Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away (A) [308] (230-231)

Even though the lyrics say "heave" it is a halyard (for hauling) chantey. Hugill speculated that since the chantey prob. originated among the cotton stowers of Mobile Bay, the "heave" was refering to their action at the "jackscrews" with which they screwed cotton down into the holds of ships. In other words, while most shipboard chanteys with "heave" accompany a continuous action, and those with "haul" accompany an intermittent action, this chantey was for an untermittent action where the action was one of heaving. Make sense?

Another suggestion I would make is that since it was received from a Caribbean source (Hugill learned it from a sailor from St. Vincent) it had been turned into a hauling chantey. I base this on the fact that most of the chanteys for small boat work in the Caribbean (e.g. the recently extant whaling practice) were for hauling work or rowing.

*Apologies for my pseudo-Jamaican/Caribbean accent, but the lyrics just don't sound right without an accent.

An interesting word used in the chantey is what Hugill gives as "buckra" -- it's interesting because Hugill doesnt define it, and I dont know why he'd expect his readers to know it. I know it as "Backra," a coarse term for "White man" in Jamaican language, though I understand it exists in variants and derives from African languages brought to the New World.

Hugill notated this chantey for the first time in print. As far as I can find, it has not been recorded (?). So perhaps mine is the first recording? :)

Please check out the whole chanteys project playlist, at http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=58B55DD66F22060C

Category:

Music

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• chantey
• St.
• vincent
• shanty
• caribbean
• mobile
• work
• song