The singing of chanties are usually thought of as an eighteenth or ninteenth century ship board activity because many of the chanties that remain today came from the age of whale hunting, but the practice is actually much older than that. The earliest reference to sea chanties that I have found was in the journal of Felix Fabri, a Dominican monk who made two pilgrimages to the holy land around 1480. Father Felix describes the shanty-man as a sailor who sings while working making a concert between himself who leads and sings commands and the other sailors who answer singing. There are other period references to the singing of shanty songs on both Columbus' ships in 1492 and Vasco de Gama's ship in 1572. It only makes sense that long and hard labor that required men to work together would lead to work songs for the purposes of tempo. Different types of chanties developed to perform different types of work.
There are five different types of chanties. They are Short Drag chanties, Long Drag chanties, Pumping chanties, Capstan chanties, and Forecastle chanties. We will look at each of them in turn.
Short Drag chanties were sung for tasks requiring many fast pulls over a relatively short time, such as shortening or unfurling sails. They tend to be short and quick paced. Paddy Doyle (below) is an example of one.
To me,
Aye,
And we'll furl,
Aye,
And pay Paddy Doyle
For his boots.
We'll sing,
Aye,
And we'll Heave,
Aye,
And we'll hang Paddy Doyle
For his boots.
We'll Heave,
Aye,
With a swing,
Aye,
And we'll all drink
Brandy and gin.
Long Drag chanties were sung for tasks requiring much heavier work and setup time between pulls, such as running a heavy sail up the mast or dropping the squares to put up the storm sails. Some have a chorus at the end of each verse to give the deck crew a rest while the sail crew worked in the rigging. A good (and likely period) Long Drag is Whiskey Johnny. On this one, the second and fourth lines of every verse are the chorus, also note the length and I don't have all of the verses listed.
O, whiskey is the life of man,
Whiskey, Johnny!
I drink whiskey when I can
Whiskey for my Johnny!
Whiskey from an old tin can,
Whiskey, Johnny!
I'll drink whiskey when I can.
Whiskey for my Johnny!
I drink it hot, I drink it cold,
Whiskey, Johnny!
I drink it new, I drink it old.
Whiskey for my Johnny!
Whiskey makes me feel so sad,
Whiskey, Johnny!
Whiskey killed my poor old dad.
Whiskey for my Johnny!
I thought I heard the captain say,
Whiskey, Johnny!
I'll treat my crew in a decent way.
Whiskey for my Johnny!
A glass of grog for every man,
Whiskey, Johnny!
And a bottle full for the chanteyman.
Whiskey for my Johnny!
O whiskey hot and whiskey cold
Whiskey, Johnny!
Oh whiskey new and whiskey old
Whiskey for my Johnny!
Oh whiskey here and whiskey there
Whiskey, Johnny!
Oh I'd have whiskey everywhere
Whiskey for my Johnny!
Oh whiskey killed my poor old dad
Whiskey, Johnny!
Oh whiskey drove my mother mad
Whiskey for my Johnny!
Oh whiskey gave me this red nose
Whiskey, Johnny!
Oh whiskey made me pawn my clothes
Whiskey for my Johnny!
If whiskey were a river and I could swim
Whiskey, Johnny!
Well I would strip right down and dive right in!
Whiskey for my Johnny!
I wish I knew where whiskey grew.
Whiskey Johnny!
I'd eat all the leaves and the branches too.
Whiskey for my Johnny!
If whiskey were a lake and I was a duck
Whiskey Johnny!
I'd dive right down and never come up
Whiskey for my Johnny!
O, whiskey is the life of man,
Whiskey, Johnny!
I drink whiskey when I can
Whiskey for my Johnny!
Pumping chanties and Capstan chanties are similiar in nature. Both are used for long, hard, and repetitive tasks that require a sustained rhythm. The difference between these two types comes in the tempo and the rhythm. Capstan chanties generally have long choruses during which the crew walks around the capstan pushing on the capstan bars to turn the capstan so that it in turn can haul up the anchor. During the verses, which are short, the men rest and the capstan is pawled (blocked so that it cannot unwind). Pumping chanties are generally give and take like the action of pumping, alternating verse and chorus like Whiskey Johnny above. South Australia is an excellent example of either a Pumping or a Capstan chanty depending upon how it is sung. If it is sung verses by the chantyman and chorus by the crew, then it is a Capstan chanty. If, however, the chantyman sings the normal text and the crew sings the italicized text, then it is a Pumping chanty. It is unfortunate that it is definitely post-period.
In South Australia I was born
Heave away, haul away
In South Australia round Cape Horn
Chorus
We're bound for South Australia
Haul away you rolling kings
Heave away, haul away
All the way you'll hear me sing
We're bound for South Australia
As I walked out one morning fair
Heave away, haul away
'Twas there I met Miss Nancy Blair
Chorus
I shook her up and I shook her down
Heave away, haul away
I shook her round and round the town
Chorus
I run her all night and I run her all day
Heave away, haul away
And I run her until we sailed away
Chorus
There ain't but one thing grieves me mind
Heave away, haul away
To leave Miss Nancy Blair behind
Chorus
And as we wallop around Cape Horn
Heave away, haul away
You'll wish to God you'd never been born
Chorus
In South Australia my native land
Heave away, haul away
Full of rocks and thieves and fleas and sand
Chorus
I wish I was on Australia's strand
Heave away, haul away
With a bottle of whiskey in my hand
Chorus
Forecastle chanties were sung when the work was done and it was time to relax. For the most part they are funny stories, love songs, or songs of adventure, heroes, and battles. (Sounds a lot like a bardic circle doesn't it?) And since we have finished our brief look at chanties, I guess our work is done. I will leave you with the words for a cute Forecastle chanty called Strike the Bell. This one is also believed to be period. I'll see you next time mates when we'll be talking about time keeping on board a ship.
Up on the po-op deck and walk-ing a-bout,
There is the se-cond mate so steady and so stout;
What he is a-thin-kin' of he doesn't know him-self
And we wish that he would hu-rry up and strike, strike the bell.
Chorus
Strike the bell sec-ond mate, let us go be-low;
Look well to wind-ward you can see it's gon-na blow;
Look at the glass, you can see it has fell,
Oh we wish that you would hur-ry up and strike, strike the bell.
Down on the ma-in deck and workin' at the pumps,
There is the lar-board watch just longing for their bunks;
Lo-ok out to wind-ward, you can see a great swell,
And we wish that you would hu-rry up and strike, strike the bell.
Chorus
Forward on the fore-cstle head and keepin' sharp look-out,
There i-is John-ny stan-din', longin' fer to shout,
Lights' a-bur-nin' bright sir a-nd every-thing is well,
And he's wish-in' that the se-cond mate would strike, strike the bell.
Chorus
Aft at the whe-el-house old An-de-rson stands,
Graspin' at the he-elm with his frost-bit-ten hands,
Look-in' at the com-pass though the courseis clear as hell
And he's wish-in' that the se-cond mate would strike, strike the bell.
Chorus
Aft on the quar-ter deck our gallant cap-tain stands,
Lookin' out to wind--ward with a spy-glass in hand,
What he is a-thin-kin' of we know ve-ry well,
He is thin-kin' more of shor-tenin' sail than strik-in' the bell.
Chorus
Copyright 2001, Mark S. Cookman
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