand with a deep lead of Scilly (its picked up by the tallow in the bottom of the lead), and you square yards not haul masts, which hopefully are fairly well fixed!!
The whole point of the song is that it is an accurate aide memoir to Channel pilotage for inbound ships - Dodman point, Rame Head, Isle of Wight, Beachy Head, Fairlight, Dover, South Foreland, The Downs (an anchorage inside the Goodwin Sands where vessels commonly waited for a fair wind).

Jennifer, do you know if the Mexican version is translated into the important points for that coast?
I have always understood, although I don't have any evidence (perhaps Bruce can help?) that the song is very old, and dates from the time when sailing directions were learned by rote.

Pete M