Aquila Children's Magazine AQUILA Magazine Best Bits | Page 61

songs specifically for dry land. Whereas
shanties were strictly used for work, sea
songs are more for entertainment, many
of them are a little more mellow and story
driven. They’re perfect for giving a touch
of variety during a shanty performance.
You don’t want to be walloping along ALL
the time!
AQUILA: Why are sea shanties still
important today?
Jowan: Sea shanties are important today
for two reasons. Firstly, we need to keep
the oral tradition going. Each shanty crew
will know three or four songs but they
will each know a slightly different version.
That’s incredibly charming to me. It also
feels true to how the songs should be
passed on as part of our culture.
Secondly, sea shanty groups are a perfect
bonding opportunity. It doesn’t matter if
you’re not a great singer, neither were the
sailors who sung them in the first place.
They are also such powerful songs that
they are constantly evolving. Today I
perform sea shanties with the London
Sea Shanty Collective. One of the things I
love about it is that we change some of
the words and meanings to be more
inclusive.
AQUILA: Can you give us an example of
a funny (not too rude though!) sea
shanty and tell us what it is about?
Jowan: My favourite songs are a tad too
rude to print in this magazine but Bully In
the Alley is all about leaving your drunken
shipmate in a passageway to sober up
while the rest of your crew carries on
drinking! (A bully is a sailor). Not big. Not
clever. But VERY entertaining to listen to
and sing!
Jowan Collier is a preservation
assistant at the British Library. He
helps to keep the British Library’s
for years to come, as part of their
Unlocking Our Sound Heritage
project. He has also been singing and
recording sea shanties for over a
decade with the Falmouth Fish in
Cornwall and the London Sea Shanty
Collective.
most vulnerable recordings playable