The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #61207   Message #985662
Posted By: Nancy King
17-Jul-03 - 11:21 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Sea Shanties from 'The Complaynt' (1549)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sea Shanties from 'The Complaynt' (1549)
Hi Abby -- thanks for the kind words!

I wouldn't say The Boarding Party's is the "definitive" version, but then how many versions are there? As Toadfrog points out, nobody will ever know how the sailors heard by the writer of the Complaynt sang -- or chanted or shouted -- it. O'Brian's Captain Aubrey was quite taken with the Orkneymen's vocalizations and pointed them out to Maturin. In the recorded version of the book, narrator Patrick Tull, who is really great, gives it a more chant-like interpretation. The song (in known written form, at least) is nearly 500 years old and has no doubt evolved a bit over that time, as folksongs do.

Trivia alert: This is the song that prompted Jonathan to make a special trip up to Folk-Legacy to re-record the last word, having realized only after the song was already recorded what the last bit should be. Sandy's expert razor-blade work edited it in seamlessly.

I'm kicking myself for not picking up "Roast Beef of Old England" at Mystic, when I had the chance. Guess I'll have to see if Camsco has it.

Cheers, Nancy