shanty

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A shanty [ˈʃæntɪ] is a form of sea shanty . This genre of song belongs to the sailor tradition .

history

The name Shanty ( English Sea Shanty ), which is common today , first appeared in the middle of the 19th century. It was probably derived from the English chant = 'to sing / song' and the French chanter = 'to sing', or from 'chat', as used by the French-speaking black crowd of New Orleans .

The first references to “work songs of the sailors” can be found in the work of the Dominican Felix Fabri from Ulm, who sailed to Palestine on a galley in 1493 . The Complaynt of Scotland (1549) contains the earliest known texts of such work songs. Shanties were originally work songs at the time of the tall ships . They were sung on the trading and fishing ships, to support and coordinate physically demanding work that could only be done with joint effort, such as lifting anchors, setting sails, hauling in sails and nets, pulling ropes, hoisting the yards , work on winches and pumps, but also when loading and unloading ships.

Since Great Britain was the leading seafaring nation during the heyday of the shanties in the 19th century, many of the shanties handed down today are in English. However, it was mostly not pure English. Since the ship's crews often came from different countries, it was more of a mixture of languages, so-called pidgin English , crude and melodically inconsistent. The focus was not on singing, but on activity.

From the middle of the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century, many shanties disappeared from life on board. The reason for this was probably the forced recruitment of many British seamen into the navy. Shanties were forbidden there because commands on the warships were passed on by whistles . The newly hired crews of British merchant ships, most of whom came from other nations, had no relation to the traditional shanty.

At the time of the freight-carrying tall ships, shanties sounded different than they do today. The sailors responded to the shantyman's commands, which were shouted out loud against wind and weather in the form of alternating chants, with their singing, which usually ended with a haul (as in German “Hau-ruck”) and a pull on the rope. So it is not surprising that the first reports about shanties report "wild screams" on the deck of the sailing ships. And the usual use of instruments today did not exist. Only the voices of Shantyman and crew could be heard. The harmonica, fiddle or banjo was only used occasionally during quieter work, such as on the capstan, and in the evening free time .

With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution , faster ships were needed. The broad-bellied East Indiamans disappeared and were replaced by clippers and frigates . With the opening of the Suez Canal , the emerging steamships displaced many cargo sailors on the routes to East Asia and Australia. This ultimately led to the fact that the shanties gradually lost their practical use for seafaring and were only sung for leisure and entertainment.

Many shanties were also created by adopting folk songs by the Afro-American and Caribbean dockworkers who were used to load ships in the southern United States. But the Scottish and Northern European whaling and fishing fleets also had a major influence on the development of the shanties, as did the crews of the merchant ships ( merchants ) on the long-distance routes overseas. But also the songs from the countries visited or from the countries of origin of the sailors played a role, because there was no fear of adopting foreign melodies. People sang whatever they liked and the lyrics were simply changed or adapted. Even children's songs have been adapted ( e.g. Down by the sea, where the watermellows grow ).

Purpose of the shanties

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The original practical purpose of the shanty as a work song always came first for seafarers. Linguistic and musical aspects, on the other hand, hardly played a role. It was only important that the shanty support the work. The shantyman concentrated on setting the pace of work and on encouraging and entertaining the sailors with his improvised texts.

Types

The classification of the different types of shanty is interpreted differently depending on your point of view and experience. It is quite helpful to basically divide into three main groups, whereby in the following lists about the respective purpose of the shanties, however, only the most well-known types of shanties are recorded.

  • Shanties used when pulling (hauling actions, pulling actions)
  • Shanties that were used when pushing (heaving actions, pushing actions).
  • Shanties that were sung for entertainment / leisure.

Shanties with work purpose pulling

  • The halyard shanty (long drag shanty) was used for actions with a longer duration (e.g. setting large sails),
  • the short drag shanty was intended for actions with a short duration but great effort (e.g. changing the direction of the sail),
  • the hand-over-hand shanty for work that was done alternately with the left and right hand (e.g. setting smaller sails, pulling through ropes).
  • With the stamp-and-go-shanty (walk-away-shanty) the entire deck crew was usually used to pull.

Shanties with work purpose Press

  • Capstan shanties were sung on the windlass (spill / capstan) when lifting the anchor.
  • Windlass shanties were sung while operating the pump-like Windlass.
  • Pump shanties were sung during pumping work (e.g. pumping out the leakage water).

Shanties for entertainment / leisure

  • These include the bollard songs or forebitters ('Fore-bitts' = ' bollards ', the mushroom-shaped iron heads for fastening the ropes). Bollard songs mostly describe the hard and hard life at sea in a romantic way. People liked to sing them in the evening while sitting on the bollards, but also on certain occasions and rituals, such as crossing the equator or the polar circle.
  • The homeward-bound shanties with their narrative texts of experiences and longings were mostly sung in their free time.

Choirs and performers

The traditional songs of the shanties are now being looked after by “shanty choirs ”, which increasingly formed near port or coastal cities , but often emerged from sailing and naval associations inland . Shanty choirs usually consist entirely or predominantly of men. Exceptions are the shanty choirs Ellunder Nordlichter with a high proportion of women and the choir director Iveta Jürgensen and the choir Musikverein Seeteufel from Halle with about the same number of women and men. In northern Germany on the Waterkant , the appearance of “shanty choirs” is a cultural asset , but is now also part of the tourist offer there .

But not only real shanties are sung, but also film music such as from Große Freiheit No. 7 or the documentary Windjammer (1958) can be found in the repertoire of many choirs today.

Exclusively shanty performers are rarely to be found as soloists ; These include, for example, Günther Bockelmann (1945–2009) from Bremerhaven and the Polish shanty singer and copywriter Jerzy Porebski (* 1939). However, shanties are part of the repertoire of some songwriters , such as Achim Reichel or Hannes Wader , and sometimes also of pop singers such as Sven Jenssen or Peter Petrel .

The German band Santiano , named after a shanty, has been successful with a mixture of shanties and other styles since 2012 .

Shanty singing is also cultivated in the neighboring countries of Germany, especially in the countries bordering the North and Baltic Seas.

  • Shanty Choir Brinkum , from Stuhr-Brinkum near Bremen

  • Jerzy Porebski, Polish shanty singer and lyricist

  • Capstan Shanty Choir at the ceremony for the 100th birthday of Karl Carstens in the former new plenary hall of the German Bundestag in Bonn

  • Shanty Choir Rüsselsheim from Rüsselsheim am Main . Group photo on the Baltic Sea beach on the occasion of the Geltinger Shanty Meeting 2014.

In pop culture

In film and television

In video games

  • Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag : takes place in the golden age of piracy , the main character and pirate Edward Kenway can collect shanties at various locations , which are sung by his crew during the cruise
  • Assassin's Creed Rogue : takes place in the 18th century, shanties are also sung by the team while driving , some are available from the start, others have to be collected

Audio samples

literature

  • Gilbert Obermair (Ed.): Shanties. The rough chants of the old drivers. Heyne, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-41528-0 .
  • Stan Hugill: Shanties from the Seven Seas. Shipboard Work-Songs and Songs Used from the Great Days of Sail. Mystic Seaport Museum Publications, Mystic CT 2003, ISBN 0-913372-70-6 (reprinted from Routledge edition, London 1984).
  • Stan Hugill: Windjammer songs. The rough life and the funny songs of the old drivers. Claassen Verlag, Düsseldorf 1978, ISBN 3-546-44893-6 .
  • Hermann Strobach , Jens Gerlach: Shanties. Adaptations of English and Scandinavian songs . Delius Klaing, Bielefeld 1978, ISBN 3-7688-0084-9 (reprint of the Gutenberg book guild edition, Frankfurt am Main 1971).
  • Konrad Tegtmeier: Old sea shanties and shanties . E. Hauswedell & Co., Hamburg 1951.
  • Richard R. Terry: Sailor Shanties. II. In: Music & Letters. Volume 1, 1920, issue 3, pages 256-268, ISSN  0027-4224

Web links

Commons : Shanty Choirs and Singers  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Shanty  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Elisabeth Peters: Shanty-Referat. (PDF) ISSA
  2. ^ Stan Hugill: Windjammer songs. Claassen Verlag, Düsseldorf, ISBN 3-546-44893-6 , p. 10, 1st column
  3. ^ Stan Hugill: Windjammer songs. P. 10, 3rd column
  4. ↑ dmb-shanty.de - Shanty in the German Navy Federation
  5. ^ ISSA - International Shanty and Seasong Association
  6. ↑ shantykoren.eu Dutch shanty choirs
  7. ↑ The Shanty's Bible . First edition 1961, reprint 1966, 1979, 1984; second edition (shortened) 1984, 1987, 1994!