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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 31 Jul 02 - 12:03 PM I received a letter from John Conolly last night and he says that the lyrics that I am singing to Time Ashore is Over are real close to Bill Meek's original composition although I really like some of the changes Bill has made in his song. Radriano |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Charley Noble Date: 01 Aug 02 - 11:46 AM Well, the requests keep rolling in! Richard, could you post the lyrics and notes for "Firing the Mauritania," an unusual song from the firemen's (coal shovelers) point of view aboard a "floating palace" which seems to ring true. Stephen Canright does a gread job on the CD leading this one. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 01 Aug 02 - 12:34 PM Hi Charley, I'll see Stephen Canright at the shanty sing tomorrow night and ask him to write detailed notes since he leads the song. I think he may have originally heard it sung by David Jones on the Bermuda Triangle(not sure abt this title) album. Richard |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 02 Aug 02 - 11:49 AM Riggy tells me that the recording Firing the Mauritania is on is A Beautiful Life by the band Bermuda Quadrangle. |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Charley Noble Date: 02 Aug 02 - 01:04 PM As I recall the "Bermuda Quadrangle" included David Jones, Jeff Warner, Jeff Davis and someone else. Anyone remember who? Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 02 Aug 02 - 04:23 PM The other member of Bermuda Quadrangle is Jerry Epstein. I was just looking at the link Riggy sent to me for Minstrel Records where you can order the cassette A Beautiful Life |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Noreen Date: 02 Aug 02 - 04:48 PM Richard, thank you so much for the CD, it's very good indeed and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. One that jumped out at me was the Morning Shanty, I'd love to sing it. Good luck with the sales- I'm plugging it over here! Noreen |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 02 Aug 02 - 07:16 PM Noreen, I'm pleased that you are enjoying the album. Morning Shanty seems to be creating a bit of a stir. John Conolly really liked that one too - he thinks it would be a great song to end an evening of shanty singing. The song's author, Sharyn Dimmick, has recorded her original version on her solo cassette. I don't want to mis-quote the title of the album so I'll post that Monday. Besides the two of us, I don't know if anyone else has recorded Morning Shanty. Richard |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Noreen Date: 02 Aug 02 - 07:36 PM I would like to ask Sharyn's permission to sing Morning Shanty - how would I contact her, please? |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 05 Aug 02 - 11:50 AM refresh |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 06 Aug 02 - 11:26 AM Sharyn Dimmick's cassette tape that includes her song Morning Shanty is titled I Am Your Winter Lover. I believe it is only available through her. Anyone wishing to contact Sharyn can e-mail her at: sharyn@usisp.com Radriano |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Noreen Date: 06 Aug 02 - 11:46 AM Thanks for the info, Richard. |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Jon Bartlett Date: 08 Aug 02 - 03:48 AM Richard, your new CD arrived the morning I took delivery of ours! Serendipity indeed - and yours is such a winner. Well done, Richard, and the rest of the crew: the process of "borrowing" has already begun, Rika picking up the Sally O. Our CD (titled "Blow the Man Down! Tall Ships in the Fraser") is by way of being a crowd starter: it's got 27 tracks for a full 72 minutes, and every one of 'em we've all been singing for years - not a new song amongst 'em. But the idea for us was to get non-singers singing, and to do it with a local flavour, since the Tall Ships arrive here tomorrow. The CD booklet is 32 pages long, and that's without the texts to the songs! (mostly a long local history of sail in the Fraser, 1820-1910, with stuff on how the shanties were used). We'd like to get down to the Bay area for a sing or three, but it's a long and expensive haul. All the best to the Bay shanty singers, including Richard A. and Dick Holdstock. Jon Bartlett |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: EBarnacle1 Date: 08 Aug 02 - 02:28 PM Just got the album. It's worth the wait. This is the kind of collection I wish many of the others out there were. The sound is especially well done as shown by the words come through clearly on all the cuts. Additionally, thank you for posting the lyrics here. It saves us from writing it out manually so we can learn the [well selected]pieces. Exceptionally good job of searching out copyright and other attributions. Keep up the good work. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE APPRENTICE BOY From: radriano Date: 08 Aug 02 - 05:08 PM THE APPRENTICE BOY When first I went to sea, apprentice bound I sailed the salt seas all round and round I scarce had sailed a voyage but one When I fell in love with my charming Ann I went to my Captain, both stout and bold And unto him my secret told I love yonder lass as I love my life What would I give if she were my wife Well, the Captain said, you're a foolish boy For to court a girl that you'll ne'er enjoy For she'll have lovers when you're at sea And she'll be married e'er you be free Well, I don't know but I'll go and try For she might fancy an apprentice boy And she might alter her mind for me And wait on me until I be free Well, I bought her ribbons and I bought her doves These things to prove of a heart that loves She accepted all and she was not shy And she vowed she'd wait for her apprentice boy When my ship is anchored and my work is o'er I'll steer my barque for sweet Erin's shore In my native country, my love I'll enjoy And she'll welcome home her apprentice boy So come all you sea apprentices where'er you be Never slight your true love when you're at sea Just love her as you love your life And she'll consent to become your wife In 1984 I made it to the Willie Clancy Festival which is held in the town of Miltown Malbay in County Clare, Ireland. I attended the Singing Workshop that year and heard Róisín White sing this lovely song which I understand she had from the late Joe Holmes. The Apprentice Boy offers a more romantic view of the sailor and is one of my favorite sea songs. It has been recorded by Róisín White on her album The First of My Rambles. In the first line of the fifth verse Róisín sings "bought her gloves" which I though I heard as "bought her doves." Cathal McConnell also recorded this song on one of the Boys of the Lough albums. Radriano |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE OCEAN QUEEN From: radriano Date: 08 Aug 02 - 05:11 PM THE OCEAN QUEEN Was in the winter season, all in the frost and snow We leave our noble harbour and down to Georges go Where winds do loudly whistle, blow heavy on our sail As we go off a-spouting just like a frightened whale Our sails are always good and strong, made of the best of duck Our rigging is manila and rove through patent block Our vessel built of white oak and finished with great taste To ride the heavy norther gale and stand the winter's test And on the banks of Georges no tongue can e'er describe The roughness of the weather, the swiftness of the tide Where ice congeals like mountains and heavy winds do blow And we poor sons of Neptune great hardships must go through Hail, rain and thunder, and breakers on each side But yet our noble vessel majestically do ride But hark one moment, listen, for what I say is true The Ocean Queen is missing, and have drowned all her crew Nine there were in number, all in the prime of life Commanded by a captain who leaves a tender wife One fortnight whey were married; from her he did depart And now she's left a widow with a sad and broken heart It's true she's not the only one who's left alone to weep There's fathers, sons and brothers that drowned in the deep But I hope God will reward her for we know the grief she feeled There is a balm of Gilead that every wound can heal I found this song in Helen Creighton's book, Songs & Ballads from Nova Scotia. Ms. Creighton collected it from Mr. Ben Henneberry of Devil's Island whose story was that "this boat was so exceptionally fine that nine captains sailed in her as crew, going from Gloucester to the Banks of Georges off Cape Sable, from which they were never heard of again." It's a curious song in that the Ocean Queen is not mentioned until the end of the fourth verse and almost no detail is offered about the disaster. What I was drawn to was the description of the ship that the song's narrator is on and the marvelous phrases "where ice congeals like mountains" and "as we go off a-spouting just like a frightened whale" Radriano |
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Subject: Lyr Add: SALTPETRE SHANTY From: radriano Date: 09 Aug 02 - 11:27 AM SALTPETRE SHANTY For the Spanish main we are bound away Chorus: Oh roll For the Spanish main we are bound away Chorus: Oh roll We are sailing away at the break of day Where the swift bonitos and dolphin do play Full Chorus: Oh roll, rock her bars Heave her high, oh, rock her, oh roll l To old Callao we are bound away (2x) We're bound away from Liverpool Bay Where the flash girls o' Chile will steal all our pay Old Pedro the Crimp, boys, we know him of old (2x) He's primin' his vino and dopin' his beer To the Chinchas he'll ship us if we don't steer clear Them flash girls of Chile, they're hard to beat (2x) They'll greet us and love us and treat us to wine But the bastards are robbin' us most of the time So keep a sharp watch and a keen weather-eye (2x) On the girls from Coquimbo to old Coronel With their red-hot senoras from the far side o' Hell When the order comes round for to sail away home (2x) From some old seaport on the west coast of hell We'll sing adios and say fare thee well This capstan shanty is also known as Slav Ho or Slav Oh and comes from the Saltpetre and Guano Trades of the West Coast of South America. My version is melodically much the way it is done by The Boarding Party on their recording Fair Winds and a Following Sea, Folk-Legacy Records, 1987. Barry Finn posted a thread about the song on the Mudcat Café Forum back in 1998, Saltpeter Shanty. The lyrics I sing, in typical shanty man fashion, are my favorite verses from several versions I have heard. I've also heard this shanty on recordings by Pint and Dale and Stormalong John. Here are the liner notes about Saltpetre Shanty from Fair Winds and a Following Sea: "Spike Sennit was his name. He was an able-bodied seaman, much of whose experience had been amassed while serving in the guano-and-saltpetre trade along the west coast of South America. Many sailors had followed that route, carrying cargo that would become fertilizer and other products. Few shanties have been preserved in print that reflect the travails of that less-than-idyllic existence, however, primarily, says Stan Hugill, who got this one from Sennit himself, because not much was printable. We've bowdlerized Hugill's version one step further, in fact, using "flash girls" to replace a Spanish word [puta] that is considerably more coarse than English equivalents such as prostitute. Then there was Mike O'Rourke, another of Hugill's shipmates, who had shipped in many "Yankee blood boats" -- hard-case sailing ships from which crews would desert and fresh ones be supplied by the medium of shanhailing. O'Rourke's contribution was another shanty from the same part of the world, "Them Gals of Chile," from two of whose verses we adapted lines to add another element to Sennit's grim song. It was verse #4 that came from O'Rourke, however. The reference to "Pedro the Crimp" (essentially a kidnapper) was part of Spike's original. Doping the beer in portside hangouts could lead to drugged sailors who would wake up hours later, only to find themselves at sea in a totally different vessel, having been bought like barrels of salt-horse from procurers like Pedro. Sometimes, in fact, they might end up not at sea at all, but working ashore in such unsavory locales as Las Chinchas, a group of tiny islands off the Peruvian coast. The tune, like those of many shanties, could have come from almost any source that struck in the shantyman's mind long enough for him to feel like setting words to it. Joanna Colcord pointed out the remarkable similarity between this one (or her version, which is close) and a 16th century German folksong called "Drei Reiter am Thor" ("Three Riders at the Gate"). Nor it it all that far from some American songs such as "Cryderville Jail." You can find both Sennit's and O'Rourke's songs, by the way, in Hugill's Shanties of the Seven Seas (Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1961 and later editions), the undisputed champion of shanty collections, particularly if you want only one. More to the point, however, with a growing stack of recordings of the same finite repertoire, the book offers many lesser-known but equally exciting examples. Find a copy, take a deep breath, and start in on the ones you've never heard." And here are notes about Saltpetre Shanty from Stan Hugill's book, Shanties from the Seven Seas: "The shanty I have named Saltpetre Shanty was a great favourite with crews of ships in the Saltpetre and Guano Trades of the West Coast of South America; it is one of four shanties rarely heard in other trades, the other three being Rollocky Randy Dandy O!, Serafina, and The Girls of Chili. They were all well known to Liverpool seamen, but have rarely found their way into print owing to the difficulty of camouflaging them: they were all obscene to a degree, even the refrains and choruses being extremely bawdy. Captain Robinson in The Bellman is the only person who has 'had a go' at titivating them up. As he points out: 'many of these bawdy refrains were nothing more than Sailor John's obscene renderings of snatches of "Dago" phrases picked up in the Chilean ports.' I had this one from Spike Sennit, an old sailing-ship A.B. [able bodied seaman]. It was used at the capstan." Radriano Similar message in Saltpeter Shanty thread (click). |
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Subject: Lyric Add: Ilo Man From: radriano Date: 09 Aug 02 - 11:38 AM ILO MAN There's a ship in full sail And she's out upon the river Chorus: Way, hey, you Ilo man There's a ship in full sail And she's out upon the river Chorus: Way, hey, you Ilo man Heave her up, heave her high It's the best that we can give her There's a girl on the pier Don't you wish you could stay with her And the ducks and the geese are all swimming on the river And the ducks and the geese are all swimming on the river And the boys and the girls are all roving in the clover And the boys and the girls are all rolling in the clover Heave 'er up, heave 'er high, come and rock and roll me over Heave 'er up, heave 'er high, come and rock and roll me over Here's a health to each lad, to each shell back and each rover Here's a health to each lad, to each shell back and each rover I learned this capstan shanty from the recording Shipshape & Harry Fashion by The Harry Browns of Bristol. Unfortunately, the album's liner notes say next to nothing about the songs. Another version can be found on Bob Webb's album Bank Trollers, Songs of the Sea. Here's what Bob sings followed by his liner notes about Ilo Man: ILO MAN As sung by Bob Webb Oh the ducks and the geese they are swimming down the river Chorus: Way ay ay ay Ilo Man Oh the ducks and the geese they are swimming down the river (timme!) Chorus: Way ay ay ay Ilo Man And the boys and the girl they are playing in the clover And the boys and the girl they are playing in the clover I wish I was down on the old plantation (timme!) Oh where there is no temptation (timme!) I courted a girl and she was very pretty 'Twas down in a place, it was on the Mississippi As I strolled out one bright May morning (timme!) Just as the early day was dawning (timme!) I met a young couple and they were spooning I met a fair young couple and they were spooning Oh the ducks and the geese they are swimming down the river And the boys and the girls they are playing in the clover Liner notes from Bob Webb's album: "This capstan shanty, a variant of Huckleberry Hunting, was sung by William Fender of Barry, Wales, who quit the sea in 1900. Bob Walser unearthed it from the James Madison Carpenter Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. It begins with the customary "hitch," the wild yell that Stan Hugill called "the very essence of the shantyman's art"." Stan Hugill, in his book Shanties from the Seven Seas also gives a version of the shanty Huckleberry Hunting that he calls We'll Ranzo Way. Here are Hugill's notes from his book: "Another shanty which mentions our hero Ranzo is the one variously known as We'll Ranzo Way, The Wild Goose Shanty, or Huckleberry Hunting. This was sung at windlass and capstan, but Doerflinger gives it as halyards and pumps - in other words it appears to have been used for every shipboard job with perhaps the exception of tacks and sheets, and hand-over hand! My version is as follows" We'll Ranzo Way Alternative titles: Sing Hilo, Me Ranzo Ray, Huckleberry Hunting, The Wild Goose Shanty O-oh, I'm shantyman of the working' party Ch:Timme way, timme hay, timme hee-ho hay! So sing, lads, pull lads so strong an' hearty Ch: An' sing Hilo, me Ranzo way! I'm shantyman of the Wild Goose nation Got a maid that I left on the big plantation Oh, the sassiest gal o' that Wild Goose nation Is her that I left on the big plantation Oh, the boys an' the gals went a huckleberry huntin' The gals began to cry an' the boys they dowsed their huntin' [stopped their huntin'; stopped their courtin'] Then a little gal ran off an' a little boy ran arter The little gal fell down an' he saw her little garter Said he, 'I'll be yer beau, if ye'll have me for yer feller,' But the little gal said, 'No, 'cos me sweetheart's Jackie Miller.' But he took her on his knee, an' he kissed her right an' proper She kissed him back agen, an' he didn't try to stop'er An' then he put his arm all around her tight an' waspy waist Sez she, 'Young man, you're showing' much too great a haste!' [The underlined words in this shanty are the places where the sailors would all pull together. R.A.] The remaining verses are mainly obscene and much the same as those used in the bawdy version of A-rovin'. Davis & Tozer [in Sailors' Songs or "Chanties" - 1910] give a theme about 'Minnie and the Wild Geese' which has not an authentic ring, appearing to me as being entirely composed and not merely camouflaged. Bullen gives one verse only, 'Oh, what did yer give for yer fine leg o' mutten?' Terry says that the verse about 'huckleberry hunting' was rarely omitted, but he never heard this theme further developed. Whall, Sharp, Doerflinger, and Miss Colcord all give this verse. Terry gives the shanty as windlass and capstan, Whall doesn't state its usage, Sharp gives it as capstan, but Miss Colcord, like Doerflinger, gives it as halyards. Bullen also presents it as windlass and capstan. Most forms indicate a Negro origin, as far as the tune and refrains are concerned, but the words of the solos savour of a Down East or Nova Scotia source. Most versions refer to the 'Wild Goose nation.' This mysterious race of people often crops up in shantydom and also in nigger minstreldom, and many theories have been put forward regarding its origin, none, I'm afrain, very convincing. Doerflinger maintains that in minstreldom, the phrase refers to Southern or Indian-inhabited country. Miss Colcord rather fancies Ireland as the source, since she has discovered that the phrase 'Wild Goose nation' was used as a poetical name for the Irish, in particular for the Irish Guards who fought the French in the wars of 1748, and refers the reader to Kipling's poem, 'The Irish Guards.' Then again the Irish connection with the phrase may come from an historical incident which happened when George III, I believe, desired the Irish regiments to swear allegiance to the English flag. The flag was hoisted on a hill and the regiments had two alternatives - either to pass the flag on the left and thereby swear allegiance, or to march to the right and downhill to the waiting French frigates which were to carry them to France and exile. Many regiments accepted the latter course and became mercenaries in Europe, never being allowed to return to their wives and children or their native heath. This going into exile is often referred to as 'The Flight of the Wild Geese.' But all this is rather far removed from the sailor's shanty - unless it came to the shanty by way of an Irish forebitter, and to my knowledge no forebitter, Irish or otherwise, includes such a phrase. Some authorities seek further afield and suggest that it may mean Ashanti or some other Guinea Coast locality, homeland of the original Negro slaves of America. Radriano |
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Subject: Lyr Add: MORNING SHANTY (Sharyn Dimmick) From: radriano Date: 09 Aug 02 - 01:17 PM MORNING SHANTY Author: Sharyn Dimmick Won't you come down to the shore? Chorus: Watching I will sail away once more Chorus: In the morning We have sung through half the night Chorus: Watching For the coming of the light Chorus: In the morning For the friends who now have gone Chorus: Watching For the friends returning home Chorus: In the morning But the clock upon the wall Chorus: Watching Steals the time and gives it all* Chorus: To the morning At my window I will be Chorus: Watching For your ships to sail to me Chorus: In the morning Composed by my dear friend Sharyn Dimmick on May 26, 1986 while taking the Anacortes ferry to Victoria after a late evening singing party at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, Washington. I originally recorded this song as a solo singing lead myself but I was not satisfied with how it sounded. I thought it might sound nice with Suzanne Friend singing lead with an all women's chorus. The chorus lineup would include Marla Fibish, Patrice Haahn, Sharyn Dimmick, and perhaps one or two other singers. Then Suzanne announced that she would be moving to Eureka, California almost immediately and I had to rethink everything. Suddenly there was no time to schedule rehearsal sessions and Suzanne's imminent move meant that the Out of the Rain songs (The Grimsby Lads and Time Ashore is Over) needed to be finished as soon as possible so we recorded Morning Shanty at the same time with Marla, Patrice, and myself as the chorus. Suzanne's interpretation of Morning Shanty is a bit different timing-wise from Sharyn's original version in a couple of places. You can hear Sharyn's recording of her song on her cassette tape I Am You Winter Lover which, I believe, you can only get through her. Sharyn can be reached by e-mail at: sharyn@usisp.com Radriano
But the clock upon the wall Chorus: Watching Steals our time and gives it all* Chorus: To the morning |
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Subject: Lyr Add: ROLL BOYS ROLL From: radriano Date: 09 Aug 02 - 01:22 PM ROLL BOYS ROLL West Indian halyard shanty Sally Brown, she's the girl for me, boys Chorus: Roll boys, roll boys roll Sally Brown, she's the girl for me, boys Chorus: Way high, Miss Sally Brown Oh way down South, way down South boys Oh bound away, with a bone in her mouth boys Oh we're rollin' down to Trinidad to see Miss Sally Brown Oh rollin' down to Trinidad to paint the bleedin' town She's lovely up aloft, an' she's lovely down below She's lovely all the way, me boys, it's all you want to know She's lovely on the foreyard, lovely on the main She's lovely in the summertime, she's lovely in the rain Ol' Captain Baker, how do you store yer carga Some I stow for'ard, boys, an' some I stow arter (arta) Oh, there's forty fathom or more below, boys Oh, forty fathom or more below, boys Oh, way high ya, an' up she rises Oh, way high ya, the blocks is different sizes Oh, one more pull, don't ya hear the mate a-bawlin? Oh, one more pull, that's the end of all the hawlin' Shay Black kindly loaned me a copy of a cassette tape recorded by Stan Hugill when he was touring with Stormalong John as his chorus titled A Salty Fore Topman which Shay thought had the shanty Roller Bowler on it sung by Stan. Roller Bowler wasn't on the tape but Roll Boys Roll was. Roll Boys Roll is one of the best of the "Sally Brown" shanties although the song is no longer about her after the fifth verse. I sing the song now with many more "hitches" and "yelps." The lyrics shown in this thread are transcribed from Stan Hugill's tape - I tend not to sing in dialect. It's a great shanty to do with general audiences because the chorus lines are short and easy to remember. The second verse contains the line "with a bone in her mouth, boys" which I first took as a very explicit sexual reference. In a house concert performance by Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman two years ago in Berkeley, California Dave sang the same line in another song. I asked him about it during a break and he said that the line refers to one of the sails (he called it the "water sail") which is slung quite low in the front of a ship. If you are looking at a ship head on when that sail is up it looks like the figurehead is holding something in her mouth. The phrase "with a bone in her mouth, boys" became a specific reference to heading southward with all sails up - the beginning of a voyage. Radriano |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 12 Aug 02 - 12:13 PM In my notes for Roll Boys Roll I gave an explanation for the phrase "with a bone in her mouth." It has been brought to my attention (see the thread titled "A Bone in Her Mouth") that this phrase actually refers to a ship going at speed, the bone being the spray of water at the bow. Richard |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 19 Aug 02 - 02:07 PM I'm still waiting for detailed liner notes info on "Firing the Mauretania" from Steven Canright. I e-mailed David Jones about the song as well. Jeff Warner was the lead singer on the song on the A Beautiful Life cassette and David says that Jeff did some research so I should be receiving some additional information soon. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: FIRING THE MAURETANIA^^^ From: radriano Date: 30 Aug 02 - 06:52 PM FIRING THE MAURETANIA Lead: Stephen Canright In nineteen hundred twenty four Found myself in Liverpool on the floor So I went to the Cunard office door Got a job on the Mauretania Chorus: Oh, firing the Mauretania She surely is a slaver To Hell with the Mauretania The Mauretania's a wonderful sight Sixty-four fires a-burning bright But you'll shovel coal from morning to night A-firing the Mauretania The coal was so hard and full of slate And that's what got to the four-to-eight It very soon wearied the four-to-eight A-firing the Mauretania The eight-to-twelve were much better men But they were weary by half part ten So tired and weary by half past ten A-firing the Mauretania The fan's on the bum and fire won't draw And that's what got to the twelve-to-four It very soon buggered the twelve-to-four A-firing the Mauretania So come all you firemen, listen to me The Mauritania spells purgatory Stick to the coast, don't go deep sea A-firing the Mauretania^^^ The correct spelling of this ship's name is Mauretania. I first heard this sung by Stephen Canright at one of the Hyde Street Pier shanty sings in San Francisco. Stephen got the song from the cassette tape A Beautiful Life by the group Bermuda Quadrangle. David Jones, one of the singers in the group thinks the song was written by Redd Sullivan who, along with his partner Martin Windsor, ran a very successful folk club, The Troubadour, in London from the early 1960s to the 1980s. Jeff Warner, who sings the lead on this song, agrees with David. The times, 4 to 8, etc., refer to the 4 hours on and 4 hours off watches. In their liner notes Bermuda Quadrangle says "The Fireman's Lament" or "Firing the Mauretania" was entered in English shantyman Stan Hugill's "The Bosun's Locker" column in Spin,The Folksong Magazine, Volume 1, # 9, 1962. Hugill's notes read: "Words collected and arranged by Redd Sullivan of the Thameside 4, sometime fireman himself. Tune: variant of "Paddy Works on the Railway." Stephen Canright, who is also the Chief Curator for the Maritime Museum in San Francisco, sent me the following notes on Firing the Mauretania: "When I first heard this song on a tape by the Bermuda Quadrangle, I was intrigued with the idea of a stoking shanty. It seemed reasonable that a rhythmic song might ease the labor of shoveling coal into the furnaces of a big steamer. Stoking was individual work, but a song might give the lads a lilt to work to and a chance to bitch about their lives. I doubt, however, that this was actually ever sung in the boiler room of the Mauretania, especially as it turns out that she was converted to oil-fire by 1921. The passenger liner R.M.S. Mauretania, launched in 1906, was the most famous ship of her time. Until 1930 she ran for Cunard between Southampton, England and New York City, carrying 2,500 passengers and a crew of 800. For twenty years she was the fastest passenger steamer on the Atlantic run. At almost 800 feet in length, she was for a time the largest ship in the world. Her sister-ship Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915 with heavy loss of life, helping to bring the United States into the First World War. The Mauretania was finally scrapped in 1935. The Mauretania was a turbine steamer. She had twenty-five steam boilers, most with eight furnaces or fire boxes, for a total of 192 furnaces. The fires were fed by stokers shoveling coal, each man tending four furnaces, so that forty-eight stokers worked each watch. The stokers worked four hours on and eight hours off, whenever the ship was at sea. It was a hard and dirty job, with gaunt, black-faced men laboring like imps in the bowels of Hell. Only by about 1930 had all of the big Atlantic liners adopted oil fire, ending this backbreaking labor." Mauretania Statistics: Gross Tonnage - 31,938 tons Dimensions - 232.31 x 26.82m (762.2 x 88.0ft) Number of funnels - 4 Number of masts - 2 Construction - Steel Propulsion - Quadruple-screw Engines - Steam turbines by Wallsend Slipway Co. Ltd. Service speed - 25 knots Builder - Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-On-Tyne Launch date - 20 September 1906 Passenger accommodation - 563 1st class, 464 2nd class, 1,138 3rd class The following Google search for "Mauretania" gives numerous links to a wealth of information about R.M.S. Mauretania: Mauretania search To view the Mudcat Forum thread on this song click on the following link: Mauretania Thread I've put together one file of all these detailed liner notes for my album which I will distribute electronically. Anyone interested can get a copy by sending me a e-mail message at: radriano@consrv.ca.gov |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 30 Aug 02 - 07:01 PM I'm not sure why those links in my last post did not work. Here are the addresses: Google search: http://www.google.com/search?q=Mauretania&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=0&sa=N Forum thread: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25445#298406
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Charley Noble Date: 30 Aug 02 - 09:41 PM Thanks, Richard. You've certainly done a great job on this, tracking down where this song comes from and what it means. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: GUEST,Sharyn Dimmick, sharyn@usisp.com Date: 13 Oct 02 - 06:37 PM Hello all, I am the woman who wrote "Morning Shanty" and I need to tell you that there is an error in these posted lyrics. The correct lyrics are: But the clock upon the wall Watching Steals our time, and gives it all To the morning. Please do not sing "steals the time." This is copyrighted material. Thanks, Sharyn |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Charley Noble Date: 14 Oct 02 - 09:07 AM A fine song, Sharyn, and so nice to meet you in San Francisco. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: radriano Date: 15 May 08 - 03:06 PM With apologies to Sharyn Dimmick, the lyric change was unintentional. Suzanne Friend, who sings lead on the song, did not realize she had changed that one word. |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Barry Finn Date: 16 May 08 - 01:23 AM I hope that Sharyn didn't mean to come of as hash & hard as it sounds & that it's just the internet that comes off that way & not the intent of those that use it. Barry |
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Subject: RE: New sea music CD, Time Ashore is Over From: Barry Finn Date: 17 May 08 - 01:39 AM If it's "COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL" does that mean it can ONLY be sung the way it was written? Is that how folk music now works & gets passed on? If so, it sounds to me as if it's dead in the water before it gets a chance to sink or swim. Can or should artistic control be carried this far? I know it sounds as if it was an oversight by the singer & there was an apology made but is it that important that the author should demand that it can & should be sung only that way & that is the only "right" way to sing it? Was not the original idea of copyright's intent to try to enhance the artistic flow & cause the public's creative juices to grow. Sounds more like a song in chains to me, sorry. I have this CD & IMHO I couldn't care less if a word was changed in error, I'd be dam pleased, hearing the job they did with all the songs on this, if they had covered anything I wrote. Maybe next CD you guys will consider covering one of my songs. Do you pay royalities too, to boot? He,He,He! Barry |
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