Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 30 Oct 23 - 11:22 AM

As I was walking by St Pauls, a lady grabbed me by the
Arm, she said you look a man of pluck, come inside and have a
Ham sandwich. Threepence, sixpence or a bob, all according to the size of....... your sandwich.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 07:39 AM

When a good ship is under full sail
We wish her good luck
when a young girl's under a young man
We wish her a good....

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 10:29 AM

Interesting thread. Simply because I haven't seen the word used here I add it. These are well-known in folklore circles as 'teasing songs or rhymes'. They are quite common in bawdry and British children have a good repertoire of them.

There one was a lady who walked like a duck,
Who said she'd invented a new way to ...
Educate children etc.

Usually there is no metric gap for the rhyme word, it progresses straight into the first word of the next line.

There must surely be a separate thread for examples of these. I'm sure I've contributed some before now.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 30 Oct 23 - 11:22 AM

As I was walking by St Pauls, a lady grabbed me by the
Arm, she said you look a man of pluck, come inside and have a
Ham sandwich. Threepence, sixpence or a bob, all according to the size of....... your sandwich.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 10:29 AM

Interesting thread. Simply because I haven't seen the word used here I add it. These are well-known in folklore circles as 'teasing songs or rhymes'. They are quite common in bawdry and British children have a good repertoire of them.

There one was a lady who walked like a duck,
Who said she'd invented a new way to ...
Educate children etc.

Usually there is no metric gap for the rhyme word, it progresses straight into the first word of the next line.

There must surely be a separate thread for examples of these. I'm sure I've contributed some before now.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 07:39 AM

When a good ship is under full sail
We wish her good luck
when a young girl's under a young man
We wish her a good....

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Snuffy
Date: 12 Jun 18 - 05:26 PM

I'd guess the rhyming word is "soft"

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: GUEST,Grills
Date: 12 Jun 18 - 04:43 PM

I've been struggling with this for a while, what the heck rhymes with "aloft" ???

Every good ship has a tops'l, and the tops'l's up aloft.
Every young girl HATES a young man who [?thumps it in]

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: shipcmo
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 09:20 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Lighter
Date: 04 Jun 09 - 09:56 AM

A better possibility, perhaps, is that no part of the omitted words was to be sung at all, and that the printing of the initial letter was only to suggest what was intended to the possibly insufficiently imaginative purchaser of the sheet.

The song is sung that way today, but that doesn't mean it was necessarily sung that way over 300 years ago.

At any rate, the appearance of dashes would tell the broadside customer immediately that the song was somehow naughty, thus attracting his or her attention.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 04 Jun 09 - 05:18 AM

Yes, Gibb, you're right. The bit I wrote would have been innediately drowned out by the chorus.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 06:42 PM

Not sure I understand the Q., but the dashes are simply a printing convention. All the words must have been sung, or so it seems to me.

My understanding is that they are not to be sung, rather implied, and that is the fun of it. This is the way of the two sea songs, "Every Good Ship..." and "Slack Away..." Besides, if they were to be sung, then the above previous example would have been printed as "t---e," I think.

Guessing here -- the "Top and Top Gallant" phrase might be an equivalent to those censor "bleeps" that one hears on TV.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: curmudgeon
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 05:25 PM

If you're looking to a proper scan, try using for "P____" a two syllable word like pintle, pillie, pego, all found in the glossary of Legman's edition of the Merry Muses.

There's lots of fine old words that we've forgotten, but have not yet lost - Tom

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Lighter
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 04:44 PM

Not sure I understand the Q., but the dashes are simply a printing convention. All the words must have been sung, or so it seems to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 04:11 PM

That last one is funky because I'm not sure how you'd sing it to give the clue for the intended word. Would you just sing a 'p' sound, or...?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 10:23 AM

Prick to upstand?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 08:43 AM

Ah, I was assuming that it was the "p" word that had to rhyme.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Lighter
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 09:43 AM

Easy one, Charley.

"P---- stand."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 10:47 PM

Lighter-

Welcome to this erudite discussion!

You certainly have nailed this one, "tarse" being an old English slang word for male genitals. My classmates had lots of slang words for male genitals but they never came up with that one, and many of them were from ancient Scotch-Irish (not necessarily English of course!) families.

Shall we try this verse:

A Ship should have a Captain
her Men to command
And a maid would have a youngman
to have his P--- ...

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: Lighter
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 09:23 PM

I suggest "tarse," the usual early English term. It was often printed "T---e."

People had pretty much quit using it (I mean the word) by 1800.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 09:04 PM

Gibb-

"Ho'se" might be the answer, as an indirect reference to a stallion's large member.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 08:10 PM

I'm stumped.

??
hose
horse
joss = joss-stick = prick (a bit of anachronistic rhyming slang that I just made up!)

Whatever it is, it's likely that it doesn't rhyme with "cross" as we now pronounce it. Keep the possibilities open for a range of different vowels, and even an 'r' thrown in there.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 08:36 AM

Well, riddle me this:

A ship must have a Bowsprit,
with a Sprizin across,
And a maid must have a youngman
with a swinging long --- Top and Top gallant
A ship she sails trimly...

We might as well try to decode this old chestnut. Any suggestions?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: EBarnacle
Date: 31 May 09 - 12:51 PM

It would appear that many of the original rhymes have gone out of common usage, even among us archaists.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 May 09 - 11:19 AM

Well, that would certainly brighten up our set list.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 30 May 09 - 02:38 PM

Lighter wrote

The late Bruce Olson unearthed the "original" - from about 1690!:

Ah! This is what first came to mind when I started checking out Hugill's "Slack Away Yer Reefy Tayckle." By chance, I had recorded "A Ship-load of Waggery" for the UC Santa Barbara's English Ballad Broadside Archive.
(I am a bit embarrassed by the actual recording; it was run off quite spuriously along with a set of other ballads all with the "Ah Cloris!" air, with the mainly-functional purpose of rapidly logging in realizations of the many broadside texts. I was also cracking up laughing as I was singing, and the recordist had to leave the room eventually so I could compose myself!)

Here is a link to the ballad (link to tune at left side): A Ship-load of Waggery

And because I am hard-pressed to find a recording of "Reefy Tayckle," here's that one:
Slack Away Yer Reefy Tackle

Thanks for this thread, very informative.
Gibb

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chantey)
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 17 Jun 08 - 10:57 PM

The late Bruce Olson unearthed the "original" - from about 1690!:

A ship load of Wagery.
[English Broadside, c 1685-92]
To a new Tune. Or Ah Chloris awake.

A ship must have a steersman
to steer her Course true,
And a Maid must have a Youngman
to give her her --- Top and Top gallant
A ship she sails trimly
Maids, if they be not pleased
They'l frown and look grimly.

A Ship must have Rudder
to steer in the dark,
And a Maid must have a youngman
to hit at her --- Top and Top gallant.
A ship she sails, &c.

A Ship must have a Cannon
to keep off her foes,
And a Maid must have a youngman
to take up her --- Top and Top gallant.
A ship she sails, &c.

A ship must have a Bowsprit,
with a Sprizin a cross,
And a maid must have a youngman
with a swinging long --- Top and Top gallant
A ship she sails trimly,
Maids if they be not pleased,
They'l frown and look grimly.

A Ship must have a Buntlin
to hawl up her Bunt
A maid must have a youngman
to tickle her --- Top and Top gallant.
A ship she sails trimly, &c.

A Ship must have a Mast; a long,
strong, and straight Stick,
And a maid must have a youngman
with a long lusty --- Top and Top gallant.
A ship she sails trimly, &c.

A Ship mus be well Victual'd
with Meat without Bones,
And a maid would have a youngman
with a stout pair of --- top and top gallant
A Ship she sails trimly, &c.

A Ship should have a Captain
her Men to command
And a maid would have a youngman
to have his P--- , top and top gallant
A ship she, &c.

A Ship should have a Master
to take in her freights,
And a maid would have a youngman
to sail in her --- top and top gallant
A ship she sails, &c.

When a Ship is under sail
we do wish her good luck,
And a maid under a youngman
We wish her a good --- top and top gallant
A ship she, &c.

When a Ship comes into Port
she must enter her Cockpit,
When a youngman come to'th fort
he must enter, and --- top and top gallant
A ship she sails trimly, &c.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 10:09 PM

Nice to have some more references.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Every Good Ship (Bawdy Shanty)
From: and e
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 09:40 PM

Here is a text from A Collection of Sea Songs from the Collection of Dave E. Jones pgs 30-31, Song #31. The "---" dash expurgations are in the original. Please download the PDF, if you wish to verify the text.

EVERY GOOD SHIP

Every good ship has a mainmast.
An upstanding stick
Every maiden loves a sailor
With an upstanding ----
Lower away the main top gallantsail.
The good ship rides heavily
Every maiden loves a young man
Who follows the sea.

Every good ship has a taff rail,
All covered with brass
Every Sailor loves a maiden
Who's a good piece of
Lower away the main top gallantsail.
The good ship rides heavily,
Every maiden loves a young man
Who follows the sea.

Every good ship has an anchor,
An anchor has a stock
Every maiden loves a sailor
With an great big round ----
Lower away the main top gallantsail.
The good ship rides heavily
Every maiden loves a young man
Who follows the sea.

Every good ship has a long boat,
And the long boat has row locks
Every maiden loves a sailor
With a big pair of ------
Lower away the main top gallant sail
The good ship rides heavily
Every maiden loves a young man
Who follows the sea.

Every good ship has mainsail
All covered with bunts
Every sailor loves a good port
That's all full of ----
Lower away the main top gallantsail
The good ship rides heavily
Every maiden loves a young man
Who follows the sea.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Every Good Ship Has a Mainmast (chant
From: and e
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 09:18 PM

From the 1927 unexpurgated book Immortalia. pages 62-3:

THE SHIP'S IN THE HARBOR
Anonymous

Oh, the ship's in the harbor,
She lies by the dock,
Like a young girl and a young man
With a stiff standing—
—haul away for the mainsail,
The main-top-set-sail,
Haul away for the mainsail,
The main-top-set-sail.

And there was young Johnny,
The pride of her crew,
Who liked to drink whiskey
And also to—
—water the garden when
He was at home,
Water the garden when
He was at home.

He could dive like a diver,
He could swim like a duck,
He could show the young ladies
A new way to—
—save their sweet lives if
A cramp they should take,
Save their sweet lives if
A cramp they should take.

But alas, we put it in at
A far Northern port,
And he froze it in chasing
And broke it off—

62


—half way to Juneau,
And half way to Nome,
Half way to Juneau,
And half way to Nome.

Oh, the ship's in the harbor,
She lies by the dock,
But alas for poor Johnny,
He has no more—
—yardarm to splice with,
Or topmast to brace,
Yardarm to splice with,
Or topmast to brace.

---

Ed Cray in his Erotic Muse pg 60, says that the song is similar to the song "Follow the Band" (aka "My Father's a Mason"). See here:

http://books.google.com/books?q=%22Every+ship+has+a+capstan%22&btnG=Search+Books

Subject: Lyr Add: 'Every Good Ship Has A Mainmast' shanty
From: John M.
Date: 18 Apr 06 - 12:01 AM

From folktrax:

EVERY GOOD SHIP - "has a mainmast, a stiff standing
stick" etc "Every maid likes a young man with a SS Prick"
Ch: "Slack away your reef and tackle - sheets they are jammed" -
Bawdy Sea Shantey - HUGILL SSS 1961 p503 - ED&S
mag 41/1 1979 p18 note by Mike Yates -- DOERFLINGER
1951 p165 "Let go your reef & tackle" (ch only) - see "HOIST
AWAY YOUR TOPSAIL" in McCOLL/SEEGER Ben
Bright p14 ("All ships have a mainsail")

From the Gordon "Inferno" Collection:

365 November 10, 1924

Every ship has a capstan, has a capstan, has a capstan,
Every good ship has a capstan and a capstan has pawls
And every young girl likes a young man
With a big pair of balls.
Sheet out your main t'gan't'sail, your main t'gan't' sail,
your main t'gan't' sail,
Sheet out your main topgallant sail and let the good ship go free,
(request)

J. N. West

I assume that the "request" items in the "Inferno" are fragments of songs of which the full song is being requested.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: 'Every Good Ship Has A Mainmast' chanty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 10:10 PM

Very nice!

Never ran across this one.

Charley Noble

Subject: Lyr Add: 'Every Good Ship Has A Mainmast' chanty
From: John M.
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 08:50 PM

Here is a recording of "Every Good Ship Has A Mainmast". This is sung by John W. Herbert on 15 April 2006. He learned this during WWII.

EVERY GOOD SHIP HAS A MAIN MAST (recording)

Every good ship has a mainmast, an upstanding stick.
Every young girl likes a young man with an upstanding

Hoist away the main t'gallants'l
While the good ship lies steadily,
Every young girl likes another man
When her young man's at sea!

Every good ship has a longboat, a longboat has rollicks.
Every young girl likes a young man with a HUGE pair of

Every good ship has a bowsprit, and the bowsprit's out in front.
Every young girl likes a young man who tickles her

Every good ship has a tops'l, and the tops'l's up aloft.
Every young girl HATES a young man who [?thumps it in]

"Now that is obviously a very old song. One time, John, coming back from Gibraltar in an assault carrier, a small carrier, we were coming back from the Mediterranean and we called in at Gibraltar and we picked up the Governor of Gibraltar, who was a very ancient man, he must have been seventy or eighty, and he - instead of dining with the captain - he stayed with the junior officers in the wardroom. And he had a repertoire of very old songs. And I only remember one. And it's a song that goes back to sailing days, long, long before we had powered ships. And.I don't know if you're familiar with the rigging of a square-rigged ship, but you know a lot of them had three masts : a forem'st, a mainm'st, and a mizzenm'st. And any sail on the mainm'st was called a mains'l. the big sail was called a mains'l, and all the sails going up, the sails as they got smaller had different names. And right at the top was the tops'l - the topsail. And above that was the t'gallants'l. And he sang a song about the topgallants'l. And it employed that very, very old device of never mentioning the bad word."

The transcription above is courtesy of Lighter.