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r/seashanties

▲ 65 r/seashanties

True working shanties?

I can find 3 bajilion sailor folk songs that call themselves shanties, but I'm trying to find true "call and response" working shanties.
Does a good list exist? Am I just expecting much more that a sailor needs? Maybe it's expected to only have a handful of good shanties in a sailors library since most of their time was spent on the essentials (fighting, loving, sailing, and drinking) and they only sang for a few work tasks as needed.

Drunken Sailor
Roll the Old Chariot
Blow the Man Down
Leave Her, Johnny

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u/Secret-Boss-7000 — 7 days ago
▲ 34 r/seashanties

Caught this catchy boatman’s tune during a river ride in Yanagawa, Japan

Filmed this while riding one of the traditional donko boats along the canals in Yanagawa. The boatman was singing throughout the trip and this particular tune has been stuck in my head ever since. Thought people here in r/seashanties might appreciate it even if it’s more of a traditional Japanese river folk song than a true sea shanty.

The atmosphere with the slow drifting boat, old bridges, and echoing vocals made it feel really timeless. Would also love to know if anyone here recognizes the song or knows more about this style of singing.

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u/josh65928 — 9 days ago
▲ 8 r/seashanties

Haunted/Spooky Maritime Songs?

In the last episode of the show “Widow’s Bay” one of the characters sang a maritime song about the sea hag. I’m pretty sure the song was written for the show because the lyrics line up to the plot exactly. It did make me curious about other shanties and maritime songs that involve horror or spooky elements and I was hoping you wonderful folks could help a guy out with some suggestions.

If anyone is wondering here are the lyrics for the song from the show. Pardon any busted formatting as I’m posting this from my phone during my lunch break.

The Sea Hag

Lads say farewell to Ensign Trag
He went to shore and met the Hag
With just one gash betrothed they be
She followed bim on land and sea
For if you let her pierce your skin
Betwixt her thighs, your final sin

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u/TheHollyKing562 — 10 days ago
▲ 40 r/seashanties

Remembering Stan Hugill (19 November 1906 – 13 May 1992)

Stan Hugill (19 November 1906 – 13 May 1992) was a British folk music performer, artist and sea music historian, known as the "Last Working Shantyman" and described as the "20th century guardian of the tradition". [Wikipedia]

He first went to sea aged 16 in 1922 and spent 23 years on the high waves before retiring to land in 1945.

He was the last shantyman to sail on the last British commercial sailing ship the "Garthpool".

His love of the sea never dimmed, in later life he became an instructor of an Outward Bound Sea School and a marine artist producing more than 250 oil paintings of ships and the sea.

He also penned five books on sea shanties as well as appearing on radio and television.

And he spoke numerous languages, he was fluent in Japanese and Spanish as well as speaking Maori, Malay, Chinese plus various Polynesian dialects. [BBC Liverpool]

When laid up with a broken leg in the 1950s, he began to write down the shanties that he had learned at sea, eventually authoring several books and releasing several LPs of performances later in coordination with a Merseyside folk group called Stormalong John. Although "shanty" is also spelled "chantey", Hugill used the former exclusively in his books. [Wikipedia]

Jack [Coutts, a member of Stormalong John] remembers travelling to Krakow in Poland with Stormalong John and Stan, when the shantyman was in his eighties, and being in awe as he entertained an audience of more than a thousand young people.

Stan died in 1992 in Aberystwyth in Wales. [BBC Liverpool]

u/Gwathdraug — 10 days ago