Sea Shanties are a class of work songs that date back as far as the 16th century in Scotland. However, they truly flourished over a span of fifty years in the mid 1800’s after being popularized by the Atlantic merchant trade. Sailors used chants for synchronizing shipboard labor. They are typically flexible in lyric form that would allow for easy improvisation. This would allow the shantyman (leader/head) to lengthen or shorten the call and response to match the work.
Shantyman (solo): Boney was a warrior,
All (refrain): Way-ay-ya,
Shantyman (solo): A reg'lar bull and tarrier,
All (refrain): John François!
Shanties were only used for work and not recreation or entertainment. The chants were heavily influenced by African Americans, popular marches, and land-based folksongs. Sea Shanties are non-exclusive to English text, however. They can also be found in French, …show more content…
Each type of shanty represented an action, movement, or object.
Types related to hauling actions:
• Long-drag shanty- Sung with the job of hauling on halyards to hoist, over an extended period, topsail or topgallant yards.
• Short-drag shanty- Sung for short hauling jobs requiring a few bursts of great force, such as changing direction of sails via lines called braces, or hauling taut the corners of sails with sheets or tacks.
• Sweating-up chant- Sung for very brief hauling tasks, as for a few sharp pulls on a halyard to gain maximum tautness of a sail.
• Hand over hand shanty- Used for lighter hauling tasks, such as setting staysails and jibs or when simply hauling in the slack of a rope. The action is that of tugging alternately with each hand on each
Shantyman (solo): Boney was a warrior,
All (refrain): Way-ay-ya,
Shantyman (solo): A reg'lar bull and tarrier,
All (refrain): John François!
Shanties were only used for work and not recreation or entertainment. The chants were heavily influenced by African Americans, popular marches, and land-based folksongs. Sea Shanties are non-exclusive to English text, however. They can also be found in French, …show more content…
Each type of shanty represented an action, movement, or object.
Types related to hauling actions:
• Long-drag shanty- Sung with the job of hauling on halyards to hoist, over an extended period, topsail or topgallant yards.
• Short-drag shanty- Sung for short hauling jobs requiring a few bursts of great force, such as changing direction of sails via lines called braces, or hauling taut the corners of sails with sheets or tacks.
• Sweating-up chant- Sung for very brief hauling tasks, as for a few sharp pulls on a halyard to gain maximum tautness of a sail.
• Hand over hand shanty- Used for lighter hauling tasks, such as setting staysails and jibs or when simply hauling in the slack of a rope. The action is that of tugging alternately with each hand on each