Sailors Choice               Sea Shanties

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.