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Saturday Night at Sea by George Cruikshank 1841
Sea Shanties and Maritime Music Days
Jun 12
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"🎶 And it's windy weather, boys, stormy weather, boys
When the wind blows, we're all together, boys;
Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds, blow
Jolly sou'wester, boys, steady she goes"
~ Scottish Sea Shanty
Run away to sea and work your way up from cabin boy (or girl) to admiral (in the same way as Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson) with this lively 28 bar reel from John Drewry. There are plenty of figures to test your dancing mettle! A fiddler perched on the capstan is always useful to keep your energy up for "singing out a rope" or dancing. Sailors would have learned many sea shanties, the rhythmic beats and lyrics useful for keeping the necessary teamwork synchronized to help with tasks such as hauling ropes or raising the anchor. There were "long haul shanties" and "short haul shanties" for long and short rope pulling. There were ""windlass shanties" for pumping out leaked in water and "capstan shanties" for raising and lowering the anchor. There was also a fifth kind of sailor song, "Foc’sle, forecastle or forebitters", which were songs sung after the day's work. They were named after the sailor’s living quarters, where they would gather around to drink and sing wild ballads. Many maritime music festivals are celebrated throughout the year, including prominent ones in Falmouth and Liverpool in the UK; Mystic, CT and Portsmouth NH, in the US and many others! Steady, dancer-sailors, steady! 🌊 ⛵
The Fiddler on the Capstan
A shanty is a rhythmic work song, sung by labourers as they work in large groups at hard, repetitive work.
Sea shanties first and foremost served a practical purpose. The rhythmic cadence of the shanty would synchronise the movements of the sailors as they worked. This was necessary when, for example, weighing anchor or pulling up sails required a strong force of unified strength.
The songs also brought a feeling of solidarity to the crew, and could be uplifting to the spirits of the sailors. Many sailors of old had not joined voluntarily but had been press-ganged into service, and music providing a bit of solace and distraction as dissent and mutiny had to be avoided at all costs.
And for more fascinating facts about sea shanties, click the musician on the capstan!
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
