The Saucy Sailor Boy [461-462] (342-344)

or "Jack Tar"

The tone and theme of this one--the emphasis on social class with respect to marriage--makes it fairly clear that it belongs to the 18th century or earlier, and definitely English :) The American or African-American chanteyman of the 19th century was not so obsessed with the subject! Sure enough, it is a story handed down through the ballad tradition, and versions of it were sold at least as early as 1781 (according to Barrett 1891).

It's nice to have Hugill's version, especially seeing that some of the variety has been sapped out of this song in the 20th century--it's now one of those "traditional" songs that always sounds the same! Steeleye Span did a version of a variant of the ballad, and I'd venture to guess that most subsequent versions are "covers" of that...unless theirs is also a cover of an earlier reviver. No matter -- because that version looks to be directly from what Cecil Sharp enshrined as "English folk song." Well, this chantey version is very different. (Doerflinger published a relatively similar sailor's version, too.)

Like most ballad-descended songs, "The Saucy Sailor" had more life as a forebitter, but Hugill squeezes it into his volume as an occasional pumping chantey.

The images in the video are of the Russian 4 masted bark KRUZENSHTERN, which must have been easily the largest vessel present in Boston Harbour for the trans-Atlantic Tall Ships race, July 2009.

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

Category:

Music

Tags:

• saucy
• sailor
• boy
• jack
• tar
• sea
• shanty
• song
• chantey
• ballad
• class
• system
• maritime
• folk

[BarbaraStrozziA]

Thankk you for the historical information. I 'm serching of that because there are a song of Henry Purcell, My dearest my fairest, which begins with the same phrase , and a historical ensemble plays this song and the oder. Do you have more information of this,or please tell me where find some info?

[BRANOFNF]

Ah, I know this song from that 'Voice of the People' series that the big traditional music label did.... Umm, ah I can't remember what exactly it was called. My Ship Shall Sail the Ocean or something like that? Probably my favourite song on the album actually.