A talk with singer Don Sineti of the Connecticut schooner Mystic Whaler which stops in Sag Harbor today, July 23. At 8 p.m. Sineti and crew perform “Songs of the Sea and Tales of The Whales” a free sea shanty concert at the Old Whalers’ Church, 44 Union Street, Sag Harbor.
What inspired you to sing shanties?
“I’ve had a great interest in the sea since I was a kid. In the ‘60s folk music became popular and shanties became more of an interest. Stan Hugill, the last of the shantymen — he was from England — wrote the best book on the subject “Shanties from the Seven Seas.” We became fast friends. He was very encouraging about my doing it.”
Were there different songs for different kinds of ships?
If there was any music on the vessel, it was at the captain’s discretion. Some allowed it, some didn’t, some encouraged it. There were two types of music on ships. The shanties weren’t considered social music. They were a tool, they didn’t sing them when they weren’t working. Just like a hammer or saw is to a carpenter, there were specific shanties for specific jobs.
Another body of music they would sing socially — like folk songs. In the whaling trade there was an abundance of magnificent ballads. Some shanties are specifically about whaling. It’s the whaling ballads that are so dramatic – they reflect the two different types of songs. It’s incredibly rich and wonderful music.
Are the origins of specific shanties traceable?
Some are because they mention certain ships and ports. A few we can trace to an individual and even a date when it was first performed. But well over 95 percent wouldn’t fall into that category. It’s a real aural and folk tradition. Since a shanty had to continue until the job was done, a great shantyman would’ve not only had leather lungs, but a clever mind. They couldn’t stop halfway through the job and say I don’t know any more words. Being a tool, they would end when the song was done.
Where did the term come from?
Some debate exists about that. Some believe it’s from the word chanteur — “singer” in French. Then there are theories that in the Caribbean when they moved these little shanty houses they’d sing while doing it. It’s a little hard to pin down. The word shanty is accepted with either with an “s” or a “c.” I prefer “s” because Stan Hugill preferred “s” — but I think there might be more credence to the French theory.
What’s the earliest example of a sea shanty you have come across?
The form that we know really dates back to the late 1700s. We know of some sung earlier than that, but they really gained prominence in the package ship era — from the early 1800s to the 1920s and ‘30s. They started in great numbers after 1812 with ships carrying products from England to America.”
Are they still being written?
Some people are writing them, but they fell out of fashion with the advent of engines and machinery. Mostly they’re sung at museums and on vessels like the Mystic Whaler. The era of great tall ships is over.
What is your favorite sea song?
My very, very favorite song to sing is not a chanty, it’s “Rolling Down to Old Maui” a ballad about whaling in the Arctic when they were going after the bowhead whales.
Above: Don Sineti
