Mister Stormalong [71-75] (65-68)

...or plain old "Stormalong," there are so many variants of this theme that it becomes near impossible to distinguish them by different names! Harlow gives 6 different forms, all of which are in some ways different than 6 described by Hugill. Doerflinger's version is of the same cut as this one, but with significant melodic differences.

The various authors ascribe it to many different types of work; Hugill says "pumps."

This is the first in Hugill's set of this theme. "Stormalong" always refers to a mythic seaman (sometimes captain, sometimes bosun, etc.) who was much beloved by the crew. Apparently Stormalong was the name of a character in a number of African American songs collected in the 1830s-40s. Nordhoff, in his "The Merchant Vessel" (written 1850s) mentions a "Stormy" variant among the screwers of cotton in Mobile Bay:
"The chants, as may be supposed, have more rhyme than reason in them. The tunes are generally plaintive and monotonous, as are most of the capstan tunes of sailors, but resounding over the still waters of the Bay, they had a fine effect. There was one, in which figured that mythical person-
age, "Old Stormy," the rising and falling cadences of which, as they swept over the Bay on the breeze, I was never tired of listening to. It may amuse some of my readers to give here a few stanzas of this and some other of these chants. " Stormy" is supposed to have died, and the first song begins:

Old Stormy, he is dead and gone,
Chorus — Carry him along, boys, carry him along,
Oh ! carry him to his long home.
Chorus — Carry him to the burying-ground.

Oh ! ye who dig Old Stormy' s grave.
Chorus — Carry him along, boys, carry him along.
Dig it deep and bury him safe.
Chorus — Carry him to the buiying-ground.

Lower him down with a golden chain.
Chorus — Carry him along, boys, cany him along.
Then he'll never rise again,
Chorus — Carry him to the burying-ground.
Grand Chorus — Way-oh-way-oh-way — storm along,

Way — you rolling crew, storm along stormy.

And so on ad infinitum, or, more properly speaking, till the screw is run out."

Also found in:
LA Smith 1888 ("Massa Stormalong"), Sharp 1914, Doerflinger 1951

See the whole "Shanties from the Seven Seas" project, here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=58B55DD66F22060C

Category:

Music

Tags:

• stormalong
• stormy
• sea
• chantey
• shanty
• worksong
• general
• taylor
• pumps
• capstan
• halyard
• stan
• hugill

[viennashade]

By the way, you've whetted my appetite to see the 1956 Moby Dick with one of your clips. Do you know if there's a streamable version online anywhere? I could only find the Patrick Stewart version, but I'd rather see the other.

[hultonclint]

No, sorry, I've not run across a streaming version on-line. I borrowed the DVD from my local library.

[viennashade]

Yeah, I figured it was something like that, only I was thinking more a corruption of 'tell me.' All shanties vary, of course, but what amazes me more is how much they're the same! With no iPods, or even radio, still this stuff got passed around and around, in at least a recognizable form. Meaning a sailor not only survived a voyage but went on to other ships, becoming a carrier. If they didn't get sung on shore much, or written down, well, you know the reputation of whisper down the lane...

[hultonclint]

yeah! That is definitely a part of the fascination, I think, at least for me. To make a reverse point though, too -- the fact that, at some point certain versions were notated down in print probably gives a little too stable a picture. it varies a lot, because some were just so widespread that they were very consistent -- especially since a lot were based on pre-existing songs. Others are so variable that we can hardly make sense out of one person's version versus another.

[viennashade]

Hey thanks for demonstrating this song. Along with the way hey's and rye-o's one of the calls sometimes heard between lines in shanties sounds something like tibby or timmy, as in the rendition here - wondering if anyone knows where that comes from, or can shed some light.

[hultonclint]

Thanks for your interesting comment. I don't know where it "came from" per se, but I do have an understanding of how it works (at least I think so). I assume it to be a reduction of "to me", something equivalent to saying "and a" as in "and a 1, and a 2". It is like a musical "pick-up" that leads into and cues the chorus phrase that comes after. Like, "HERE IT COMES...." In all cases it leads up to the word/note that is emphasized (where the effort occurs).

[viennashade]

That is a great idea, which believe it or not I would not have thought of myself!