A sea shanty is a working song sung by sailors on a ship while they perform repetitive tasks. The rhythms of the songs matched the sailors’ movements as they worked, which helped to relieve boredom and ease the strain of hard physical labor. The word “shanty” is thought to have come from the French word “chanter,” which means “to sing.” Another theory is that the word “shanties” came from American sailors and dock workers who lived in crude, rustic shacks known as “shanties.”
The sea shanty was most popular during the Age of Sail, which lasted from the 16th to the mid-nineteenth centuries. During this time, square-rigged sailing ships propelled almost entirely by manpower were plentiful, and they were used to facilitate international trade. As a result, there was a demand for sailors to work the ships’ lines for long periods of time at sea. The first sea shanty was most likely spawned by a lack of entertainment combined with the strain of hard work.
A true sea shanty was never sung in a sailor’s spare time, but only when they were at sea. Sea shanties are now performed by choral groups and folk singers as a type of popular traditional music. Many modern-day songs that we think of as sea shanties are actually “Foc’sle” songs that sailors sang in their spare time, rather than true historical sea shanties.
There are three basic types of sea shanties, each of which is used for a specific task. A long-haul shanty, also known as a halyard sea shanty, was sung while doing heavy work that required more time between pulls. Short-haul shantys, also known as short-drag shanties, were sung while performing quick tasks that required a lot of strength. A capstan shanty was sung while performing long-term repetitive tasks that did not require the use of lines, such as raising the anchor. To fit the task at hand, sailors would occasionally change the rhythm of one type of shanty.
A shantyman, or self-appointed song leader, sings a sea shanty with a group of sailors who respond to him. On every ship, shantymen were respected and valued because they kept the sailors working and boosted their morale. The sailors respond with a line from the sea shanty when the shantyman calls out a line from the song. The sailors’ movements are timed to the last syllable of each line.