Sea shanties (singular "shanty", also spelled "chantey"; derived from the French word "chanter", 'to sing') were shipboard working songs. Some speculate that shanties may have been sung as early as the 15th century though there is little evidence to support this claim. The shanties that survived to be collected and preserved date from the 19th century through the days of steam ships in the first half of the 20th century. |
All For Me Grog It's all for me grog, me jolly jolly grog
It's all for me beer and tobacco I spent all me tin on the ladies drinking gin It's to the western ocean I did wander The Bonnie Ship The Diamond And it's cheer up, me lads Let your hearts never fail, For the bonnie ship The Diamond Goes a-fishing for the whale Bound For The Rio Grande Then away, boys, away, Away down Rio, So fare thee well, my pretty young girl, We're bound for the Rio Grande. Bully In The Alley Help me, Bob, I’m bully in the alley Way, hey, bully in the alley Help me, Bob, I’m bully in the alley Bully down in Shinbone Al’ Cape Cod Girls Heave away my bully bully boys Heave away, heave away Heave away, why don’t you make some noise We’re bound for Australia The Coasts of High Barbary Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we... A sailing down all on The coasts of High Barbary Drunken Sailor Way, hey, up she rises [3x] Ear-ly in the morning Fathom The Bowl I'll fathom the bowl, I'll fathom the bowl Give me the punch ladle, I'll fathom the bowl Haul Away Joe ’Way, haul away, we’ll haul away Joe John Kanakanaka Too-ri-ay, oh too-ri-ay John Kanakanaka too-ri-ay Leave Her, Johnny Leave her, Johnny, Leave her... An it's time for us to leave her Lower The Boat Down Lower, lower the boat down Lower your boat down The Mermaid Oh the ocean waves do roll (do roll) And the stormy winds do blow (do blow) We brave tars are skipping at the top While the landlubbers lie down below below below While the landlubbers lie down below Mingulay Boat Song Heel ya ho, boys, let her go, boys, Heave her head ‘round into the weather Heel ya ho, boys, let her go, boys, Sailing homeward to Mingulay Nelson's Blood And we’ll roll the old chariot along We’ll roll the old chariot along We’ll roll the old chariot along And we’ll all hang on behind Randy Dandy-O Way, hey, roll an' go Singing rollickin' randy dandy o Rolling Down To Old Maui Rolling down to Old Maui, me boys Rolling down to Old Maui We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground Rolling down to Old Maui. Santy Anno So heave er up and away we'll go Heave away, Santy Anno Heave er up and away we'll go All across the plains of Mexico Spanish Ladies And we'll rant and we'll roar like New Bedford Whalers We'll rant and we'll roar on deck and below Until we sight the New Bedford light Then straight down the channel to anchor we'll go Strike The Bell Strike the bell second mate, let us go below Look well to windward you can see it's gonna blow Look at the glass, you can see it has fell Oh we wish that you would hurry up and strike, strike the bell |
