The Advent and Development of Chanties

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 12 Jan 11 - 03:40 PM

The next two are L.A. Smith's original contributions.

First, SALLY BROWN.

//

[score]

Solo.—Sally Brown was a bright mulatto,
Chorus. —Way! heigh! Roll and go.
Solo—Oh! Sally Brown was a bright mulatto,
I'll spend my money on Sally Brown.
Sally Brown was a bright mulatto.
Cho—Way! heigh! &c.
Solo—Sally Brown she had a daughter,
Cho—Way! heigh! &c.
Solo—Oh! Sally Brown she had a daughter,
Her name it was Matilda Jane.
Sally Brown she had a daughter.
Cho—Way! heigh! &c.
Solo—Seven long years I courted Sally,
Cho--Way! heigh! &c.
Solo.—Oh! seven long years I courted Sally,
I mean to marry Sally Brown.
Oh ! seven long years I courted Sally.
Chorus.—Way! heigh! &c.

The last verse resembles the other version somewhat....
//

By "the other version"she must mean Alden's Shenandoah, which has Sally Brown lyrics.

Then comes our "first" SOUTH AUSTRALIA:

//
...The verses are not at all times consistent with the next song, also a capstan one, and they are too numerous to quote in full.

I give the melody as I got it from a coloured seaman at the " Home,"together with a verbatim copy of his verses :—

[score - starts with grand chorus]

*Solo.—South Australia is my native home,
Chorus.—Heave away! Heave away!
Solo.—South Australia, &c.
Chorus.—I am bound to South Australia,
Heave away! Heave away!
Heave away, you ruler king,
I am bound to South Australia.
Solo.—There ain't but the one thing grieves my mind,
Chorus.—Heave, &c.
Solo.—To leave my dear wife and child behind.
Chorus.—I am bound, &c.
Solo.—I see my wife standing on the quay,
The tears do start as she waves to me.
When I am on a foreign shore,
I'll think of the wife that I adore.
Those crosses you see at the bottom of the lines,
Are only to put me in mind.
As I was standing on the pier,
A fair young maid to me appeared.
As I am standing on a foreign shore,
I'll drink to the girl that I adore.
For I'll tell you the truth, and I'll tell you no lie,
If I don't love that girl I hope I may die.
Liza Lee, she promised me,
When I returned she would marry me.
And now I am on a foreign strand,
With a glass of whisky in my hand;
And I'll drink a glass to the foreign shore,
And one to the girl that I adore.
When I am homeward bound again,
My name I'll publish on the main.
With a good ship and a jolly crew,
A good captain and chief mate, too,
Now fare thee well, fare thee well,
For sweet news to my girl I'll tell.
//

Then comes Haswell's collected version of HAUL AWAY JOE.

//
"Haul away." This is a short-rope pulling song of almost equal popularity in the olden days with "Haul the Bowline." It is one of the most characteristic melodies amongst the chanties. At the word "Joe," all hands give a pull.

"Oh once I had a nigger girl,
And she was fat and lazy.
And then I got an Irish girl,
And she was double-jointed.
And then I had a Dover lass,
She ran away with a soldier."
"Away, haul away—Haul away, Joe.

Away, haul away—Haul away, Joe.
Away, haul away—Haul away, Joe."

[score]
//

Then Alden's other SHENANDOAH. Smith seems confused here, first in not recognizing (?) that Alden gave two versions of "Shenandoah," and second in calling the river "Shenandore."

//
The following is a windlass song of negro origin, River Shenandore:—

[score, as in Alden]
//

Then, she has RIO GRANDE (fishes version) as in Alden.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 12 Jan 11 - 03:12 PM

"insight that might NOT occur if just looking at the texts"
"I am wondering what these OTHER linguistic chanty "traditions" and sources can tell us about what was going on."

Whoops. Look at the time of my post, which may explain some of the cloudiness.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 12 Jan 11 - 05:58 AM

LA Smith cont...

Smth next reproduced some texts of non-shanties (incl. SPANISH LADIES) from the story "The Man-of-War's Man," by "S.," published in the Jan. 1822 issue of _ Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine_ 60(9).

http://books.google.com/books?id=PNhT1uVIZvYC&pg=PA20&dq=%22greenland+is+a+cold+

Then come Alden's versions of CLEAR THE TRACK (with a typo, "sig-a-jig"), SHENANDOAH, and SHALLOW BROWN.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 12 Jan 11 - 05:03 AM

Learning the shanties in Hugill's collection has really been a ...erm... learning experience for me, expecially for the fact that I think actually being *forced* to perform them (and thus get a practical sense of them) occasionally brings some insight that might occur if just looking at the texts. All of us here have performed chanties, and I think we have all had that experience to some extent. Anyways, I had finished learning all the English-language songs (the end was mostly dregs). Lately I've felt a bit burnt out, and one thing I realized is that I was not having a steady diet of the chanties keeping me going as it had for the last 2 1/2 years. But though I thought I'd need lots of help covering the non-English ones, and especially daunted by the idea of (as is my policy) memorizing them, have been trying some out.

I am rambling here... but I am getting to the point that which is that learning the non-English chanties has broadened my horizons with respect also to what we are doing in this thread. I am wondering what these of linguistic chanty "traditions" and sources can tell us about what was going on.

I posted a query about Norwegian shanties here:
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=134867#3071130

What is blowing my mind is that these "sjömandsviser" (sailor songs, I suppose) are from the late 1830s/early 40s. SOme form of maritime worksongs must have been well known by them. True, maybe they were mainly capstan songs, and not necessarily "chanties." But there must have been enough of a repertoire..or maybe a pretty standard form?...so that a Norwegian poet would treat them as a generic genre (!) within which to compose. I think the inspiration was English songs, but there may have been Norwegian songs, too. I only wonder what more the Norwegian (and other language) songs can tell us about what was going on.

The songs by Wergeland have a "Sing, Sally-o!" chorus. Almost all have this. Was he just supplying a generic chorus, with the assumption that one could fit the solo couplets to any chanty "framework"? Or is that that, mainly, "Sing Sally O" was just THE song, and people made endless variations on it. Are some of these halyard chanties? Were the "original" shanties really ribald, as Hugill claims, such that Wergeland had to clean them up? If so, might we find more details somewhere about the ribald originals, which would have formed a significant body?

I am vaguely aware, FWIW, that the written language in Wergeland's time was basically what's now thought of as Danish. This collection gives no explanation of the sailor songs. I wonder what might happen if we open up our literature searches to these languages.

Anyway, it's late and I am just vamping here...

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: John Minear
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 12:26 PM

Gibb, your reference to "1855 Marryat, "Frank". _Mountains and Molehills_" may be the first real evidence we have of an actual chanty being sung in connection to the Gold Rush! I'm going to copy this note over to the "SF to Sydney" thread. If the sailors were singing "Sally Brown" while they were mining for gold, then they may well have been singing it on the outward bound ships from San Francisco to Sydney.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: GUEST,shipcmo
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 08:49 AM

Reference up-thread:
"The words "Yo heave "ho!" were sung cheerily by one of the seamen at the bar."
I cannot but wonder what a landsman(landlubber)would make of the phrase "at the bar"
Cheers,
Geo

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: GUEST,shipcmo
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 07:19 AM

Upon further reading I find the following passage, referring to a situation off Cape Horn: "He himself (meaning the Captain) worked with the sailors, cheering them and telling them to "pull for their lives"--and for the first and only time on the voyage I heard him break into a shanty, leading off with the first verse of "Baltimore Bell", the Seacond Mate taking up the alternate verses, as the men strained at the ropes to the rhythm of the chorus."

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: GUEST,shipcmo
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 06:42 AM

Gibb,


Only the lyrics, no tunes

< And are all of them meant to be shanties/work-songs? Any clue to how or when they were used?>

Briggs states: "There are several kinds of shanty: the capstan or hoisting shanty, sung when at the capstan, warping or weighing anchor or hoisting topsails; the halyard shanty, sung when the topsails and topgallants are being mast-headed; and the sheet-tack and bowline shanty, used when the fore, main and other sheets are hauled aft and the bowlines made taut.   There is also the bastard shanty, so-called; it is a runaway chorus, sung by all hands as they race across the deck with a rope; you hear it in tacking ship."


Right the chorus is: "Oh, give me the time to blow the man down!"
And he gives 14 verses
But: The Ship "Neptune" also has a chorus line: "Give me some time to blow the man down!"


Briggs states that Orenzo was "Another version of the same shanty was written for me by Lawrence, an old sailor of our crew."
with 22 verses.

Also, There is mention of a shantie: "Here Comes Old Wabbleton a-Walking the Deck", but there is a line in The Ship "Neptune" that goes "Oh! don't you see Wabbleton walking the poop?"

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 04:18 AM

1880. _Echoes from the Counties._ London: Bradbury, Agnew, & Co.

It's a florid passage about Greenland whaling, but not with any specifics, just images.

//
But though the route to the remotest realms of ice and darkness is now seldom taken, the commerce with the Baltic along the old beaten track still flourishes in greater vigour than ever, and still may be heard amid the clank of great chains and the rattle of tarry cordage, this favourite old refrain, as the brawny sailors step round the groaning capstan—

''Sally's going to Petersburgh—
             Sing, Sally, ho!"
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 04:09 AM

1836 Weston, Richard. _A Visit to the United States and Canada in 1833._ Edinburgh: Richars Weston and Sons.

The narrator leaves Greenock (Scotland) for New York on the ship JOHN DENNISON in July 1833. Whilst warping out they used this hauling song:

//
July 11.1833.—8 o'clock A.M. A warp was sent out and made fast to a buoy in the stream. It was stretched along the deck, and manned by the seamen. The captain, whose name was M'Kissock, desired some of the passengers to lend a hand to assist the seamen ; and, accordingly, many of the emigrants were put on the warp. When every thing was got ready, a sailor sung the following words, or something like them, to a lively air, and keeping time to the music, as they all pulled:

Pull away,, my hearty boys—pull away so cheerily,
She moves along, my boys—pull away so heartily !
We are for America ; the wind is whistling cheerily,
Then bouse away together,, boys, and see you do it merrily!
//

I imagine that may have been done as a hand-over-hand.

The next day, there is a scene of heaving anchor and hoisting yards. The early "Sally" style halliard chanty makes an appearance.

//
July 12.—At three o'clock, A.M. All hands were ordered up to weigh the anchor; the morning was clear, and the wind fair. The windlass went cheerily round with the assistance of the emigrants, who lent a willing hand. The words "Yo heave "ho!" were sung cheerily by one of the seamen at the bar. The sails were loosened and sheeted home, and the halyards manned, the emigrants giving every assistance they could. The yards were then hoisted up, a seaman singing, in order to keep the hands all pulling together, words something like the following—

Sally is a pretty girl—Sing Sally-ho,
Sail she is fond of me—Sing Sally-ho !
We are for America, so cheerily we'll go ;
Then pull away strongly, boys, and sing Sally-ho!

The yards were braced round to catch the wind, accompanied by songs of various metres, according to the length of the pull and the number pulling.
//

The phrase "songs of various metres..." makes it sound somewhat sophisticated.

Holystoning songs are also alluded to, after arriving in New York in August:

//
The seamen were put to holystone the deck, and as they rubbed, one of them sung a song, rubbing and keeping time.
//

Being the early 1830s, this was also the start of the boom in minstrel music...that would have such an influence on chanties. Here is a scene in New York, with "Coal Black Rose" and "Jump Jim Crow." Note the segregated African-American audience also in attendance.pg. 68:

//
In the evening I went to the theatre; the play was Inkle and Yarico. The people of colour were huddled into a place by themselves ; the pale faces, though liberty is continually in their mouths, lord it over them on every occasion. The Americans boast of having given the slaves their freedom in New York, but they still treat them as such, and expose them to every kind of indignity and insult. The performance, upon the whole, was very poor; but there was an excellent comic actor who played the part of a negro, and sang two of their songs, which kept both audiences, black and white, in a roar of laughter. One of the songs ran thus:

   Lubby rose, will tu tum,
   When tu hear te bango ?
   Tum! — tum! — tum !
   O rose, de coal-black rose!
   Wish I may be corched ib I dont lub rose.

The other was :

Turn about, jump about, turn about so ;
Ebery time I turn about, jump Jem Crow.
//

It must have been T.D. Rice that he saw perform.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 03:14 AM

Another source that shows a conspicuous absence of chanties--

1835. Disraeli, Isaac. "Songs of Trades, or Songs For the People." In _Curiosities of Literature_. Vol. 2. Paris: Baudry's European Library.

The English author is speaking of work-songs throughout the ages and different places.

//
Our sailors at Newcastle, in heaving their anchors, have their "Heave and ho! rum-below!" but the Sicilian mariners must be more deeply affected by their beautiful hymn to the Virgin...
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 03:03 AM

1887   Unknown author. "Experiences of an English Engineer in the Congo." _Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine_ 864(142) (Oct. 1887).

The narrator is on the Congo River at Pool Malebo (Stanley Pool). He is being hauled ashore from a boat.

//
I landed in the usual fashion, being carried from the boat through the shallow water by two natives. The boat, by the by, was that belonging to the Congo Free State factory, and the " Kruboys" who manned her, dressed in neat uniforms, pulled steadily and in good time, to the tune of "One more river to cross!" This air is known to them as "Stanley song" —they or their predecessors having learnt it from Bula Matadi himself, as a "chantee," when hauling the steamers overland between Vivi and Isanghila.
//

Just noting the use of "chantee" here by the author.

The song alluded to may have been this one in Higginson's "Negro Spirituals" (1867), a work mentioned up-thread:

pg. 687

//
The following begins with a startling affirmation, yet the last line quite outdoes the first. This, too, was a capital boat-song.

X. ONE MORE RIVER.

O, Jordan bank was a great old bank I
Dere ain't but one more river to cross.
We have some valiant soldier here,
Dere ain't. &c.
O, Jordan stream will never run dry,
Dere ain't, &c.
Dere 's a hill on my leff", and he catch on my right,
Dere ain't but one more river to cross."

I could get no explanation of this last riddle, except, "Dat mean, if you go on de leff, go to 'struction, and if you go on de right, go to God, for sure."
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 02:31 AM

1851 Fuller, Thomas, Jr. _Journal of a Voyage to Liberia_. Baltimore: Printed by John D. Toy.

The narrator is a passenger on a packet barque from Baltimore to Liberia, carrying emigrant free Blacks. It's Sept. 1851. He notes STORMY at one point, though not with any particular work mention:

//
All being on board, Tom Williams, the leader of the band, struck up his favorite air, "old stormy long." And in a short time we were under way for Cape Palmas.
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 02:07 AM

1887 Edwards, George Wharton. "The Figurehead of the James Starbuck." _St. Nicholas_ vol. 14(10) (August 1887) 742-746.

An imagined scene of older times. Not an eyewitness account. Just using the chanty text for literary effect:

//
...Beneath, through the open door of the shed, we can see long lines of men sitting on low benches and sewing away on huge strips of new canvas; singing in chorus, as they ply the short, thick sail-needle and waxed thread, some old-time ditty of the sea. Hark!

'' 'Where are you going, my own pretty maid?'
    Hey-ho! Blow a man down!
    'I'm going a-sailing, sir,' she said.
    Give a man time to blow a man down!"
//

So, BLOW THE MAN DOWN is becoming popularly known in the 1880s?

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 01:48 AM

1855 Marryat, "Frank". _Mountains and Molehills_. London: Longman, Brown, Green. and Longmans.

Marryat is mining at Tuttletown (Tuolumne County) in California during the Gold Rush. It is January 1852.

//
A sailor in the mines is at best a rough and uncomely fellow to the sight; but will you show me anything more pleasing to contemplate than that sturdy fellow there who plies his pickaxe to the tune of " Oh, Sally Brown! " that he may take at night to his sick friend in the tent hard by the luxuries he needs ? The sailors in the mines have been ever distinguished for self-denial; and whenever I see " prim goodness" frown at the rough, careless sailor's oath that will mingle now and then with his " ye-ho ! " I think to myself, " Take out your heart, 'prim goodness,' and lay it by the side of Jack's and offer me the choice of the two, and maybe it won't be yours I'll take, for all that you are faultless to the world's eye."
//

The son of Frederick Marryat would certainly know "Sally Brown."

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 01:22 AM

A note from (arguably) pre-shanty days --

This is a supposedly true story, "My Adventures (Part VI)", by an "O.P.B." from Connecticut, aboard a ship the TRAVELER (slave ship disguised as merchant ship) out of New York and, at this point, at Rio, Brazil. It's in _The Rural Repository_ (Hudson, NY: William B. Stoddard) Vol. 12(23), 16 April 1836.

I believe the period described in the account is the late 1820s.

There is a section where work orders are given. They are being pursued by a schooner. Pg. 180:

//
'Ship them then at once. Man the capstan bars, my men. Send up that drunken fifer, Tom, and let him play Yankee Doodle. That's it. Round with you men, round with you cheerily. Heave, and she must come. Walk her up, my lads, walk her up. What are you doing there you black rascal, leaning your whole weight on that bar. Cook, steward, come out of the cabin, you yellow, sneaking scoundrels and bear a hand on deck here. By the Lord, the schooner's hoisting her topsails. Do you mean to lose this fine land breeze, you long, lubberly villains. Do you mean to sleep in jail to night, you poor, good for nothing devils ?' This last exhortation seemed to have the desired effect, and in a few minutes the anchor was at the larboard cathead, and amid the general confusion Captain Talbot and his bo.us crew came aboard. 'Man the topsail halliards, hoist away' and up went the topsail yards to the inspiring tones of the fife, the sails catching the fresh breeze from the land, and the ship already beginning to feel its influence, and dashing the smooth water in mimic waves from her bows.
//

So, there is a conspicuous absence of singing mentioned. Only the fife is used.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 12:31 AM

John M. wrote:

Here is an entry from 1886, by Robert C. Leslie, entitled SEA PAINTER'S LOG. There are two mentions about maritime work songs. The first has to do with fishermen hauling their boats ashore with the use of a capstan. Here is the link (p. 174):...

In the second reference on page 242, Leslie discusses some specific chanties and gives us the words for: "A Hundred Years Ago", "Storm Along, Stormy", and "Good Morning, Ladies All." ...

Here, Leslie is recollecting an earlier time about the "old Black X sailing-liners", who were "notable for their musical crews".

And here are the texts:

p174
//
Then from midnight and on through the small hours of morning, the beach is lively with the song of the men hauling the boats up from the wash of the sea; after which a steady tramp, tramp round the capstan brings them slowly but surely above highwater mark.
//

p242
//
An Old Sea Song.

Years ago, when the (little) Great Western was fighting an almost solitary battle of steam versus sail power upon the Atlantic, the old Black X sailing liners were notable for their musical crews; and capstan songs, as they were called, always came rolling aft from a liner's forecastle, as the men tramped round winding in the warp that was slowly moving her out of dock (all done now by rattling, whizzing, steam-winch power). I recollect the airs of many of these songs; but the words, except the choruses, were hard to catch; and some of these were coarse, or not worth much when caught. The following was written down as a very superior piece of poetry; and it was sung by a fellow of most "comly making."

Solo. Late one evening as I vas a valking,
Chorus, all. Oh, ho, yes—Oho.
So. O there I heard a loving couple talking:
Ch. A hundered years ago.

So. It was a serious good old woman,
And she vas a saying of things not common,

She vas a saying unto her darter,
O mind, then, vords o' mine herearter,

Red-nosed men frequent the ale-'ouse,
Sandy-'aired men are always jailous,

The fat will coax, the lean will flatter,
O marry none of them, my darter,

So. But marry a man of a comly making,
Ch. Oh, ho, yes—Oho.
So. For in him there's no mistaking:
Ch. A hundered years ago.

So. In so doing of w'ich you'll please me,
Ch. Oh, ho, yes—Oho.
So. And so of my troubles ease me:
Ch. A hundered years ago.

But long before the song reached this point it was usually cut short by the mate singing out, "Vast heaving there for'ard; out bars and lay aft some of ye," &c. Then soon a fresh song would burst from another part of the ship, perhaps the following wild kind of thing:—

So. Oh, poor old Starmy's dead and gone.
Ch. Starm along, boys—Starm along.
So. Oh, poor old Starmy's dead and gone.
Ch. Starm along, Starmy.

So. I dug his grave with a silver spade—
Ch. Carry him along, boys, carry him along.
So. I lowered him down with a golden chain—
Ch. Carry him along, boys, carry him along.

So. We carried him along to London town—
Ch. Starm along, boys—Starm along.
So. We carried him away to Mobille Bay,
Ch. Starm along, Starmy.

Or, just as the ship was passing the dock-gates, this favourite chorus to a very lovely air, which I am sorry I cannot give with it:—

So. Now we're outward bound from London town,
Ch. With a heave oh—haul.
So. With a last farewell and a long farewell.
Ch. And good morning, ladies all—
But we're homeward bound to New York town.
With a heave oh—haul.
And it's there we'll sing and sorrow drown,
Good morning, ladies all.
//

tags: HUNDRED YEARS, STORMY, GOOD MORNING LADIES

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 10 Jan 11 - 12:11 AM

Taking a break from L.A. Smith for a few other notes.

Geo--

Thanks for the song list from "Around Cape Horn to Honolulu..."! Does it give lyrics and/or tunes? And are all of them meant to be shanties/work-songs? Any clue to how or when they were used?

What is "As I Was A Walking Up Dennison Street"? "Blow the Man Down"?

What's the difference between "Ranzo" and "Orenso"?

Lighter--

Boo-yah! You've been holding out!
Thanks too for the idea of "Blow *A* Man Down." That phrase seems to get a lot more earlier hits on searches...and it would make sense if, presumably, related to "Knock a Man Down" and before, possibly, "THE" became the standard.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 11:54 PM

Smith's three versions of BLOW BOYS BLOW look independent. IMO this is one of her best examples, with interesting, varied verses and tune (just one).

//
A YANKEE SHIP.
[with score]

Solo.—A Yankee ship came down the river,
Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.
Solo.—A Yankee ship came down the river,
Chorus.—Blow, my bully boys, blow.
Solo.—And who do you think was skipper of her?
And who do you think was skipper of her?
Dandy Jim from old Carolina,
Chorus.—Blow, my bully boys, blow.
Solo.—Dandy Jim from old Carolina,
And who do you think was second greaser?
Why, Pompey Squash that big buck nigger,
And what do you think they had for dinner?
Monkey's lights and donkey's liver,
And what do you think they had for supper?
Hard tack and Yankee leather,
Then blow, my boys, for better weather,
Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.
Solo.—Then blow, my boys, for better weather
Chorus.—Blow, my bully boys, blow.
Solo.—What do you think was the name of this clipper?
The Flying Cloud, with a cranky skipper,
Then up aloft that yard must go,
One more pull and then belay,
I think I heard our old man say,
Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.
Solo.—He set more sail and give her way,
We'll hoist it high before we go,
Another good pull and make it stay,
And then we've finished for to-day,
And then we've finished for to-day,
Chorus.—Blow, my bully boys, blow.

This chanty is sometimes called " Blow, boys, blow," and the verses vary, not so much in the theme or the locale, which is always America, but in the dramatis personae. For instance, in one version I found—

Solo.—Who do you think was captain of her?
Who do you think was captain of her?
Old John Brown, the boarding master,
Old John Brown, the boarding master,
Who do you think was looking after?
Who do you think was looking after?
Cock-eyed Bill, the West-end barber,
Cock-eyed Bill, the West-end barber.

In another—
Solo.—Oh blow, my boys, I long to hear you. Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.
Solo.—A Yankee Liner coming down the river. Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.
Solo.—And how do you know she's a Yankee Liner? Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.
Solo.—By the stars and stripes she hangs behind her. Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.
Solo.—A Colonial packet coming down the river. Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.
Solo.— How do you know she's a Colonial packet? Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.
Solo.—She fired a gun, I heard the racket. Chorus.—Blow, boys, blow.

And so on. This version was given me by a young Scotchman, whose time at sea had been limited to fifteen months, nevertheless he had a very intimate knowledge of shiplife, and sailors' ways and songs, and was furthermore possessed of a good voice and a better ear ; he sang several chanties for me, and acted, as far as he was able in a drawing-room, the heaving and hauling which they accompanied.

The tune is, however, the same for both titles, and whether known as "A Yankee Ship" or " Blow, boys, blow," it is always fathered on America.
//

After this comes a JOHN BROWN'S BODY collected by Smith:

//
The same may be said of "John Brown," which follows:

[score]

Solo. — In eighteen hundred and sixty-one
The Yankee war it was begun.
In eighteen hundred and sixty-one
As we go marching along.
Chorus.—Glory, halleluiah!
Glory, halleluiah!
As we go marching along.

Solo.—In eighteen hundred and sixty-two
The niggers made a great ado,
In eighteen hundred and sixty-two
As we go marching along.
Chorus.—Glory, halleluiah ! &c.

Solo.—In eighteen hundred and sixty-three
The niggers they were all set free,
In eighteen hundred and sixty-three
As we go marching along.
Chorus.—Glory, halleluiah! &c.

Solo.—In eighteen hundred and sixty-four
The Yankee war it was no more.
In eighteen hundred and sixty-four
As we go marching along.
Chorus.—Glory, halleluiah! &c.

Solo.—Old John Brown was the Abolition man,
Old John Brown was the Abolition man,
As we go marching along.
Chorus.—Glory, halleluiah! &c.

Solo.—John Brown's knapsack was number 92,
John Brown's knapsack was number 92,
As we go marching along.
Chorus.—Glory, halleluiah! &c.
//

This is followed by several non-chanties.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 11:14 PM

LA Smith, cont.


Here's her collected version of TOMMY'S GONE AWAY:

//
The next song, "Tommy's gone to Hilo," is one of the mournful style of chanties, with a very long dragging chorus. [with score]

Solo.--Tommy's gone, what shall I do?
Chorus.—Hurrah, Hilo.
Solo.—Tommy's gone, what shall I do?
Chorus.—Tom's gone to Hilo.
Solo.—To Liverpool, that noted school,
To Liverpool, that noted school,
Tommy's gone to Quebec town,
Tommy's gone to Quebec town,
There's pretty Sail and Jenny Brown, ,
There's pretty Sail and Jenny Brown,
A-dancing on that stony ground,
A-dancing on that stony ground,
Tommy's gone to Baltimore,
A-rolling on the sandy floor,
Tommy's gone to Mobille Bay,
To roll down cotton all the day,
He's gone away to Dixie's Land,
Where there's roses red and violets blue,
Up aloft that yard must go,
I thought I heard the skipper say,
That he would put her through to-day,
Shake her up, and let her go,
Stretch her leech and shew her clew,
One pull more, and that will do,
Chorus.—Hurrah, Hilo.
Solo.—One pull more, and that will do,
Chorus.—Tom's gone to Hilo.
BELAY!

Like most chanties, the lines of "Tommy's gone to Hilo" are repeated every time, the chorus being the same for the first repetition, and changing a little at the second. The pull is made on the word "Hilo."
//

From these comments and elsewhere, it looks as if Smith's informants did a lot of "stringing out." If what she says about "Hilo" is accurate, this was a single pull chanty.

Smith next gives a ballad, "Married to a Mermaid," which uses "Rule Britannia" as a chorus. Nowhere does it say if this was a chanty, but the existence of a chorus suggests that it could have been.

Then comes paraphrasing of Alden 1882 for:
PADDY ON THE RAILWAY
BONEY
HILONDAY

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Lighter
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 06:13 PM

"Chalk and Charcoal – Outlines of a Trip to Europe!" Syracuse (N.Y.) Daily Courier (July 25), p. 1:

"GLASGOW, Scotland, July 12th, '67. … [Steamer Caledonia, Anchor Line, N.Y. to Glasgow] In hauling up the sails, the sailors sang to a wild old Boreas air – this impromptu verse, which they varied indefinitely:

                Blow away – blow a man down,
                A bonnie good mate and a captain too,
                A bonnie good ship and a bonnie good crew,
                Give me some time to blow a man down.

                                CHORUS.

                Away, away, blow a man down."

The first two lines were evidently transposed in typesetting.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 03:43 PM

Next from Haswell comes BLOW THE MAN DOWN. Incidentally, I believe this would make Haswell's the first (to my knowledge, of course) publication of the chanty.

//
He gives the same melody as I have done for " Blow the Man Down," but different lines.

1. "Blow the man down, bullies, blow the man down;
    Blow the man down, bullies, pull him around.
2. Blow the man down, you darlings, lie down,
Blow the man down for fair London town.
3. When the Black Baller is ready for sea,
That is the time that you see such a spree.
4. There's tinkers, and tailors, and soldiers, and all,
They all ship for sailors on board the Black Ball.
5. When the Black Baller hauls out of the dock,
To see these poor fellows, how on board they flock.
6. When the Black Baller gets clear of the land,
'Tis then you will hear the great word of command.
7. 'Lay aft here, ye lubbers, lay aft, one and all,
I'll none of your dodges on board the Black Ball'
8. To see these poor devils, how they will all 'scoat,'
Assisted along by the toe of a boot.
9. It's now we are sailing on th' ocean so wide,
Where the deep and blue waters dash by our black side.
10. It's now when we enter the channel so wide,
All hands are ordered to scrub the ship's side.
11. And now, my fine boys, we are round the rock,
And soon, oh! soon, we will be in the dock.
12. Then all our hands will bundle ashore,
Perhaps some will never to sea go more."
Chorus.—Wae! Hae! Blow the man down,
Give me some time to blow the man down.
//

Luce in 1883 had also given a Black Ball Line theme.

And now Haswell's REUBEN RANZO, which Smith quotes.

//
"Reuben Ranzo"(a true story?), of course is given in yet another form, both as regards music and poetry; this favourite hauling chanty seems to have as many different versions as a pickpocket has aliases. The remark made by the collector on this song is worth remembering; he says, "Ranzo is suspiciously like a 'crib' from a wellknown old sea-song concerning a certain 'Lorenzo,' who also 'was no sailor.' However the versions of Reuben Ranzo may alter one salient point in each remains, and that is the fact of' his being no sailor.'" The last lines of this poem run :—

"I wish I was old 'Ranzo's' son."
Chorus.—Ranzo, boys, Ranzo.
"I'd build a ship of a thousand ton;
I'd give my sailors plenty of rum
Old ' Ranzo' was a good old man,
But now old 'Ranzo's ' dead and gone,
And none can sing his funeral song."
//

The theme here reminds us of Stormalong.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 03:28 PM

In the next section of LA Smith, she introduces (without naming him) her Haswell/Parramatta Sun source (explained by Lighter, above) and explicitly attributes some items to him. I find her tone amusing; we'll see if the most of here shanties were really collected out in the field as she makes out.

//
It is not either necessary or would it be interesting for me to relate at any length, the manner in which many of these chanties have been obtained. I have taken down myself the greater part from the sailors ; sometimes at my own house, sometimes at one of theirs, occasionally in a hospital, or on board ship. There have been difficulties often in my way, in spite of the great kindness I have everywhere had shown me, but I have never had the experience of one of my numerous correspondents—namely that of having the chanties sung to him sotto voce. It appears that he, like many others, had entertained the idea of collecting the Sailors' songs and had accordingly made a beginning, which he has since handed over to me. "I was," he says, "some time ago making a ninety days' voyage in an old 'sailer' and as a pastime I commenced what you have since so ably completed, the task of making a collection of the working songs of the sea. I took notes of the best of the capstan and other songs included in the repertoire of our not very large crew. At first I jotted down the words and music in my note-book while the men were actually hauling at the ropes—but this method promised to yield as many versions of each song as there were sailors (for each man had his own pet way of leading), so that I was constrained to try some other plan. It was this. I selected the most vocal of the crew—a splendid fellow, as supple as a panther, and first at everything. He visited me in my cabin at stated moments, and as his presence was a grave breach of the rules, he had, like Bottom, to ' roar him as gently as any sucking dove.' In a word the songs were given out in a sort of roaring whisper, or whispering roar, which greatly exercised the curiosity of the passengers in the adjacent saloon. Even this chosen songster proved untrue to himself and gave me the same song in different ways, at different times, and this accounts, no doubt, for the discrepancies that exist between some of the songs as given by you, and as taken by myself." I believe it is for this reason, that the chanties have remained so long uncollected. Of course, I have found these same discrepancies over and over again, and many times have almost given up the idea of the collection, in consequence. It is the same amongst all nations of sailors. The writer of the letter just referred to, sent me some of the chanties he had taken down in secret in his cabin, and the versions both of music and words are different to mine.
//

From my own 21st century perspective it is hard to imagine just what the problem was -- the funny argument that the chanties could not be collected because of their variability. Well, just collect what you hear! But I do understand why they might not have done that. They were looking for cannon. Perhaps this explains why so many copied texts from earlier publications. LA Smith must have heard many more chanties than she lets on, but may have decided to use previously published versions as a sort of "standard."

Smith then gives Haswell's WHISKEY JOHNNY.

//
For instance, "Whisky Johnny " he gives as " Whisky " (hauling chanty), and though the sentiment is the same he gives it in quite other words :—

Solo.—O! Whisky is the life of man,
Chorus.—Whisky, Johnny!
          I drink whisky when I can,
Chorus.—O! Whisky for my Johnny.
Solo.—I drink it out of an old tin can,
       Whisky killed my poor old dad,
       Whisky drove my mother mad,
       Whisky caused me much abuse,
       Whisky put me in the Calabouse,
       Whisky fills a man with care,
       Whisky makes a man a bear.

The tune is also different, so I give that to which these
words were sung. A query is appended to " Whisky," as to
whether it be an anacreontic or a teetotal hymn? The
sentiment is mixed, and it might serve for both. [score]
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 04:41 AM

Correction: The above WHISKEY JOHNNY was not the one from Haswell (I see that coming later).

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 04:32 AM

Smith next gives "THE LION MAN-O'-WAR," without saying it is a chanty, only that it was "A very popular song at Portsmouth..."

She follows it with HOME DEARIE HOME, the shore composition. Her version of the words, unless they were popular in periodicals/broadsides of the time, may have come from James Runciman's SKIPPERS AND SHELLBACKS (London: Chatto and Windus, 1885).

http://books.google.com/books?id=OrwNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA207&dq=%22amble+is+a+fine+tow

The idiosyncratic words match exactly (e.g. "Amble" rather than "Falmouth")...but then where does her tune come from? ANd she says that it is "Amongst the favourite chanties of North-country sailors..." but I don't know what the proof of that is. Chanty for what?

Next she gives a stanza, with tune, of GOLDEN VANITY, which she calls 'the capstan song of "Lowlands"'.

Then comes a version (text only) of OUTWARD AND HOMEWARD BOUND that I've not seen exactly before:

//
There is also a " Homeward Bound " song very well known to them :—

"At Catherine's Dock I bade adieu
To Poll and Bet, and lovely Sue;
The anchor's weighed, the sails unfurled,
We're bound to plough the watery world;
Don't you see we're outward bound.

But when we come back to Catherine's Docks,
The pretty girls they come in flocks;
And Bet to Poll and Sue will say—
'Oh, here comes Jack, with his three years' pay;'
Don't you see we're homeward bound?
Then we all set off to the 'Dog and Bell,'
Where the best of liquor they always sell;
In comes old Archy, with a smile,
Saying ' Drink, my lads, it's worth your while ;'
Don't you see we're homeward bound?"
//

No information as to whether it was a chanty.

I believe that her next song, WHISKEY JOHNNY, came from the Haswell 1879 source.

//
The chanty known by the name of "Whisky for my Johnny," or "Whisky Johnny," has many different verses, all more or less bearing upon the same subject, and none betraying much delicacy or refinement of expression. It has been sent to me from several different quarters where I have applied for chanties, so I - conclude from this fact, that it must be fairly well known amongst the sailors, and may be even a great favourite. As I have before remarked, the sailors' songs are truly characteristic of the men they belong to, and so long as they adapt themselves to the purpose for which they are intended, and help to lighten the labour and regulate the work at sea, we must be content to take them as they are, and not look for drawing-room rose-water sentiment in the ideas that originate and find favour amongst the hardy toilers of the briny ocean.

[w/ score]
Oh, whisky is the life of man;
Oh, whisky! Oh, Johnny!
Oh, whisky is the life of man!
Oh, whisky for my Johnny!

Solo.—Oh whisky makes me pawn my clothes,
Chorus.—Oh whisky, Oh Johnny;
Oh whisky makes me pawn my clothes,
Chorus.—Oh whisky for my Johnny.
Solo.—Oh whisky gave me a broken nose,
Oh whisky gave me a broken nose,
I thought I heard the old man say,
I thought I heard the old man say,
I thought I heard the old woman say,
I thought I heard the old woman say,
Oh whisky up and whisky down,
Oh whisky up and whisky down,
I thought I heard the steward shout,
I thought I heard the steward shout,
Chorus.—Here's whisky for my Johnny.
If I can't get whisky, I'll have rum,
Chorus.—Whisky, Johnny;
Oh that's the stuff to make good fun,
Chorus.—Oh whisky for my Johnny.
For whisky men and women will run,
Chorus.—Oh whisky, Oh Johnny;
I'll drink whisky when I can,
That's the stuff to make you frisky,
Chorus.—Whisky, Johnny;
Give me whisky and I'll give you tin,
If you have no whisky give me gin,
If you have no whisky give me gin.
      BELAY THERE!

Belay is generally said when the song comes to an end, or "Coil up the ropes there, boys."
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 03:29 AM

Smith has PAY ME THE MONEY DOWN, with lyrics taken from Atlantic Monthly 1858. I don't know where she gets the "English comic song" idea, and the "pay me my money" seems quite in line with stevedore songs.

//
Any quick, lively tune, to which you might work a fireengine, will serve for the music of a pumping song. The words vary with every fancy. "Pay me the money down" is a very favourite pumping chorus. Somehow thus the verse runs (it is known as an English comic song):—

Solo.—Your money, young man, is no object to me.
Chorus.—Pay me the money down.
Solo.—Half-a-crown's no great demand.
Chorus.—Pay me the money down.
Solo & Chorus.—Money down, money down;
             Pay me the money down.

It seems a very strange song for men so little given to avarice as sailors are. Their parting ceremony on embarking is usually to pitch their last shilling on to the wharf, to be scrambled for by the land-sharks. Nor yet does there seem much sense in it, but it serves to man and move the brakes merrily. The following tune is sometimes used for this chanty :—
PADDLE YOUR OWN CANOE. [score]
//

Even though she got the lyrics from a book, did she hear this sung? Otherwise, how does she know the tune?

Then comes "Highland day and off she goes," from Atlantic Monthly.

Her RUN LET THE BULGINE RUN is original:

//
RUN, LET THE BULL CHIMES RUN. [score]

This is another favourite pumping song :—

Chorus.—Run, let the bull chimes run,
Chorus.—We'll run,—
Solo.—Away to America.
Chorus.—Way aha, way aha!
Way aha, way aha!
Chorus.—We'll pump her dry and get our grog.
Solo.—Run, let the bull chimes run.
Chorus.—We'll pump her dry and away we'll go,
Solo.—Away to America!
//

Once again, the solo - chorus structure anfd the notation don't quite jive.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 03:12 AM

Smith's CHEERLY also looks original -- characterized by her giving the melody without the words beneath the notes. Actually, it is not clear here how the words should fit the melody she gives. But here is the description, where she calls the chanty "Sally Racket":

//
Then there is the well-known topsail-halyard song, " Sally Racket," greatly used by the sailors when loading their ships with timber at Quebec. In this chanty some of the lines are much longer than others, and to any one not acquainted with Jack Tar's style of singing, it would seem impossible to make them come in, but the sailors seem to be able to manage it. Like "Reuben Ranzo," the solo lines of Sally Racket are always repeated, the same chorus occurring after each solo line:

Solo.-- Sally Racket, hoy oh,
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men.
Solo.-- Sally Racket, hoy oh!
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men.
Solo.-- Sally Racket, hoy oh!
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men; a haughty hoy oh! cheerily, men.
Solo.-- Pawned my jacket, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men.
Solo.-- Pawned my jacket, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men; a haughty hoy oh! cheerily, men.
Solo.-- Sold the ticket, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men.
Solo.-- Sold the ticket, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men.
Solo.-- And sold the ticket, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men; a haughty hoy oh! cheerily, men.
Solo.-- That's not the worst, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men.
Solo.-- And that's not the worst, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- And that's not the worst, hoy oh.
Solo.-- And that's not the worst, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men; a haughty hoy oh! cheerily, men.
Solo.-- She left me in the lurch, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- Cheerily, &c.
Solo.-- I don't care a rap, hoy oh.
Chorus.-- Cheerily, men.
Solo.—If she never comes back, hoy oh.
Chorus.—Cheerily, men.
Solo.—I can get another girl, hoy oh.
Chorus.—Cheerily, men.
Solo.—Good-bye, Sally Racket, hoy oh.
Chorus.—Cheerily, men.
Solo.—You can keep my old jacket, hoy oh.
Chorus.—Cheerily, cheerily, men.
Solo.—And burn the ticket, hoy oh.
Chorus.—Cheerily, cheerily, men.
(Spoken) That'll do, boys.

The words at the end of the song are spoken by the man in charge of the work—mate, second mate, or boatswain. In the chorus the word "men" is accented by the pull; and in the solo lines the word "oh" is where another pull is taken.
//

Well, this is interesting. Pull on "oh" and "men"? I thought it was one pull on "cheer-". I could see how it could possibly work, but with the melody she gives, those words are on unaccented notes...

The "pawned my jacket/sold the ticket" idea also appeared in a Cheerily up-thread, from 1852.

Smith follows this with a curious note that, despite the quaint wording, rings rather true to me in the context of this thread:

//
I am told that the oldest chanty on record is one that goes by the name of "Cheerily, men; oh holly, hi-ho, cheerily, men." But at what time, in what place it is used —or I should say, was used, for I think it is almost obsolete now—I cannot say. It is, however, a typical specimen of an English sailor-song of a remote period, for undoubtedly many of the sailor-songs are of negro origin. They are the reminiscences of melodies sung by negroes stowing cotton in the holds of ships in Southern ports. The "chanty-men" have, to some extent, kept to the silly words of the negroes, and have altered the melodies to suit their purposes.
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 02:38 AM

cont...

REUBEN RANZO looks to be an original collection by Smith:

//
"Reuben Ranzo" is, perhaps, the greatest favourite with the men of all the chanties. The tune is mournful and almost haunting in its monotony:

[musical score]

Solo.—Pity Reuben Ranzo,
Chorus.—Ranzo, boys, a Ranzo.
Solo.—Oh, pity Reuben Ranzo,
Chorus.—Ranzo, boys, a Ranzo.
Solo.—Reuben was no sailor,
Chorus.—Ranzo, boys, a Ranzo.
Solo.—Reuben was no sailor,
Chorus.—Ranzo, boys, a Ranzo.
Solo.—By trade he was a tailor,
Chorus.—Ranzo, &c.
Solo.—He went to school on Monday,
Chorus.—Ranzo, &c.
Solo.—Learnt to read on Tuesday,
Chorus.—Ranzo, &c.

The chorus continues the same all through, the pull always being made at the word "Ranzo." Each line of the solo is also repeated.

Solo.—He learnt to write on Wednesday,
He learnt to fight on Thursday,
On Friday he beat the master,
On Saturday we lost Reuben,
And where do you think we found him?
Why, down in yonder valley,
Conversing with a sailor.
He shipped on board of a whaler;
He shipped as able seamen do;
Oh, pity Reuben Ranzo.
The captain was a bad man,
He took him to the gangway,
And gave him five-and-forty.
The mate he was a good man,
He taught him navigation;
Now he's captain of a whaler,
And married the captain's daughter,
And now they both are happy.
This ends my little ditty,
This ends my little ditty.
Chorus.—Ranzo, boys, a Ranzo!
Belay there, lads, belay.
//

Next she quotes Alden on HUCKLEBERRY HUNTING. She adds her own note about "hilo," mentioning TOMMY'S GONE, but does not offer lyrics.

//
I have a song amongst my collection entitled "Tommy's gone to 'Hilo,'" which again upsets the theory that "hilo" was an active verb; at least, in this instance, it rises to the dignity of a proper noun :—
//

Then the unique collected chanty, UP A HILL. It is reminiscent of a Grimm fairy tale. Smith may have remembered it wrong.

//
There is another topsail-yard chorus something like this :—

Solo.—There once was a family living on a hill,
And if they're not dead they're living there still.
Chorus.—Up, up, my boys, up a hill;
Up, up, my boys, up a hill.
//

I've interpreted this HERE.

And it is sung to the tune of "Blow the man down." Then there is the well-known topsail-halyard song, " Sally Racket," greatly used by the sailors when loading their ships with timber at Quebec. In this chanty some of the lines are much longer than others, and to any one not acquainted with Jack Tar's style of singing, it would seem impossible to make them come in, but the sailors seem to be able to manage it. Like "Reuben Ranzo," the solo lines of Sally Racket are always repeated, the same chorus occurring after each solo line:

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 01:57 AM

Next comes...

//
HAULING CHANTIES.

Of these, there is first the hand-over-hand song, in very quick time; then the long-pull song, when there are, perhaps, twenty or thirty men pulling on a rope. To be effective, the pull must be made unanimously. This is secured by the chanty, the pulling made at some particular word in the chorus. For example, in the following verse the word "handy" is the signal, at each repetition, for a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together:—

Chorus.—Oh, shake her up, and away we'll go,
So handy, my girls, so handy;
Up aloft from down below,
So handy, my girls, so handy.

For heavier work, or where hands are few, one of longer metre is used, such as "O Long Storm, storm along, Stormy," which must not, however, be confounded with the capstan chanty," Old Storm Along."
//

HANDY MY BOYS has been taken from Chambers's 1869. Smith lists the whole thing as "Chorus," as if it were done hand-over-hand style, although the description makes it out to be a double-pull halyard chanty.

The note about the "longer metre" had been in the 1868 article, followed by a sheet chanty. The 1869 got it messed up, by making a false contrast between "So Handy" for halliards and other examples for halliards. Furthermore, "O Long Storm, storm along, Stormy" had been lifted from the Atlantic Monthly 1858 (where it was a pump chanty) and plopped into the 1869 in the wrong place. Smith is perpetuating the error, I think. Again I think that Smith really did not get the difference between types of chanties, and how she categorizes them should be viewed with skepticism.

Smith is the "first" to name BLOW THE MAN DOWN in print. We are forced to conclude that she collected it, though she does say it was "one of the most well-known."

//
One of the best and jolliest quick-time songs, and certainly one of the most well-known, is "Blow the Man Down." It is very tuneful, and though, perhaps, the words are scarcely to be admired, still it is a genuine chanty, and has a verve and vigour about it that speak of its value as an incentive to the labour of hoisting the topsail-yards or any other hauling work :— [with score]

I'm a true English sailor, Just come from Hong-Kong,
Tibby, Heigh, ho, blow the man down!
My stay on the old English shore won't be long,
Then give me some time to blow the man down.

Then we'll blow the man up, and well blow the man down,
Tibby! Heigh, ho, blow the man down !
So we'll blow the man up, and we'll blow the man down!
Then give me some time to blow the man down.

Solo.—As I was a-walking down Winchester Street—
Heigh-ho, blow the man down;
A pretty young girl I happened to meet,
Oh, give me some time to blow the man down.
Chorus.— So we'll blow the man up, and we'll blow the man down,
Heigh-ho, blow the man down.
We'll blow the man up, and we'll blow the man down,
Oh, give me some time to blow the man down.
//

Funny how she has divided Solo and Chorus -- not like a halyard chanty at all. My guess is that someone sang it for her solo, and she did not understand where the chorus parts would come in.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 01:22 AM

LA Smith, cont.

Smith next gives two more "Stormy" texts, without score. The first, a MR. STORMALONG, is one that I've not seen yet exactly in print, and it appears to be one Smith collected in her fieldwork.

//
This is a great favourite, and often sung after a gale of wind.

Solo.—Old Storm Along is dead and gone,
Chorus.—Ay ! ay ! ay ! Mr. Storm Along!
Solo.—When Stormy died, I dug his grave,
I dug his grave with a silver spade,
I hove him up with an iron crane,
And lowered him down with a golden chain
Old Storm Along is dead and gone.
Chorus.—Ay ! ay ! ay ! Mr. Storm Along.

Each line is repeated twice. The solemnity of the air and the mock-seriousness of the words have a most comical effect, and reminded me very much, when I heard them sung, of the tale of " The Death of Cock Robin," the well-known favourite of the children's picture-books. ...
//

This is followed by a STORMY harvested from Leslie's SEA PAINTER'S (1886):

//
I have since come across a somewhat different version of the words of this chanty, in which "Stormy" was written "Starmy," and of which the ending was—

Solo.—We carried him along to London town,
Chorus.—Starm Along, boys, Starm Along.
Solo.—We carried him away to Mobille Bay,
Chorus.—Starm Along, boys, Starm Along.
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 04:09 PM

LA Smith, cont.:

The following passage, introducing LOWLANDS AWAY and ACROSS THE WESTERN OCEAN is essentially copied from Alden 1882. Smith does one little trick in that she runs w/ Allen's note about how "My dollar and a half a day" could be a chorus variation, and she goes ahead and fits it into a full stanza. However, Alden had said that it was the "second chorus," but she puts it as the first.

//
One of the wildest and most mournful of the sailor songs is "Lowlands." The chorus is even more than usually meaningless, but the song is the sighing of the wind and the throbbing of the restless ocean translated into melody:—

I dreamt a dream the other night:
Lowlands, Lowlands, Hurrah, my John!
I dreamt I saw my own true love:
My Lowlands a-ray!
                  
Much care was evidently given to "Lowlands" by the chanty-men. It has often been improved. In its original form the first chorus was shorter and less striking, and the words of the second chorus were, "My dollar and a half a day."

Solo.—Lowlands, Lowlands, away, my John.
Chorus.—My dollar and a half a day.
Solo.—I took up my clothes and I went away.
Chorus.—Lowlands, Lowlands, a-ray.

Of the same general character as " Lowlands," though inferior to it, is the song that was usually known as "Across the Western Ocean." There are several variations of the second chorus, none of which could be called improvements.

I wisht I was in London town:
Oh, say, where you bound to?
That highway I'd cruise round and round,
Across the Western Ocean.
//

Following this, Smith copies STORMY ALONG and MR. STORMALONG from Alden.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 02:00 PM

Just got my copy of   L. Vernon Briggs, "Around Cape Horn to Honolulu on The Bark Amy Turner 1880", and found the following references:

"Old Horse", p44,
"What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?", p86-7
"The Ship "Neptune"", 87-9
"As I Was A Walking Up Dennison Street", 89-91
"Ranzo". p92-4
"Orenso", p95-8
"Haul Away, Joe", p98-100
"Blow, My Bully Boys, Blow", 100-02
"Whiskey for My Johnny", p103-04
"Santa Anna on the Plains of Mexico", p170-2

I came upon the reference to this book in the Carpenter Online Catalog.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 03:15 AM

LA Smith, pg. 14, give the rough tune, no lyrics, to JOHNNY BOKER, with this note:

//
I have no words to the next bowline song, which rejoices in the name of " Johnny Polka."
//

This pretty much proves that she did not read Adam's ROCKET.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 02:59 AM

pg. 12
On the ethnic and national associations of chanties, Smith says it is impossible to distinguish British and American ones, but then goes on to say that there are some about which there is no doubt. No examples. Then notes that Black singers made up a lot of them.

//
It is almost impossible to discover which are British and which American, amongst the chanties, they are so mixed up with each other, and any which may formerly have been characteristic of the one country, have become so cosmopolitan, that the sailors themselves have been unable to discriminate between them. I have, therefore, acting upon some very reliable advice, thought it better to classify under one heading all chanties with English words, although there are many cases where the nationality is beyond doubt. Coloured men being, as a rule, such good singers and ingenious poets, may be credited with many; and most probably "Slapandergosheka' was first pronounced by some more than usually clever nigger.
//

The next passage (which I'll refrain from posting) is based on ATLANTIC MONTHLY 1858 introducing BOWLINE. However, she makes the mistake of calling it a capstan chanty. And the text + tune given are out of Alden 1882.

She admits her debt to CHAMBERS'S here:

//
This very practical and certainly nautical explanation of the use of a capstan chanty I found in an old number of Chambers' Journal, to whose clever and instructive columns I owe many hints on the subject of sailors and their songs.
//

This is the second time she called "Bowline" a capstan chanty. Is it a typo (twice), or is she really that confused about chanty forms? It does seem to undermine her credibility.

Another version of "Bowline" follows, that appears to be one of the Haswell shanties noted by Lighter up-thread:

//
Another version of "Haulin' the Bowlin'."
i. Haul on the bowlin', the fore and main-top bowlin',
Haul on the bowlin', the bowlin', Haul.
2. Haul on the bowlin', the packet she's a rollin',
Haul on the bowlin', the bowlin', Haul.
3. Haul on the bowlin', the captain he's a growlin',
Haulin' the bowlin', the bowlin', Haul.

At the word Haul, which terminates each couplet, the tars give a tremendous jerk on the rope.
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 02:39 AM

Capstan shanties. The prose is from 1869 CHAMBERS'S, but the chanty YEO HEAVE HO is a new addition:

//
In the capstan chanties the metre is generally long, and they are of a more pathetic nature than the hauling ones. To those who have heard it as the men run round the capstan, bringing up the anchor from the English mud of a ship outward bound for a two or three years' trip, perhaps never to return, what can be more sad or touching, although sung with a hearty good-will, than "Yo, heave ho!" [with tune]

Yo, heave, ho! Round the capstan go!
Round, men, with a will! Tramp, and tramp it still!
The anchor must be heaved, The anchor must be heaved.
(Chorus.) Yo, ho! Yo, ho! Yo, ho! Yo, ho!
//

This is followed by the 1869 CHAMBERS'S versions of OUTWARD AND HOMEWARD BOUND and SACRAMENTO, then the intro to RIO GRANDE, but with a new tune and more than one set of lyrics. Is this another original? She also mentions SANTIANA and PADDY LAY BACK (though, as Hugill would later note, she notes it as if it were 2 different songs, viz. "Valparaiso" and "Round the Horn" -- merely repeating the mistake in CHAMBERS'S).

//
Another outward-bound chanty is "To Rio Grande we're bound away ;" the tune of this last-named is very mournful, as will be found in the fews bars of the melody which follows:

The ship went sailing out over the bar,
O Rio! O Rio!
They pointed her nose for the Southron Star,
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.
Then away, love, away,
Away down Rio;
Then fare you well, my pretty young girl,
We're bound for the Rio Grande.

"Valparaiso," "Round the Horn," and "Santa Anna," are all much in the same style as "Rio Grande."

Solo.—"Were you ever in Rio Grande?
Chorus.—Away you Rio.
Solo.—O were you ever in Rio Grande?
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
      Away you Rio, away you Rio.
      Fare you well, my pretty young girl,
      I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Solo.—As I was going down Broadway Street,
Solo.—A pretty young girl I chanced to meet,
Chorus.—I am bound to Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, away you Rio,
Fare you well, my pretty young girl,
I am off to Rio Grande.
Solo.—Oh where are you going, my pretty maid?
Solo.—Oh where are you going, my pretty maid?
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, &c.
Solo.—I am going a milking, sir, she said.
Solo.—I am going a milking, sir, she said.
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, &c.
Solo.—What is your fortune, my pretty maid?
Solo.—What is your fortune, my pretty maid?
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande,
Away you Rio, &c.
Solo.—My face is my fortune, sir, she said.
Solo.—My face is my fortune, sir, she said.
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, &c.
Solo.—What is your father, my pretty maid?
Solo.—What is your father, my pretty maid?
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, away you Rio.
Then fare you well, my pretty young girl,
I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Solo.—My father's a farmer, sir, she said.
Solo.—My father's a farmer, sir, she said.
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, &c.
Solo.—What is your mother, my pretty maid?
Solo.—What is your mother, my pretty maid?
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, &c.
Solo.—Wife to my father, sir, she said.
Solo.—Wife to my father, sir, she said.
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, &c.
Solo.—Then I can't marry you, niy pretty maid.
Solo.—Then I can't marry you, my pretty maid.
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, &c.
Solo.—Nobody asked you, sir, she said.
Solo.—Nobody asked you, sir, she said.
Chorus.—I am bound to the Rio Grande.
Away you Rio, &c."
//

The next bit is also lifted from CHAMBER'S:

//
American vessels, I think, may be charged with the following, which are all capstan chanties,—" Oceanida," "Johnny's Gone," " The Black Ball Line," and" Slapandergosheka," the last-named with the incomprehensible title is addressed "To all you ladies now on land," and may be said to be slightly egotistical; it commences—
"Have you got, lady, a daughter so fair? [*"fine" in CHAMBERS'S]
       Slapandergosheka,
That is fit for a sailor that has crossed the Line?
       Slapandergosheka."
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 01:26 AM

Indeed, Charley! If you search this thread for "extra" you can see the development of that theme. In fact, it looks like that line first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly of 1858, and Smith has copied it here. This appears to be ground zero for that cliche, as I don't find it in any of the earlier sources.

***
LA Smith, cont.

The sentiment that steam has killed chanties -- an I idea which I believe "first" appeared in Alden (1882). Dunno who wrote for the "St. James's Gazette."

//
A writer in the St. James's Gazette of December 6th, 1884, says: "The beau-ideal chanty-man has been relegated to the past. His death-knell was the shriek of the steam-whistle, and the thump of the engines. When he flourished British ships were manned by British seamen, and carried much stronger crews in proportion to their tonnage than their successors. In those days gipsywinches, patent windlasses and capstans, had no existence, and the heaving and hauling had to be performed by manual strength and labour; and to make the work 'go' lighter, the chanty-man chanted his strange lays, while the tars with hearty good-will joined in the refrains and choruses. ...

... Old tars tell us that the chanties are not what they were before steam became so universal: one added, on telling me this, " I'll tell you what it is, Miss, steamboats have not only taken the wind out of our sails, but they have taken the puff out of us too, and them as remembers ship-life as it was, will scarcely recognize it now-a-days." This advocate of the old school was one of many "old salts" whose acquaintance I made, and who goodnaturedly sang for me several of their best-remembered chanties in a Sailors' Home in the North of England. I was very agreeably surprised at the effect of some of these chanty choruses; some of the men present had really good voices, and they sang with a life and spirit, and with as much rhythmical accuracy as though they were miles away on the briny ocean "heaving the windlass round, or hoisting the ponderous anchor."

Whilst on the subject of Sailors' Homes, I should like to digress for just one moment to express my cordial thanks to all those connected with the institutions that have so greatly helped me in the matter of collecting these chanties. To the Secretaries, Missionaries, and sailor inmates of many of the English Homes, I am indebted for much of the information I have obtained. ...
//

So she cites her human subjects: old gents at sailors' homes. We will see, I hope, just which chanties came from them and which were drawn from elsewhere.

Several types of chanties:

pg7
//
There are several kinds of chanty, though I believe, properly speaking, they should only be divided into two classes, namely, those sung at the capstan and those sung when hauling on a rope: but there are, over and above these, pumping songs—pumping being part of the daily morning duty of a well-disciplined merchant-vessel, just a few minutes' spell to keep the vessel free and the cargo unharmed by bilge-water; it is not a dismal sound at all, rather a lively one, on the contrary. There are also chanties used when holy-stoning the decks, and when stowing away the cargo; and indeed I think one may safely conclude that every one of Jack's duties, from Monday morning to Saturday night, is done to some sort of music, and according to the-Philadelphia catechism his labours do not end then, for in it we are taught that—

"Six days shalt thou labour and do all thou art able, And on the seventh, holy-stone the deck and clean-scrape the cable."

There is one job that sailors seldom fail to get, even when the weather is such as to prevent other work being done, and that is holy-stoning the decks. The men have to kneel down and push backwards and forwards a goodsized stone (usually sandstone), the planks being previously wetted and sprinkled with sand. From the fact of kneeling to it, this unpleasant task is known at sea under the title of " saying prayers."
//

Another cliche begins here. And this is the first mention of holystoning chanties.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Lighter
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 09:03 AM

No excuse for failing to proof-read.

The correct name of the vessel is "Parramatta." And, as Gibb observes, the correct publication date of Smith's book is 1888.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 08:54 AM

"A good voice and a stirring chorus are worth an extra man."

"five extra men"

"10 extra men"

A phrase which has become so inflated with each repetition that it currently rivals the total of posts on "The Mother of All BS Threads."

Cheerily,
Charley Noble et al

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 05:39 AM

Excellent info, Lighter -- and timely! I am about the dissect/log LA Smith; it is the last (for now!) textual source of the 1880s that I have.

***

L.A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_ (London, 1888).

The editor of _The Shipping World_ had commissioned her to write a series of articles on shanties. Do we know these articles?

Introduction dated June 1887. I believe that is too late to have had access to Davis and Tozer's collection FWIW.

She learned some schanties directly from sailors. The introductory notes make much of this, though we know that so many of her items were just culled from other texts.

I see some plagiarism so far from the unsigned 1869 Chambers's Journal article, so we know for sure that she read that (or wrote it?!).

The chapter of interest is the first,

//
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN "CHANTIES;" OR, WORKING SONGS OF THE SEA.
//

I begin at a passage saying how chanties were not part of navy life:

//
On vessels of war, the drum, fife, or boatswain's whistle furnish the necessary movement regulator. There is a vast difference between the merchant sailor and his fellow "salt," the man-o'-war's man, whom they call "Johnny Haultaut," or "John o' Fight." They hold each other in mutual derision, although without any unfriendly feeling. Accustomed to the comparative independence and free life of a merchant-vessel, they look with scorn on the binding discipline and severe penalties of a man-o'-war, and laugh contemptuously as they watch the crew in uniform dress walk round the windlass, and weigh anchor like mechanical dummies:—
    "Your work is very hard, my boys,
    Upon the ocean sea,
   And for your reefing topsails,
       I'd rather you as me—
I feather my oar unto the shore,
So happy as I be in the Guard-ship, ho!"

No hearty chanties there—no fine chorus ringing with feeling and sentiment, brought out with the sort of despairing wildness, which so often strikes neighbouring landsfolk with the deepest emotion. He likes to growl —and he may, so long as he goes about his work. I have heard mates say, "Give me a man that can growl : the more he growls, the more he works." Silence reigns supreme aboard a Queen's ship; no general order is given by word of mouth, the boatswain's whistle takes its place. There, where the strength of one or two hundred men can be applied at one and the same effort, the labour is not intermittent, but continuous. The men form on either side of the rope to be hauled, and walk away with it like firemen marching with their engine, when the headmost pair bring up at the stern or bow, they part, and the two streams flow back to the starting-point outside the following files. Thus in this perpetual "follow my leader way" the work is done, with more precision and steadiness than in the merchant service. In it the heavier work is done by each man doing his utmost at the same moment. This is regulated by the "Chanty," and here is the true singing of the deep sea—it is not recreation, it is an essential part of the work. It will masthead the topsail-yards, on making sail; it will start the anchor, ride down the main-tack with a will, it will break out and take on board cargo, and keep the pumps going. A good voice and a stirring chorus are worth an extra man.
//

A similarly worded passage occurred in Symondson's 1876 TWO YEARS ABAFT THE MAST

cont...

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: shipcmo
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 06:16 PM

Jeez,
Just as I thought I had all the publications I should have.
I recently ordered "Around Cape Horn to Honolulu on The Bark Amy Turner 1880" By: L. Vernon Briggs

But thanks anyway for the "heads up".

Cheers,

Geo

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Lighter
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 05:40 PM

George H. Haswell was a passenger on board S.S. Pamaratta, London to Sydney, in the fall of 1879. He noted ten shanties with their melodies as sung during the voyage and published them in the passengers' on-board newspaper, "The Paramatta Sun." Graham Seal transcribed Haswell's work in a booklet called "Ten Shanties Sung on the Australian Run 1879" (Antipodes Press, 1992).

This is an extremely valuable collection because it was made on the spot before much on shanties - or their music - had been published.

Even more interesting, L. A. Smith tells us in "Music of the Waters" (1884) that another Pamaratta passenger had sent her all the shanties Haswell had printed, and she includes them, mostly accurately and complete, in her own book. This is unfortunate because that publication allowed the Pamaratta shanties to influence all post-1884 collectors to some degree when otherwise they would have been a unique standard of comparison for later versions.

Anyway, the following shanties from "Music of the Waters" can be dated definitely to 1879, are entirely authentic, and do not represent lines conflated by a landlubber editor from different versions.

The shanties are:

1. Heave Away, My Johnny
2. Haulin' [sic]the Bowlin'
3. Handy Jim
4. [Away] Haul Away
5. The Dead Horse
6. Bonny [i.e., Boney]
7. Whisky [Johnny]
8. Blow the Man Down
9. Ranzo
10. Good-bye, Fare Ye Well

Had there been more issues of the "Paramatta Sun," there may have been more shanties - but no such luck!

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Lighter
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 01:24 PM

Seems to me that the French "chanter" in this case means/ meant something like English "to sing out an order (for sailors to get to work)," rather than "to sing a shanty."

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 04:25 AM

A few details on the Mason book introduced above by John Minear. The original of _Before the Mast in Sailing Ships_ came in 1928. It deals with the 1880s-90s.

Aug. 1884. Having left SF bay, up the Sacramento river. Heaving anchor, to moor at Port Costa, with stevedore crew. Fully rigged British ship. SACRAMENTO, SANTIANA, SALLY BROWN. Pg 66:

//
Campbell's men were all splendid chanty men and they fairly made the harbour ring with the melody of their strong voices. The leading man was a negro who had a powerful voice. The first song was "The Banks of Sacramento." The words are:—

"Blow, boys, blow, for Californio,
For there is plenty of gold,
So as I have been told,
On the banks of Sacramento," etc.

Another good chanty was:—

"Oh, Mexico, I do very well know;
Hooray, Santa Anna;
For Santa Anna has gained the day
Along the plains of Mexico," etc.

Another was "Sally Brown"—:

"Oh, Sally Brown was a bright Mulatto.
Was a bright Mulatto,
She drinks rum and chews tobacco;
I'll spend my money on Sally Brown," etc.
//

Pg. 74:

//
A very dull-looking crowd manned the capstan until Potter, the Englishman, started a chanty:—
"He are homeward bound for Falmouth Town…"
''

Pg117:

//
As we walked merrily around the capstan Cockney Bob was at his best. His first chanty was:
"We are homeward bound for Liverpool Town,
Good-bye fare ye well, good-bye fare ye well;
Homeward bound for Liverpool town…"
//

In the Mersey (Liverpool area), heaving anchor on final arrival, early 1885. Adds LEAVE HER JOHNNY . P118:

//
As we hove up anchor that afternoon we fairly made the Mersey ring with our chanteying. Cockney Bob started with "Leave her, Johnnie, leave her":

"I thought I heard our captain say,
        Leave her, Johnnie, leave her.
Come along and get your pay;
        Leave her, Johnnie, leave her.
"Times are hard and wages low,
        Leave her, Johnnie, leave her,
A hungry ship and a drunken crew;
        Leave her, Johnnie, leave her."
Etc., etc.

Another chantey was "Sally Brown":

"Oh, Sally Brown was a bright Mulatto,
She drinks rum and chews tobacco;
I'll spend my money on Sally Brown,
Way hay, roll and go."
                        Etc., etc.
//

//
With no discernable context, 1885. MR. STORMALONG. pg 121:

Old Stormalong has gone to rest,
Of all the sailors he was the best;
We'll dig his grave with a silver spade,
And lower him down with a golden chain—
        By all his shipmates blest.
To my aye, aye, Mister Stormalong.
                Etc., etc.
//

P157:

//
The first chantey was "Leave her, Johnny, leave her":

"A leaky ship and a drunken skipper,
It is time for us to leave her;
Captain drinks whisky and rum…"

There might be more chanties; I've only previewed this.
//

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 03:45 AM

Sorry to interrupt:
Anybody within the receiving range of Irish 'Lyric FM' can catch three - hour long radio programmes on sea songs over the next three nights, starting at 6.00pm tonight and described as "a three part exploration of Ireland's song tradition" and are as follows:
Wed - 'Hard Men To Shave', narratives in the shanties and ballads of the 19th century.
Thur. - The Tumbling Wave, Coastal songs, including tales of shipwrecks, smuggers, drownings and heroic rescues.
Fri. - Love is Tempestuous.
The programmes have been researched and are presented by Mary Owen.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 02:02 AM

//
HISSA, O, HA , HISSE: chant de l'homme qui donne la voix pour réunir les efforts de plusieurs autres sur un même cordage afin de produire un plus grand effet. Ce chant ou cri n'a plus guère lieu que dans quelques ports.
//

"HISSA, O, HA, HISSE: song of the man who gives voice to unite the efforts of several others on the same rope to produce a greater effect. This song or cry has hardly place in a few ports."

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 01:56 AM

1825. Willaumez, Jean-Baptiste-Philibert. _Dictionnaire de marine_. New edition. Paris: Bachelier.

//
CHANTER, v. n. Vieil usage de faire crier quelques hommes qu'on nommait chanteurs, pour donner le signal de réunion d'efforts àfaire par plusieurs sur une bouline, ou pour toute autre opération qu'on exécute dans les ports et sur les grands bâtimens. Dans un bâtiment de guerre bien ordonné, on ne permet plus de chanter ainsi. Voy. Boulina.
//

"SING, v. n. Old custom to yell a few men who were called "chanteurs," to give the signal for both business meeting by several efforts on a bowline, or any other operation that executes in ports and on major buildings. In a warship well ordered, we can no longer "sing" as well. Voy. Boulin."

//
BOULINA-HA-IIA ! Arrache ! Boulina-ha-ha, déralingue ! etc. Ancien chant des matelots français pendant qu'ils bâient sur les quatre principales boulines , notamment celle du grand et du petit hunier. Ce chant est si ridicule que plusieurs capitaines militaires le défendent.
//

"Boulina-hA-hA! Hard! Boulina-ha-ha, déralingue! etc. Former French sailors sing while on the four main bâient bowlines, including that of large and small topsail. This song is so ridiculous that many defend military captains."

The translation needs tweaking...

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 01:44 AM

Here's an earlier reference to "chanter" and "chanteur" with maritime meanings.

1792. Romme, Charles. _Dictionnaire de la marine françoise._ Paris: Barrois l'aîné.

//
Chanter. v. n. To song. C'est saire certains cris de convention, pour donner le signal , de l'instant ou plusieurs hommes employés à une même opération , doivent réun? leurs eíforts & agir tous ensemble. — La maniere-de chanter où le cri de convention est variable suivant les chanteurs.
//

"Sing. v. n. To song. It's necessary some cries of agreement, to give the signal, the time or more men employed in the same transaction, must meet? eíforts & their act together. - The manner of singing where-the-art convention varies according to the singers."

//
Chanteur. s. m. Ouvrier qui agissant concurremment avec d'autres , leur donne le signal, par un cri de convention , du moment où ils doivent déployer ensemble toutes leurs sorces , pour produire par leur réunion, un effet déterminé , qui exige non seulement toutes ces piússancas , mais aussi leur concours simultané.
//

"Singer. s. m. Workman acting in conjunction with others, gives them the signal, a cry of agreement, when they should deploy all their sorces together to produce by their union, a specific effect, which requires not only all the power rating, but also assist simultaneously."

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 12:59 AM

Lighter,

I was thinking the same. Also wondering what this "ve'a" thing was. Is it just a phonetic realization of some nonsense sound? Or could it be an Anglicization of 'voix' perhaps? It is unclear to me whether it is the name for the 'cry' or else the word that is shouted when one cries.

I have a feeling that the French texts about shanties have mulled over these things already, but I have not read any of those. On the other hand, Hugill (for one) seems to have gobe through some of those. I don't know if he read them closely or just harvested texts from them. I'm inclined to think that he read them. And if that was the case, he never brought up any special insights they may have supplied.

Please let me apologize to any chanty scholars who read this and who have studied French sources -- I don't mean to imply that you have not.

Anyway, as for a word for shanty that the French may have had before English-speakers, there is of course "chant."

My coming upon "chanter", as the verb for singing the maritime work song, and "chanteur", for the person who sings, is pretty exciting for me. But again I say that I don't know how significant that really is in adding to work of people like J. Lighter and S. Gardham on the etymology issue. That is, I don't know if it's a situation like "Yup, we already knew that. What we still need to really confirm is XYZ."

What we don't have, indeed, is the noun. I presume it would have been "chant", but I'd like to see it -- specifically, with reference to "maritime worksong" for example.

"Chant" does seem a little obvious. It is not a "special" word for a thing in French -- it would only have had extra connotations...versus in English where it is a special/unique term.

If "chant" is the word, then we still need the gaps filled as to how exactly it got borrowed and applied to what English speakers were doing. I would also like to know if "chant" had any particular connotations, in both the French and English uses, for types of song. Did English speakers borrow it when they were still in the days of the rudimentary "yeo heave ho" songs, or was it only first used in application to the African-American style worksongs?

Were the cotton stowers observed by Nordhoff calling their songs "chants" in the regular English sense, or were they French-influenced folk (i.e. the Creole environment) using it similarly to a description of maritime work songs in use by the French?

Anyway, Boyer's French-English dictionary was first published as early as 1702 it seems (a copy was recently digitized on Google), and FWIW the maritime definition of "voix" is not there. Nor is there anything of note under "chanteur" or "chanter." That may suggest that this meaning didnt come round until later in the 18th century.

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 27 Dec 10 - 05:17 PM

And, pg 127

//
CHANTER, v. n. Mar. (Faire certains cris de convention , pour donner le signal de l'instant où plusieurs hommes, employés à une même opération, doivent réunir leurs efforts et agir tous ensemble). Opzingen.
//

"Sing, V. n. Mar. (Make some calls convention to signal the moment when several men employed in the same transaction, should unite their efforts and act together). Opzingen."

http://books.google.com/books?ei=oQkZTdXHOY2WsgOOs4nQAg&ct=result&output=text&id

Subject: RE: The Advent and Development of Chanties
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 27 Dec 10 - 05:02 PM

Well, there's this; please stop me if this sort of thing is already part of the chanty etymology discussion. It is a sort of definition of "chanty-man":

1844. Gocvic, E. and H.G. Jansen. UNIVERSEL, HISTORIQUE ET RAISONNÉ, français-hollandais DE MARINE ET DE L'ART MILITAIRE. La Haye and Amsterdam: Les Fréres Van Cleef.

//
Chanteur, m. Mar. (Ouvrier ou matelot qui a la voix forte, et qui par un cri de convention, donne le signal du moment où les gens qui travaillent à une même manœuvre, doivent réunir leurs efforts). Opzinger, opzanger, m.
//

With the help of Google:
"Singer, m. Mar. (Worker or sailor who has strong voice and a shout of agreement, gives the signal when the people who work in the same maneuver, must combine their efforts). Opzinger, opzanger, m."

Those last two words are Dutch.