Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to Sea

Subject: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: GUEST,Cmcw
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 12:39 AM

Heard Mica sing this at the Getaway last night. Would love to have the lyrics. Any hope?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Morticia
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 05:18 AM

Ask Micca?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: SINSULL
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 06:19 AM

He is headed this way and I will have him post them if you haven't gotten them first.
Who are you?
SINS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: GUEST,cmcw
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 05:46 PM

Thanks very much!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 06 Nov 07 - 06:15 AM

Remind him to do the little task I asked him to do please Sins?

He'll have forgotten.

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: SINSULL
Date: 06 Nov 07 - 06:27 PM

What's in it for me, Liz?????
heh heh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 06 Nov 07 - 06:39 PM

I don't have a flamingo to send you?!

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 05:10 AM

"I don't have a flamingo to send you?!"

Liz...this would be a great tag line for a song!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: GUEST,LTS pretending to work
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 05:19 AM

Peter - off you go then!

But if you'd seen the flamingo I have in mind not to send her (thinks... must go down to the 'Garden' again and see if that shop is still there...), you might think otherwise.

There are flamingoes made of Lego in the Windsor Legoland, UK. They're red.

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Micca
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:20 AM

"There's flamingoes made of Lego in the Windsor Legoland,
Theres a Castle made of Concrete up the road
and a River full of history that washes by its walls
where once upon a time went Mr Toad"

It will be after 20th of Novemebr but I will put the full lyrics on here once I get home

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:50 AM

Hello LtS,

Never one to refuse a challenge!

I was sad to get your letter.
You have clearly felt the pain.
But it's good to hear you're cheerful
And improving once again.
We spent such times together
Under wide savanna skies
We had such hopes, made promises,
But real life made us wise.

Chorus:         
I don't have a flamingo to send you,
Nor yet a sausage tree
But dream sweet dreams of Africa
In your convalescence by the sea.

We achieved so much together.
Traveled many miles.
Encountered many dangers
Laughing all the while.
Until that day you told me
That you had to go away.
It was on doctor's orders
That sad October day.

Two thousand miles between us
Only a heartbeat apart
I know you will have Africa
Centred in your heart.
I never said I loved you
Though I'm sure you must have guessed
Now obey your doctor's orders, love
And let nature do the rest.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:53 AM

Good work , Pete. It's been a while since we had a song challenge on the 'Cat.

RtS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Betsy
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:19 AM

Waddon Pete - I LIKE that - it REALLY appeals to me

Subject: Lyr Add: I'M A SHANTY MAN THAT'S NEVER BEEN TO SEA
From: Severn
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 08:12 AM

Hey Micca, I'll save you the trouble, now that you've committed yourself in print to having it posted. I have it here:
^^

I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea
Words Micca Patterson) Tune Mary Ellen Carter, Stan Rogers (Tweaked a bit)(

My beard is white and grizzled
I've a seaman's jumper on
My eyes are sharp and wrinkled
Like from winds around Cape Horn
Except I've never seen them
And I wont, sure as your born
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

I know each knot and sheet and rope
Can tell you all their names
I can sing for hours and hours and hours
About sailors shore side games
And how they answered loudly
To "lay aft and give your names"
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

Been to sea, been to sea
There's no place on the lumpy ocean
For the likes of me
I stick to Terra firma
That's the safest place for me
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea


I know about Norwegian steam
And Swedish outboards too
Pea soup and Irish pennants
And the dreaded Lobscouse stew
But I'll do my sailing in the pub
If its all the same to you
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

I'll show you the right rhythm
For to holystone and scrub
And I'll battle gales and hurricanes
while anchored in the pub
or with my finger in my ear
in your local folk club
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

Been to sea, been to sea
There's no place on the lumpy ocean
For the likes of me
I stick to Terra firma
That's the safest place for me
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

I take a short haul shanty
and I'll sing it, as I do
at a speed and awkward tempo
that would make a wreck of you
tho' it makes a pleasing Harmony
It's not meant for working to
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

And when I sing a shanty
with a chorus at my back
A stamping with my old sea boot
to keep them on the track
I give each line a little whoop
To help take in the slack
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

Been to sea, been to sea
There's no place on the lumpy ocean
For the likes of me
I stick to Terra firma
That's the safest place for me
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

And I have my own Dorfflenger
And Stan Hugill on the shelf
Such rich and varied pickings
And a hoard of hidden wealth
And lots of old recordings
that I'm keeping to myself
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

There are some fine shanty singers
That I hope wont get the hump
At my mixing them with phonies
In this one amorphous lump
But the others, they are only good at
the Portuguese hand pump
They're shanty men that's never been to sea

Been to sea, been to sea
Theres no place on the lumpy ocean
For the likes of me
I stick to Terra firma
That's the safest place for me
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

So come into to the public bar
Drink beer instead of tea
And join in the loud choruses
With my sweatered mates and me
We'll be driving lee rails under
( whatever that might be)
And be a shantyman that's never been to sea

Been to sea, been to sea
Theres no place on the lumpy ocean
For the likes of me
I stick to Terra firma
That's the safest place for me
I'm a shanty man that's never been to sea

© Micca Patterson 9-1-2005


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 11:06 AM

well, *I* have the attendee's list, and I'll bet I know who Cmcw is. *grin*...

(didn't know you sang shanties)

That IS a good song, Micca.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: GUEST,cmcw
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:57 PM

Thanks very much, Severn. And I don't ordinarily sing shanties, Bill, but every once in awhile there's a shanty workshop and this will be a great song with which to make my debut!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: SussexCarole
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:13 PM

Hello Micca

Yes it's a great song! Now do we start guessing who that shantyman is?? I've a starter for ten............

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:56 PM

"That shantyman" has been encouraged to join. We will see.

(Hi, Carol!)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 03:43 AM

The suspense..........!

Thanks for your kind words about the flamingo. They are much appreciated. (That'll puzzle those who don't read the whole thread :0)

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: GRex
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 03:58 AM

Many thanks for the words Severn as I am a shantyman 'that's never been to sea'. The lyrics are great but is the tune available?


    GRex

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Snuffy
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:21 AM

Words Micca Patterson) Tune Mary Ellen Carter, Stan Rogers (Tweaked a bit)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: PeadarOfPortsmouth
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 03:15 PM

Very cool. I'm hoping we can convince Micca to sing it tonight at The Press Room!

Peter

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: MoorleyMan
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 06:24 PM

Severn - thanks, it's brilliant...
but it feels like there's a verse missed out after
>>So come into to the public bar
Drink beer instead of tea
And join in the loud choruses
With my sweatered mates and me
We'll be driving lee rails under
( whatever that might be)<<
and before the final >>And be a shantyman that's never been to sea<<

A slip of the keyboard cut and paste perhaps?
Can Micca confirm or not?
Cheers,
MM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 06:46 PM

Ahahaha!! After a lengthy morning shopping in the pet store, I *DO* have a flamingo I can send to someone... wonder who that would be...?!

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Severn
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 07:45 PM

That's as Micca sent it to me a year ago. Don't know if he has more since.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 10:19 PM

Peter-

Be sure to give Micca our best!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, at large in Oz

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A shantyman who's never gone to sea
From: GRex
Date: 10 Nov 07 - 07:33 AM

Snuffy

    Thanks for pointing that out.
   
    Must be going blind in me old age.

         GRex

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to Sea
From: Micca
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 04:32 AM

There is a half verse missing!!!!
" So put on your Black Ball cheeser
and your canvas jacket blue
and we'll roll right down to Rio
by way of Timbucktoo
but only in our dreams, of course
we have better things to do
like being Shanty men whov'e never been to sea"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 08:19 AM

Micca-

Where does that missing half verse fit in? Is it before the last chorus?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to Sea
From: Micca
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 10:00 AM

Yes Charlie, right before the last chorus, after thr "beer instead of tea" and FWIW it was not a keyboard slip that left it out, it was actually written some time after the rest of the song was completed and I noticed we were 1/2 a verse short!!!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE CRINAN CANAL FOR ME
From: GUEST,guest gutcher
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 10:01 AM

The very song for Shanty Men who do not like to go to sea.


THE CRINAN CANAL FOR ME.

1. Oh! The Crinan Canal for me!
I don't like the wild raging sea.
It would be too terrific to cross the Pacific,
Or sail to Japan or Fiji.
A life on the Spanish Main
I think would drive me insane.
The big foaming breakers would give me the shakers.
The Crinan Canal for me!

CHORUS: Oh! The Crinan Canal for me!
I don't like the wide raging sea,
The big foaming breakers would give me the shakers.
The Crinan Canal for me!

2. It's the Crinan Canal for me!
From sea terrors there you are free.
There's no shark or whale that would make you turn pale,
Or shiver or shake at the knee.
I would nae like leavin ma bones
In a locker beside Davie Jones.
From Ardrishaig to Crinan's the best trip ah've bin in.
The Crinan Canal for me!

3. Aye, the Crinan Canal for me!
It's neither too big nor too wee.
Oh! It's lovely and calm when you're frying your ham,
Or making a nice cup of tea.
You can go for a stroll on its banks
To loosen your muscle-bound shanks.
You can darn your socks while you're STILL IN ITS LOCKS.
The Crinan Canal for me!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 11:56 AM

Gutcher-

Where's that song from? It's a beaut.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to Sea
From: ClaireBear
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 12:00 PM

Lovely little ditty, that! Would the tune be the theme from "Popeye the Sailor Man"?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to Sea
From: GUEST,guest gutcher
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 03:17 PM

This one probably dates from the 50s or 60s. and was sung by an actor
called John Grieve in a very lugubrious manner.
As to the tune I am sure it was not an original one as it seems to ring bells with me but I cannot say if it is the tune mentioned by
ClairBear.
Joe.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to Sea
From: GUEST,guest gutcher
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 03:27 PM

Perhaps Jim Mc Lean, who posts to threads in this forum, could come in and give us the story on this one.

Joe.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE MANCHESTER CANAL
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Jan 11 - 06:53 AM

Another landlocked sea shanty - To the tune of Brighton Camp (or the Girl I left Behind or the Calibah or whatever vesion you know :-) )

THE MANCHESTER CANAL

Oh, the S.S. Irwell left this port the stormy seas to cross
We heaved the lead and went ahead on a voyage to Barton Moss
No fairer ship e'er left the slip from this port to Natal
Than the boats that plough the waters of the Manchester Canal

The third day out or thereabout a great storm swept the main
The captain called his officer, I just forgot his name
"You see that light there on the right?" "Aye, aye" he did exclaim
"Well it's the Wilson Brewery lightship at the end of Ancoats Lane"

The captain's brow was darkened for he saw a storm was brewing
And the engineer reported that the horse it wanted shoeing
"Is there a chart aboard this barque?" He asked of one or two
Then the captain he went ashy pale and so was all the crew

"By gum, we've lost our reckoning, whatever shall we do.
We must be near to Bailey Bridge on the banks of Pin mill Brow"
Then all became confusion as the stormy winds did roar
And the captain wished himself and crew were safe again on shore

"Let go the anchor boy" he cried "for I am sorely puzzled
The mate is drunk and in his bunk, see that the cook is muzzled
We're short of grub in this 'ere tub and we are far from land
There's not a oat in this 'ere boat and the engine's broken down"

"Close reef the sails" the bosun cried "we're in a great dilemma
Just row her to Pomona Bay she cannot stand the weather
She's sprung a leak now all is lost let each man do his best
For soon she'll be a total wreck on the shoals of Throstle's Nest"

But soon the storm abated it, was rather overrated
The captain, crew and officers were all congratulated
They searched the chart in every part, to find their situation
They were east, nor'east of Bailey Bridge, just south of Salford Station.

Enjoy :-D.

Out of interest - If you go across Barton Moss you must be on the Manchester Ship Canal - But while that does go near Salford Station it goes nowhere near Pin Mill Brow - That would be the Rochdale Canal. I don't know Bailey Brige but if it is near Bailey Street that is close to Pin Mill Brow as well. The Throstles Nest could be anywhere as there was an abundance of pubs with that name. The only remaining one I am aware of is on Seymour Grove in Trafford - Nowhere near any canals!

Cheers

Dave

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Jan 11 - 08:04 AM

Dave-

We should check and see if Ian has "The Manchester Canal" in his canal song inventory.

Great song!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to Sea
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Jan 11 - 10:20 AM

Apologies to the powers that be btw - I have just noticed that 'The Manchester Canal' is in the DT. I should have just linked to it but I think my version has corrected a couple of errors anyway. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

:D

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Shanty Man That's Never Been to Sea
From: Micca
Date: 15 Jan 11 - 11:35 AM

Hey Dave, when I was at sea there was a strong rumour on one ship I served in that the owners would try and get a trip up The MSC for any ship due for dry dock as it cleared the wild life and foliage off the ships bottom!!! I know if you fell in (in the mid 60s) you were compulsorily hospitalised for at least 48 hours for observation and had your stomach pumped as routine (the AB on the other watch managed to take a Purler off the stern at Irlam) we were told by the hospital when we visited him.