Salty

Salty Dick Rises Again: More Uncensored Sailor Songs

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For over 100 years sea music fans have wondered about what old-time sailors really sang when hauling on a halyard or heaving at the pumps. Every collector of chanteys from the late 19th through the early 20th century was careful not to include rude and naughty words in the chanteys they preserved. And every one would let the gentle reader know that they were not morally allowed to share the awful, disgusting lyrics that sailors actually used while working on board a ship.

One mid-20th-century collector took matters further than anyone: Stan Hugill. Hugill had sailed in square-riggers from the 1920s through the 1930s, and became a chanteyman himself. He collected hundreds of chanteys, including the raw original versions that other collectors shied away from. In his important collection Shanties From The Seven Seas, first published in 1961, he stated that “I have endeavored to get nearer to the original than other writers.”

But he did better than “get nearer” – much better. Before his chantey collection was published Hugill wrote down the unexpurgated words to 42 chanteys that he’d learned from shipmates and veteran sailors, which he titled Sailing Ship Shanties, using the pseudonym Long John Silver. While he did not intend to publish these himself, he let his readers know that he had passed this manuscript on to a scholar of bawdry named Gershon Legman, who did plan to publish a huge book of bawdy songs.

While Hugill went on to publish his book of chanteys, including many with “camouflaged” lyrics, Legman never did bring his tome to publication, more’s the pity. And so Hugill’s dirty chantey lyrics were lost for decades. Only in 2014 did a scholar track them down, hidden in an archive of Legman’s papers at the Kinsey Institute. Eventually I got my mitts on the manuscript, and so today you can enjoy the work songs that sailors sang long ago as they toiled at the capstan, windlass, pumps, and halyards.

Above are the lyrics to the songs on the album, with historical notes. Lyrics in brackets are the words used in the manuscript, while unbracketed lyrics in italics are what are sung on the recording.

Salty Dick’s Uncensored Sailor Songs

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Here is a collection of songs as Sailors sung them: bawdy, raw and uncensored. Not for the timid or prissy, these are examples of the entertainment seamen past and present created for themselves. Some are in the form of chanteys: work songs from the sailing ship era. These include rare unexpurgated versions preserved by the late Stan Hugill, who sang many of these himself during his days as a windjammer sailor in the early 20th century. Also included are songs from the Royal Navy, the Canadian Navy and the U.S. Navy, covering a span of years from the 19th century to today.

This is material that most folklorists have passed over and which is still transmitted today as all songs were at one time: by word of mouth. Whether you are a student of traditional song, a lover of maritime lore, or just enjoy a good dirty song, you’ll find something of interest on this recording.

Sailors, like any exclusively male community, have probably always sung “dirty” songs. Even a cursory perusal of the available literature reveals ribald songs from cowboys, soldiers, rugby players, boy scouts. The available literature is scanty, however, since few folksong collectors preserved material of this nature. It is, therefore, one of the last branches of folk music that still relies primarily on oral transmission. If you want to learn songs that deal frankly with sexual themes, find a group of men without the company of women, open up a bottle or two, and stay close until the singing begins.

For seamen, the enforced abstinence of sea voyages created a pressure that found an outlet in the singing of bawdy songs. Much material has been lost to us, but there remains a small body of song of maritime provenance that is still pure and unbowdlerized. It is my intention with this recording to preserve a few of these gems, to probe this back channel of sea music. These are songs from both the merchant service and naval tradition, songs of long ago as well as of today and songs from all corners of the English-speaking maritime world.

I have collected this material from a number of sources. From the great Stan Hugill come uncensored versions of well-known chanteys. From Jerry Silverman’s invaluable work The Dirty Song Book come a number of rude songs. From musical confederates of mine come various impolite ditties. And from friends who served in the seaborne military services of Great Britain and the United States comes some of the most disgusting material of all. I thank them all, and dedicate this work to the memory of the men of the sea who found a lightening of their burdens through the uplift provided by a choice naughty song.

In particular, I wish to express gratitude to these individuals for their contributions to this recording: Tony Barrand, Oscar Brand, Jerry Bryant, Ed Cray, Tom Lewis, Dave Peloquin, Steve Sanfilippo, Kevin Watkins.

Richard “Salty Dick” Docker. PH.D. May 2004