The Shanty: A Very Brief History

The sea shanties with which we are most familiar today are a form of work song that developed on large commercial sailing ships during the nineteenth century. Most likely the term is an adaptation of the French word chantez, meaning ‘to sing’. 

The Battle of Waterloo (1815) brought an end to the revolutionary wars which had devastated Europe for over quarter of a century. In 1818 an American shipping company named the Black Ball Line commenced a regular run between New York and Liverpool, sailing on the first of every month, irrespective of the weather, the number of passengers or the amount of cargo loaded. The journey took 23 days for the eastward trip, about 40 coming back. The route proved economically viable, and other ‘lines’ rushed to compete; a new phase of global commerce had commenced. 

Work on board the typical merchant vessel consisted in large part of a variety of heavy physical tasks – raising the anchor, hoisting and adjusting sails, pumping bilge water, and so on. It was soon observed that sailors operated more efficiently when working to a rhythm that was sympathetic to the task in hand. Large ships, relatively small crews, and the need for speed – these were the circumstances within which the practical benefits of the co-ordinated work song became apparent. 

One recurring format was the call-and-response song, which works like this: an experienced individual (the ‘shantyman’) chooses an appropriate song to accompany the job in hand, and after some preliminary shouts (a sing-out) to announce what that song is, they sing the first line alone (solo). The second (response) line is then sung by the work gang, during which a joint physical effort (a pull or a heave) takes place, timed to coincide with a particular emphasis in the song itself. This pattern continues until the job is completed. 

Shanties were highly flexible in terms of their melodic and lyrical content. Tunes were borrowed from many different traditions (particularly Ireland and Africa), including hymns, popular dances, music hall, classical music and folk ballads. Lyrics were comprised of stock phrases that were interchangeable between different songs, sometimes adapted for use on particular vessels. The lyrics also frequently contained certain words which even then were offensive, and which have become more so as the years have passed.

Nevertheless, shanties were allowed onboard merchant vessels because they improved morale and provided a rhythm which improved efficiency through ‘concerted’ effort – a word that, with its connotations of collaboration and performance, seems particularly apt.

Shanty-singing became popular during the American-dominated packet ships of 1830–50, and it reached its peak in the British-dominated clipper-ship era of 1855–70. As a living tradition it was in serious decline by about 1880 in the face of competition from steam-powered vessels.

As soon as its imminent demise was apparent, the shanty began to attract the attention of folklorists – collectors and academics determined to preserve as much of the original material as possible. This proved difficult, because unlike most other cultural texts, shanties were (and remain) highly unstable. No two performances of a shanty in a working environment were ever the same; each performance was modified in relation to the job at hand, the knowledge and prejudices of the shantyman, the circumstances of the voyage, and so on. 

Despite these difficulties, the shanty has proved one of the most popular and most durable genres of the international folk movement. From Sydney to San Francisco, Providence to Port Isaac, people have continued to sing shanties in contexts far removed from that in which the form emerged and thrived. The TikTok ‘Wellerman’ phenomenon during the lockdown of 2020/2021 underlined the shanty’s remarkable ability to retain an attraction for new performers and new audiences. And it’s worth asking why this should be so: what is it in or about these simple songs that draws performers and listeners back to them time and again? 

One answer might relate to the historical importance of the Atlantic when considered in political, economic and ideological terms. The shanty, we might say, provided the soundtrack – cacophonous and lyrical by turns – for a decisive stage in the development of the modern world. 

Another answer might point to the abiding significance of the ocean for the human imagination – the seven-tenths of its global presence echoed in the seven-tenths of our individual bodies. 

A final response might simply acknowledge the power of the shanty to articulate something essential about the human condition – the way in which, for all their crudeness of form and banality of content, these songs speak to something primordial about what it means to be alive 

with a body that feels, a mind that thinks, and a spirit that yearns. 

Professor Gerry Smyth

Liverpool John Moores University

Author of Sailor Song: The Shanties and Ballads of the High Seas (British Library, 2021)