Rum, Sea Shanties and Women

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: GUEST,Sledge
Date: 21 Dec 01 - 12:50 PM

Agreed that the Navy was run on somewhat draconion lines with no singing or such allowed during the normal working day, but the silent service does refer to the submarine branch only. You may already be aware of this book, but there is available a title called the wooden world by N.A.M. Rodger , it dispells many of the popular myths about the RN during the Napoleonic period but it also shows what a hard uncomprimising life it was.

Sledge (ex RN, ex Submariner)

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: curmudgeon
Date: 21 Dec 01 - 09:15 AM

mr. Red's reference to the "silent services" meant, quite correctly, that shantying was not permitted on naval vessels, and partly for the reason he stated. Work was timed and regulated by the bo's'n's pipe.

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: GUEST,Sledge
Date: 21 Dec 01 - 01:53 AM

Nr Red, Submarines = Silent service.

Go outside on a submarine to hail on a line and you are too busy holding your breath to sing anything :)

Sledge

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Uncle Jaque
Date: 20 Dec 01 - 10:56 PM

"Cape Cod Girls"

Cape Cod Gals don't-a have-no combs;

Haul away; Haul Away!

They comb their hair with a codfish-bone;

And we're bound a-way for Aus-tra-a-i-lia!

So heave her up me bu-lly bully boys, now;

Haul a-way; Haul Awa-a-ay!

It's heave 'er up an' don't ye make a no-ise,

And we're bound a-way for Aus-tra-ai-lia!

"CAPE COD GALS" - Probably on the Digitrad DB somewhere

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 Dec 01 - 06:12 PM

Isn't the title of this thread a mis-quote?

I heard that the naval equivalent of wine, women and song was rum, bum and concertina!

Or is that a different story altogether? ;-)

Cheers

Dave the Gnome

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Mr Red
Date: 20 Dec 01 - 03:17 PM

Royal Navy was called the silent service.
There were always plenty of hands to haul in the military and on a quiet day with the wind in the direction of the quarry you can hear for 30 miles, well beyond the horizon! Not exactly stealth technology.
Hobbi derri dando sung by Australians? not even in New South Wales.

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: GUEST,Bo
Date: 20 Dec 01 - 04:45 AM

I agree with Crane diver (eloquently put).

If I was singing with Australians I'd take the opinion that _all_ sea shanties were Australian at least for all population who arrived, or whose ancestors arrived by boat.

Then again when singing with the Irish I'd pointedly dissagree with the above :)

Bb

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 20 Dec 01 - 02:38 AM

There are lots about women... Rosabella, Yellow Girls, Haul 'em away, Serafina, Johnson Girls....

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: SeanM
Date: 20 Dec 01 - 12:19 AM

There are likely some specifically FROM Australia, but you'll get a MUCH larger haul if you just want things mentioning Australia, Van Diemen's Land, or any of the other variants on the name.

Send most of a nation's 'Ne'er do wells' off to live someplace else, and look how many songs get written...

M

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Crane Driver
Date: 19 Dec 01 - 09:50 PM

Shanties don't have nationalities - they come from the gaps between countries. But I never heard of Royal Navy shanties - all the info I've come across stated that, in the days of the canvas engine, singing on duty was a flogging offence in the RN (like most other things). They sometimes used a fiddle or other instrument to co-ordinate the work, but the singing of shanties was the preserve of the Red Duster. The best source of words/ tunes for shanties is still Hugill's works, unless you like to pick them up from recordings. Try the Chanty Cabin on the net.

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Devilmaster
Date: 19 Dec 01 - 08:11 AM

Its a little slower, but a song called 'A sailor's prayer' by Tom Lewis.

It's in digitrad.

Steve

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Guessed
Date: 19 Dec 01 - 07:37 AM

South Australia
2 verses I sing have drinking in them
So here I am in a foriegn land............. a bottle of whickey in my hand
South Australia's a jolly fine place.......... you can drink all day & it's no disgrace.

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 04 Feb 00 - 06:25 PM

Try 'Paddy Lay Back':
All of the sailors had been drinking
And me myself was heavy on the booze ...
Half o' them was pukin' o'er the ship's side
And the other half was pukin' over me ...
Enjoy! - Susanne

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Matthew B.
Date: 02 Feb 00 - 04:50 PM

Well, I know about 75 sea chanteys that are exclusively considered to be drinking songs. Of these, 38 mention Australia, but I only know of 16 of them as being strictly Australian in origin.

Bound Away for Australia is a popular favorite around these parts, since it lets you get really raucous. There's also a whole class of songs that mention being sent (that is, exiled) to Australia, and most of these are lots of fun.

One favorite of mine is Maggie May about a young lady who "gets her passage paid to Botany Bay" for robbing so many sailors:

Maggie, Maggie May
They have taken you away
To toil upon Van Diemen's cruel shore
For you've robbed many a whaler
And many a drunken sailor
Now you'll never cruise 'round Liverpool anymore

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Wotcha
Date: 02 Feb 00 - 03:29 PM

Another fine song of the sea collected by the Warner family and rendered by American Chanteymen/women is "Jolly Roving Tar." As the line goes, they cover the basics ... "Each sailor lad, just like his dad/He loves the flowing bowl/A trip ashore, he doth adore/With a girl that's plump and round ..." It may not be sung by Aussies, but the ones who hear it out here love it!

Then again, Bellamy's Transportation Opera springs to mind and "Roll Down" covers the same ground. Check it out ... On-On...

Cheers, Allahamdalla Brian

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 02 Feb 00 - 10:51 AM

I came in here looking fer Rum Sea Shanties and Women, and all I found wer talking about Aussie shanties. Yeah I got me chain jerked, annealed and re-rove about. Where is the booze and women? Scads and Scads of songs sung, but written? yer mean other than Dana, sailors can write? Blow me down in an Irish hurricane mate, I never ne'wed they wuz written. Watch out fer the copyright police; if they come I wrote the lot....Yours,Aye. Dave

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Amos
Date: 02 Feb 00 - 09:04 AM

Haul away and run, Davey lad! I was perplexed when Callie said there were loads of Aussie shanties. May be there have been scads they developed locally on the run from Perth to Sydney and back?

You should get yer cable tweaked more often, mate!

A

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 02 Feb 00 - 08:37 AM

Yer just put this one in to jerk my cable did'nt ya? I don't know of any Australian Shanties. Shanties are usually broken down into Royal Navy (or Military) and Merchant service; then into Capstan or Hauling Shanties to suit the work at hand. Nationality wise it depends who wrote them I suppose, but generally speaking British sailors would sing ones they liked from America or Australia; and Americans would sing ones they liked from the British or Australians. We just forgot to "Copyright" them. The words were improvised by the Shantyman to the personal characteristics of his ship and mates. It is very hard to attribute the many different versions of the same song to any nation in particular. Blow the Man Down Bullies and Donkey Riding have so many variations that I could not count the verses I have heard over the years. I do hope that sailors write more verses; and that these old songs never die. Yours, Aye. Dave

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 02 Feb 00 - 02:43 AM

Although not a chantey, there's a forebitter called "Give Me The Punch Ladle." There is a nice recording of it on a folkways album from 1976 of colonial and revolutionary war era sea songs and chanteys sung by John Millar and Cliff Haslam. Ricky Rackin in Northern California sings a forebitter called "Michael Blann's Drinking Song." The other messages here should give you some good leads concerning chanteys.

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Metchosin
Date: 02 Feb 00 - 12:43 AM

If you're Aus you must already know "South Australia". I don't think it has any reference to grog but it covers the other two.

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Metchosin
Date: 02 Feb 00 - 12:34 AM

Type in "Hugill" or "Colcord" in the Digitrad Lyrics Search at the top right hand corner of this page and have a look.

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Lesley N.
Date: 01 Feb 00 - 11:31 PM

Ah - grog songs. I have some of them you can get to from my Short History of Grog Page (http://www.contemplator.com/history/grog.html). There's Farewell to Grog, Can of Grog, Here's to the Grog (which is a variant of All for Me Grog) and Nelson's Blood....

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Barry Finn
Date: 01 Feb 00 - 09:39 PM

"All For Me Grog" is a rousting shanty that ended up down under with a chorus slighty changed to "I spent all me tin in the shanty drinking gin & across the western plains I must wander". Barry

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Callie
Date: 01 Feb 00 - 09:15 PM

There are LOADS of Australian sea shanties. I'm sure Bob Bolton will be able to name at least a dozen. Come on Bob, there's a challenge out to you! Callie

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 01 Feb 00 - 08:20 PM

See Lesley's site for midis of shanties and a good explanation of the various kinds of shanties...and lots of links to maritime traditions, etc. See the recent additions about grog also.

Subject: RE: Rum, Sea Shanties and Women
From: Amos
Date: 01 Feb 00 - 08:17 PM

The Drunken Sailor -- in the DT database -- is the best known sea plus drunk song there is. Dunno about it being Aussie though. Botany Bay is half-Aussie, I guess. I think this is a very specialized category -- maybe you should round up some and send 'em in for inclusion!

A

Subject: Rum and Sea Shanties
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Feb 00 - 08:09 PM

Anyone know the lyric/chords to good drunken singalong sea shanties? (preferably aussie ones)