Track list :
1. The Grey Funnel Line
2. Cape Cod Girls
3. The Robert Whitworth
6. Old Horse
7. John Kanaka
8. Sail Away Lady
9. Old Maui
10. The Last Leviathan
11. Strike the Bell
12. Fire Maringo
13. Roseanne
14. Shoals of Herring
17. Hooray! Hoorah!
18. Cornwall my Home
contact@stamp-and-go.co.uk - for CD sales
Payment by cheque made out to STAMP AND GO …. And send to Lesley (‘Stamp and Go’) Station House, Perranporth Cornwall TR6 0DD
….CD cost £10.00 please add postage and packaging , UK destinations + 50p, Euro Zone +£1.35, Worldwide + £2.00.
The Quiz !
1. The Grey Funnel Line
Cyril Tawney joined the Grey Funnel Line as a boy: halfway through his 14 year engagement he wrote this line. Six years later, after he’d bought himself out of the Navy, he wrote the rest of this song.
2. Cape Cod Girls .. Les with a classic rousing shanty
3. The Robert Whitworth-
Was a pulling lifeboat that was hauled seven miles overland through a blizzard, from Whitby to Robin Hood’s bay to rescue six men of a local collier brig. The first launch attempt was a disaster, but doubling up on the oars eighteen men managed to save them all.
4. Two Mighty Mines –
Perranporth in the first half of the 19th. Century was dominated by the two great copper mine complexes, Wheal Leisure and Perran St. George. Wheal Leisure successfully sued Perran St. George, claiming encroachment. Facing ruin from the huge compensation awarded their neighbours, the adventurers pulled out and stopped pumping the water up from the depths of the mines, which were connected deep underground. The resulting flooding of both saw a premature and permanent end to mining in Perranporth itself.
5. We’ll be damned -
Tells the story of the Cornish Diaspora from the point of view of those Perranporth men who had no choice but to leave home and family to work all over the world.
6. Old Horse –
Having being paid in advance for the first month of a voyage, ( “ drawing on a dead horse “ ) the crew would spend it all in port before they left harbour. After a month at sea, working as they saw it for nothing, they would celebrate the resumption of their income by hauling the stuffed effigy of a horse up the mast and dropping it into the sea.
7. John Kanaka - “ Kanaka “ was the generic name for labourers from the South Sea Islands, both on land and at sea.
8. Sail Away Lady – a shanty probably of African-American origin – Les gives it a gentle lyrical treatment.
9. Old Maui –
Based in the tropical paradise of Hawaii the whalers spent most of their time enduring the Ice-World of the Arctic engaged in an unbelievably dirty and dangerous way of life, only very occasionally returning to port. ( the “ six hellish months of the song was more likely to stretch to years at sea )
10. The Last Leviathan –
Andy Barnes’ lovely, sad, song about the inevitable consequences of modern whaling.
11. Strike the Bell –
a. A sea song not a shanty – Will the starboard watch manage to prevaricate until it’s their turn for hot food and their bunks – or will the heartless captain decide to land them with the unpleasant and dangerous task of shortening sail. Once up aloft the second mate can ring the bell all he likes but they’ll still have to complete the task before bedtime…
12. Fire Maringo –
No-one knows who or what “ Maringo “ was .. this is a shanty about loading cotton into the hold and compressing it as tightly as possible to save space. Many seamen would jump ship in the Northern States of the USA and travel south to do a nice warm safe job on the dockside. Still hard work though!
13. Roseanne –
Originally one of the hundreds of shantys about a girl left behind, but the way Dave sings it she was in a different class to the usual Sally Browns and Nancys It was probably associated with hauling nets rather than anchors or sails.
14. Shoals of Herring –
Malc has smaller fish to fry than whales in this Ewan MacColl song based on the life of Norfolk fisherman Jan Larner.
15. Seadogs –
A Victorian poem found in the Old Lifeboat House on Hoy in the Orkneys provided the inspiration for this song about the saving of 51 lives aboard the steamer Manchester City in October 1898.
16. Real Ale of Old England –
“ A word from our sponsor “ ….. but we didn’t need any prompting to sing this song about Betty Stoggs, one of Cornwall’s legendary folk heroes who is enjoying a modern re-incarnation in support of the eponymous local best bitter. More Sally Brown or Nancy than Roseanne, we’d say. The tune is by our favourite Anglo-Norwegian Richard Burgess, which ( partly ) explains one of the verses.
17. Hooray! Hoorah!
This explains the windbreak on the inside of the CD cover. All human ( beach ) life is here, from squalling brats to pompous prats….
18. Cornwall my Home –
Harry Glasson’s simple hymn of praise for the land we love.
Cyril Tawney joined the Grey Funnel Line as a boy: halfway through his 14 year engagement he wrote this line. Six years later, after he’d bought himself out of the Navy, he wrote the rest of this song.
2. Cape Cod Girls .. Les with a classic rousing shanty
3. The Robert Whitworth-
Was a pulling lifeboat that was hauled seven miles overland through a blizzard, from Whitby to Robin Hood’s bay to rescue six men of a local collier brig. The first launch attempt was a disaster, but doubling up on the oars eighteen men managed to save them all.
4. Two Mighty Mines –
Perranporth in the first half of the 19th. Century was dominated by the two great copper mine complexes, Wheal Leisure and Perran St. George. Wheal Leisure successfully sued Perran St. George, claiming encroachment. Facing ruin from the huge compensation awarded their neighbours, the adventurers pulled out and stopped pumping the water up from the depths of the mines, which were connected deep underground. The resulting flooding of both saw a premature and permanent end to mining in Perranporth itself.
5. We’ll be damned -
Tells the story of the Cornish Diaspora from the point of view of those Perranporth men who had no choice but to leave home and family to work all over the world.
6. Old Horse –
Having being paid in advance for the first month of a voyage, ( “ drawing on a dead horse “ ) the crew would spend it all in port before they left harbour. After a month at sea, working as they saw it for nothing, they would celebrate the resumption of their income by hauling the stuffed effigy of a horse up the mast and dropping it into the sea.
7. John Kanaka - “ Kanaka “ was the generic name for labourers from the South Sea Islands, both on land and at sea.
8. Sail Away Lady – a shanty probably of African-American origin – Les gives it a gentle lyrical treatment.
9. Old Maui –
Based in the tropical paradise of Hawaii the whalers spent most of their time enduring the Ice-World of the Arctic engaged in an unbelievably dirty and dangerous way of life, only very occasionally returning to port. ( the “ six hellish months of the song was more likely to stretch to years at sea )
10. The Last Leviathan –
Andy Barnes’ lovely, sad, song about the inevitable consequences of modern whaling.
11. Strike the Bell –
a. A sea song not a shanty – Will the starboard watch manage to prevaricate until it’s their turn for hot food and their bunks – or will the heartless captain decide to land them with the unpleasant and dangerous task of shortening sail. Once up aloft the second mate can ring the bell all he likes but they’ll still have to complete the task before bedtime…
12. Fire Maringo –
No-one knows who or what “ Maringo “ was .. this is a shanty about loading cotton into the hold and compressing it as tightly as possible to save space. Many seamen would jump ship in the Northern States of the USA and travel south to do a nice warm safe job on the dockside. Still hard work though!
13. Roseanne –
Originally one of the hundreds of shantys about a girl left behind, but the way Dave sings it she was in a different class to the usual Sally Browns and Nancys It was probably associated with hauling nets rather than anchors or sails.
14. Shoals of Herring –
Malc has smaller fish to fry than whales in this Ewan MacColl song based on the life of Norfolk fisherman Jan Larner.
15. Seadogs –
A Victorian poem found in the Old Lifeboat House on Hoy in the Orkneys provided the inspiration for this song about the saving of 51 lives aboard the steamer Manchester City in October 1898.
16. Real Ale of Old England –
“ A word from our sponsor “ ….. but we didn’t need any prompting to sing this song about Betty Stoggs, one of Cornwall’s legendary folk heroes who is enjoying a modern re-incarnation in support of the eponymous local best bitter. More Sally Brown or Nancy than Roseanne, we’d say. The tune is by our favourite Anglo-Norwegian Richard Burgess, which ( partly ) explains one of the verses.
17. Hooray! Hoorah!
This explains the windbreak on the inside of the CD cover. All human ( beach ) life is here, from squalling brats to pompous prats….
18. Cornwall my Home –
Harry Glasson’s simple hymn of praise for the land we love.
