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During the age
of the great sailing ships, propulsion was supplied by the wind, but the
means to harness these winds were men, the common sailor. Sails were
huge, heavy canvas sheets, lowered and raised as necessary, and sometimes
that was fairly often. Life aboard was hard. There were very
few, if any, comforts and singing was both a means of entertainment and a
way to coordinate the efforts of a "team" of sailors tugging on a
heavy line to raise the sails, turn the huge pumps and load and unload
vessels. There has been some debate as to the spelling and the origin of the
word "Shanty" or "Chanty". Some say Shanty is from
the mean hovels sailors lived in while ashore and some say Chanty derives
from the French word to sing, chantez. Whatever the origin of the word, the
results are a bit of our history that should not be lost, or gone with the
wind.
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Sea Shanty - A song sung
by tall ship sailors with a cadence creating a rhythm and cohesiveness to
the pulling of lines, etc.
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| International
Shanty and Sea Song Association: an
international site listing members, history and bit of information |
| Blow
the Man Down, the
words and a bit of history |
 Eileen Quinn - Music for Sailors and normal people.........Early on in her sailing adventures, Eileen discovered that there wasn't a lot of music describing the life she was experiencing. The traditional sea shanties don't do it. She began writing songs about the really important, but neglected aspects of cruising: how anchoring leads to marital breakdown; why weather forecasters shouldn't be trusted; what it is about comfortable harbors that seems to scuttle any plans to leave. ..we're slow even by corrected time although we're often near the front of the buffet line, takes us a while to sail very far but we strike like lightning at an open bar,
gotta, gotta, gotta regatta...She's got two great albums and yes, she is still sailing and living the life of a sailor. And the Anchoring Dance! Click for a taste of the tunes... |
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