A 26 year old postman from Airdrie Scotland, Nathan Evans, captured global attention this month by posting a rendition of a New Zealand 19th-century sea shanty ‘Wellerman’. The tune has since had renditions created by a range of people from Queen’s Brian May to Elon Musk!
Being part of nautical history, we’ve decided to do some research into the origins of sea shanties.
Sea shanties first appeared on merchant vessels and can be traced as far back as the mid-1400’s, but they were quite different from what we know them as today. Used as a working song to help sailors keep synchronised rhythm whilst performing manual tasks onboard the ship such as hoisting the sails or tramping around the capstan.
These songs would also be led by a solo singer known as the shantyman, who would lead each song with the rest of the crew joining in for the chorus. Usually used on tasks such as hoisting the sail, in response to the shantyman the crew would pull together on the last syllable of each line allowing them enough time to re-grip and gather breath before the next pull.
The role of shantyman was well respected and often came with relaxed duties aboard the ship or privileges such as an extra drink… or two.
Besides the benefit of using the regular rhythmical timing of these songs, they were primarily used to bring some humour and fun into the hard-laborious tasks the sailors had to perform. Today they live on through shantymen groups performing the old songs in pubs across the UK, and now even more so apparently through the medium of Tik Tok!
We are looking forward to the season ahead and desperate to get back out onto the water once this final lock down has been lifted. If you’re interested in booking a bareboat or skippered charter day out with us then please give our team a call on 01590 607101 or email admin@solentribcharter.co.uk.
