Archive for the 'SONGS & Stories' Category

The Yarn of the Nancy Brig

While I’m finishing off some more serious podcasts, perhaps you’d like to while away a few minutes with this WS Gilbert poem. Sorry about the accent - I come from Hampshire, not Kent. But I still think it’s better than Dick van Dyke’s effort at cockney…

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Shanties - work songs of the sea

Square-rigged sailing ships were labour-intensive. It required the co-ordinated muscle of several men to weigh anchor and to hoist and trim sails. The working shanties were the songs used to provide that co-ordination and to encourage greater effort.
Most were in call-and-response form. The shantyman - a skilled crew member who had a powerful voice - [...]