Sleeve Notes
The songs on this disc we either work songs, shanties or diversionary songs, foc'sle songs or forebitters, sung during the evening dog watch, when the men gathered round a squeeze-box in the foc'sle or, in fair weather, sat round the bitts or around the fore-hatch.
The great days of sailor-singing were in the first two thirds of the nineteenth century, when the really fast ships were evolved. When 'If the men don't sing right, the ship don't move right' was the axiom, and a good shanty-man was always sure of a job on a fast clipper.
Roughly, shanties are of three kinds; capstan shanties, used for such jobs as weighing anchor; halliard shanties for hoisting the heavy yards; short drag shanties for taking in slack or hauling on sheet. and braces.
Notes based on material supplied by A. L. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl.
HAUL ON THE BOWLINE: A shanty for sheeting home the foresail, and similar jobs. The pull came on the "Haul!" at the end of each verse.
ROW, BULLIES. ROW: This song relates to the grain trade. Today 'Scouse' (Liverpool) singers claim it as their own.
THE CRUEL SHIP'S CAPTAIN: Gradually whittled does from a long-winded street ballad, this is one of the briefest and most ferocious sea songs.
THE DREADNOUGHT: One of the few songs about a particular ship. Built in 1853, though not one of the fastest of her class, she could stand any amount of driving in heavy weather.
PADDY DOYLE: A shanty for bunting the fore or main sail. Paddy Doyle, the villain of this shanty, was a Liverpool boarding house keeper.
SANTY ANNA: Is a capstan shanty that reverses history. Santa Anna actually lost the day in one of the decisive battles of the Mexican war.
JOHNNY TODD: Once a favourite sailors song, now accompanies a ball game played by Liverpool children.
BLOOD RED ROSES: A little-known halliard shanty. The blood red roses may be the red-coated military, or the oath of a polite shanty-man.
LORD FRANKLYN: In 1845 Sir John Franklyn sailed from England to try to find a way through the Northwest passage. Franklyn's two ships vanished without a trace in the arctic ice.
BLOW THE MAN DOWN: This is a classical halliard shanty with alternate solo and chorus lines. It is led, in true Liverpool style, by Harry Corbett.