"Drunken Sailor", also known as "What Shall We Do with a/the Drunken Sailor?" or "Up She Rises", is a traditional

sea shanty A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...

, listed as No. 322 in the

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

. It was sung onboard sailing ships at least as early as the 1830s, and it shares its tune with the traditional Irish folk song "'' Óró sé do bheatha abhaile''". The song's lyrics vary, but usually contain some variant of the question, "What shall we do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning?" In some styles of performance, each successive verse suggests a method of sobering or punishing the

drunken Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

. In other styles, further questions are asked and answered about different people. "Drunken Sailor" was revived as a popular song among non-sailors in the 20th century, and grew to become one of the best-known songs of the shanty repertoire among mainstream audiences. It has been performed and recorded by many musical artists and appeared regularly in popular culture.

History

Origin and melody

The authorship and origin of the song are unknown, but it shares its tune with the traditional Irish folk song "''Óró sé do bheatha abhaile''". Drunken sailor

It is in the

Dorian mode Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the medieval musical modes; or—mos ...

As a sea shanty

The song was sung to accompany certain work tasks aboard

sailing ships A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

, especially those that required a bright walking pace. It is believed to originate in the early 19th century or earlier, during a period when ships' crews, especially those of military vessels, were large enough to permit hauling a rope whilst simply marching along the deck. With the advent of merchant packet and clipper ships and their smaller crews, which required different working methods, use of the shanty appears to have declined or shifted to other, minor tasks. The first published description of the shanty is found in an account of an 1839 whaling voyage out of

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

to the Pacific Ocean.Hugill, Stan. 1961. ''Shanties from the Seven Seas.'' London. It was used as an example of a song that was "performed with very good effect when there is a long line of men hauling together". The tune was noted, along with these lyrics: Although this is the earliest discovered published mention, there is some indication that the shanty is at least as old as the 1820s. In Eckstorm and

Smyth Smyth is an early variant of the common surname Smith commonly found in Ireland.Citation: Bardsley, 1901 Shown below are notable people who share the surname "Smyth". Notable people sharing the Smyth surname Listed here are people who share the ...

's collection ''Minstrelsy of Maine'' (published 1927), the editors note that one of their grandmothers, who sang the song, claimed to have heard it used during the task of tacking on the

Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's We ...

"probably y the time of the editor's reportageconsiderably over a hundred years ago". Despite these indications of the song's existence in the first half of the 19th century, references to it are rare. They include a reference in a work of fiction from 1855 in which a drunken female cook is portrayed singing, A five-verse set of lyrics and tune were published in the third edition of Davis and Tozer's shanty collection, ''Sailor Songs or 'Chanties''. However, the title did not appear in any of the other major shanty collections or articles of the 19th century. When

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ...

next published the lyrics in 1906, he called it a "bastard variety" of shanty which was "seldom used"Masefield, John. 1906. ''A Sailor's Garland''. Methuen & Co.—an assertion supported by the lack of many earlier references. This style of shanty, called a "runaway chorus" by Masefield, and as a " stamp and go" or "walk away" shanty by others, was said to be used for tacking and which was sung in "quick time". The verses in Masefield's version asked what to do with a "drunken sailor", followed by a response, then followed by a question about a "drunken soldier", with an appropriate response. Capt. W. B. Whall, a veteran English sailor of the 1860s–70s, was the next author to publish on "Drunken Sailor". He claimed that this was one of only two shanties that was sung in the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

(where singing at work was generally frowned upon). Moreover, the song had largely gone out of use as a "walk away" shanty when the size of ships' crews was reduced and it was no longer possible to use that working method.Whall, Captain W. B. 1910. ''Sea Songs and Shanties''. Brown, Son and Ferguson. The lyrics given by Whall are essentially the same as those from Masefield: about a "drunken sailor", then a "drunken soldier". Significantly, he stated that these were the ''only'' lyrics, as evidently the task did not take long to complete. The above-mentioned and other veteran sailors characterized "Drunken Sailor" as a "walk away" shanty, thus providing a possible explanation for why it was not noted more often in the second half of the 19th century. Later sailors' recollections, however, attested that the song continued to be used as a shanty, but for other purposes. Richard Maitland, an American sailor of the 1870s, sang it for song collector

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

in 1939, when he explained,

Now this is a song that's usually sang when men are walking away with the slack of a rope, generally when the iron ships are scrubbing their bottom. After an iron ship has been twelve months at sea, there's a quite a lot of barnacles and grass grows onto her bottom. And generally, in the calm latitudes, up in the
horse latitudes The horse latitudes are the latitudes about 30 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are characterized by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as subtropical ridges, or highs. It is a high-pressure ...
in the North Atlantic Ocean, usually they rig up a purchase for to scrub the bottom.

Another American sailor of the 1870s,

Frederick Pease Harlow Frederick Pease Harlow (December 12, 1856 – September 10, 1952) was an American sailor and author. Early life Harlow was born Mount Morris, Illinois, the youngest of six children of an educator and Methodist minister, William Thompson Harlow ...

, wrote in his shanty collection that "Drunken Sailor" could be used when hauling a halyard in "hand over hand" fashion to hoist the lighter sails. This would be in contradistinction to the much more typical "halyards shanties", which were for heavier work with an entirely different sort of pacing and formal structure. Another author to ascribe a function,

Richard Runciman Terry Sir Richard Runciman Terry (3 January 1864 – 18 April 1938) was an English organist, choir director and musicologist. He is noted for his pioneering revival of Tudor liturgical music. Early years Richard Terry was born in 1864 in Ellington, ...

, also said it could be used for "hand over hand" hauling. Terry was one of few writers, however, to also state the shanty was used for heaving the

windlass The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder (barrel), which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A winch is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound arou ...

or capstan.Terry, Richard Runciman. 1921. ''The Shanty Book, Part I''. London: J. Curwen & Sons. In 1906,

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

recorded Charles Rosher of London, England, singing "What shall we do with a drunken sailor", and the recording is available online via the

British Library Sound Archive The British Library Sound Archive, formerly the British Institute of Recorded Sound; also known as the National Sound Archive (NSA), in London, England is among the largest collections of recorded sound in the world, including music, spoken word a ...

. The folklorist

James Madison Carpenter James Madison Carpenter, born in 1888 in Blacklands, Mississippi, near Booneville, in Prentiss County, was a Methodist minister and scholar of American and British folklore. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the ...

recorded several veteran sailors singing the song in the 1920s and 30s, which can be heard online courtesy of the

Vaughan Williams Memorial Library The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML) is the library and archive of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS), located in the society's London headquarters, Cecil Sharp House. It is a multi-media library comprising books, periodic ...

As a popular song

"Drunken Sailor" began its life as a popular song on land at least as early as the 1900s, by which time it had been adopted as repertoire for

glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

singing at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. Elsewhere in England, by the 1910s, men had begun to sing it regularly at gatherings of the

Savage Club The Savage Club, founded in 1857, is a gentlemen's club in London, named after the poet, Richard Savage. Members are drawn from the fields of art, drama, law, literature, music or science. History The founding meeting of the Savage Club took ...

of London. Edison 51548 - DrunkenSailorMedley

The song became popular on land in America as well. A catalogue of "folk-songs" from the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

included it in 1915, where it was said to be sung while dancing "a sort of reel". More evidence of lands-folk's increasing familiarity with "Drunken Sailor" comes in the recording of a "Drunken Sailor Medley" (c. 1923) by U.S. Old Time fiddler John Baltzell. Evidently the tune's shared affinities with Anglo-Irish-American dance tunes helped it to become readapted as such, as Baltzell included it among a set of

reels A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

. Classical composers utilized the song in compositions. Australian composer

incorporated the song into his piece "Scotch Strathspey And Reel" (1924).

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...

used its melody in his ''Three Shanties for Woodwind Quintet'', Op. 4 (1943). The glut of writings on sailors' songs and published collections that came starting in the 1920s supported a revival of interest in shanty-singing for entertainment purposes on land. As such, R. R. Terry's very popular shanty collection, which had begun to serve as a resource for renditions of shanties on commercial recordings in the 1920s, was evidently used by the

Robert Shaw Chorale The Robert Shaw Chorale was a renowned professional choir founded in New York City in 1948 by Robert Shaw, a Californian who had been drafted out of college a decade earlier by Fred Waring to conduct his glee club in radio broadcasts. History ...

for their 1961 rendition. The Norman Luboff Choir recorded the song in 1959 with the uncharacteristic phrasing, "What'll we do...?" The song shares the same tune with a

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

, ''We Have A King Who Rides A Donkey'' which was written by Fred Kaan.

Notable recordings and performances

{{sources, section, date=October 2021 The song has been widely recorded under a number of titles by a range of performers including

Black Lagoon ''Black Lagoon'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rei Hiroe. It has been published in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Sunday Gene-X'' since April 2002, with its chapters colle ...

The King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

, The

Blaggards Blaggards are an American Celtic rock band from Houston, Texas. The Houston Press has described them as "H-town's heir to the emerald throne of Phil Lynott and Shane MacGowan". History Blaggards are led by guitarist and singer Patrick Devlin, ...

U.K. Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...

, and most notably

The Irish Rovers The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that originated in Toronto, Canada. Formed in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and na ...

. It also forms part of a contrapuntal section in the '' BBC Radio 4 UK Theme'' by

Fritz Spiegl Fritz Spiegl (27 January 1926 – 23 March 2003) was an Austrian-born English musician, journalist, broadcaster, humorist and collector who lived and worked in Britain from 1939. His works include compiling the Radio 4 UK Theme in 1978. Early lif ...

, in which it is played alongside ''

Greensleeves "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English Fol ...

''. The song's accordion version is used in the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

TV series, ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...

'', often in scenes involving the

Krusty Krab The Krusty Krab is a fictional fast food restaurant in the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. It is famous for its signature burger, the Krabby Patty, the formula to which is a closely guarded trade secret. The resta ...

. It was also played on Cartoon network Camp Lazlo Tree Hugger. Note that some version sing "what ''will''Italic text' we do with the drunken sailor instead of ''shall'' For over 50 years The

Irish Rovers The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that originated in Toronto, Canada. Formed in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and na ...

have played the song as their usual show-closer. Several of their recordings of the song, sometimes under the name "Weigh Hey and up She Rises" have "gone viral" on YouTube. As a response, the band released the 2012 album, "Drunken Sailor" including the title track and a prequel that tells the earlier life of the 'Drunken Sailor', called "Whores and Hounds". An instrumental remix of the song is heard in the DS version of '' Rayman Raving Rabbids 2''.

Don Janse Donald L. "Don" Janse (November 28, 1929 – August 11, 1999) was a famous vocal director and arranger from Old Lyme, Connecticut. He was best known for his work at the United States Coast Guard Academy, where he directed The Idlers The Idlers ...

produced an arrangement in the early 1960s which has been included in several choral music anthologies. The arrangement was first recorded by

The Idlers The Idlers of the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) are an all-male collegiate a cappella ensemble specializing in the performance of sea shanties and patriotic music. Overview A relatively exclusive group with a history and traditions si ...

, and has been performed by several collegiate groups over the years, including

the Yale Alley Cats The Yale Alley Cats is an undergraduate a cappella singing group at Yale University. Founded in 1943, it is the college's third-oldest underclassman a cappella group. In the summer of 1943, four Yale undergraduate students climbed Saybrook T ...

Pere Ubu Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their d ...

's 1978 song " Caligari's Mirror" is a

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

reworking of "Drunken Sailor." In the 1998 film

The Truman Show ''The Truman Show'' is a 1998 American psychological satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir, produced by Scott Rudin, Andrew Niccol, Edward S. Feldman, and Adam Schroeder, and written by Niccol. The film stars Jim Carrey as Truma ...

, Truman Burbank, played by

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...

sings the shanty while piloting a boat through a storm near the end of the movie. LeperKhanz recorded a version of the song on the album ''Tiocfaidh Ár Lá'' (2005).{{cn, date=October 2021

Dwight Schrute Dwight Kurt Schrute III () is a fictional character on ''The Office (U.S.)'' and is portrayed by American actor Rainn Wilson. Dwight's character was a salesman and the assistant to the regional manager, at the fictional paper distribution compan ...

sings a refrain of this shanty while under the false impression he is piloting the boat in the 11th episode of

The Office (US) ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...

2nd season, “Booze Cruise”. The melody was also utilized by

NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries for and about the NFL, as well as ot ...

composer

Sam Spence Samuel Lloyd Spence (March 29, 1927February 6, 2016) was an American soundtrack composer best known for his work with NFL Films. His music has also been in the EA Sports '' Madden NFL'' football video games and many football-related commercials. ...

for his track "Up as She Rises." A version of the song appears in the 2012 stealth video-game ''

Dishonored ''Dishonored'' is a 2012 action-adventure game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. Set in the fictional, plague-ridden industrial city of Dunwall, ''Dishonored'' follows the story of Corvo Attano, bodyguard to th ...

''. This version is called "The Drunken Whaler" however, tying into the video game's fictional world; where whaling is a prominent and important industry. The verses in this version all result in the subject whaler's death, such as "feed him to the hungry rats for dinner" (a reference to the rat plague that was a major plot point in the title). Another version of the song by Sean Dagher, Michiel Schrey, and Nils Brown appears in the 2013 action-adventure video game '' Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag''. The British group

Lord Rockingham's XI Lord Rockingham's XI was a group of British session musicians, led by Harry Robinson (1932–1996), who had a No. 1 hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1958 with "Hoots Mon". The group was created to perform as the resident band on the pop TV pr ...

used the tune as the basis for their instrumental "Long John". The Russian band

Aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

has a song called "What should we do with a drunken sailor?". In

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

's rendition of "

You're Sixteen "You're Sixteen" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers (Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman). It was first performed by American rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette, whose version peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Bill ...

", Starr is heard singing the chorus of the song in the fade at the end. The film ''

Fisherman's Friends The Fisherman's Friends are a folk music group from Port Isaac, Cornwall, who sing sea shanties. They have been performing locally since 1995, and signed a record deal with Universal Music in March 2010. Whilst essentially an a cappella group, ...

'' (2019, Chris Foggin), based on a true story, features a Cornish group of fishermen who sing the song en route to hitting the pop charts and touring to this day. The song also features prominently in the end credits. In ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels w ...

'' episode "The Night of Miguelito's Revenge", Michael Dunn sings this song. In the videogame

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands ''Tiny Tina's Wonderlands'' is an action role-playing first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K. As a spin-off in the '' Borderlands'' series and a sequel to ''Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep'', the game ...

, the player will meet a skeleton pirate who sings a variation on the song. The words ''drunken sailor'' are replaced with rhyming phrases such as ''funky whaler''.

Song text

{{poemquote, ''Refrain:'' Weigh heigh and up she rises (/Hoo-ray and up she rises) Weigh heigh and up she rises (/Patent blocks of different sizes) Weigh heigh and up she rises ::Early in the morning ''Traditional verses:'' What shall we do with a drunken sailor, What shall we do with a drunken sailor, What shall we do with a drunken sailor, ::Early in the morning? Put/chuck him in the

long boat A longboat is a type of ship's boat that was in use from ''circa'' 1500 or before. Though the Royal Navy replaced longboats with launches from 1780, examples can be found in merchant ships after that date. The longboat was usually the largest boat ...

'til he's sober. Put him in the long-boat and make him bail her. What shall we do with a drunken soldier? Put/lock him in the guard room 'til he gets sober. Put him in the

scuppers A scupper is an opening in the side walls of a vessel or an open-air structure, which allows water to drain instead of pooling within the bulwark or gunwales of a vessel, or within the curbing or walls of a building. There are two main kinds of s ...

with a hosepipe on him. Pull out the plug and wet him all over. Tie him to the

taffrail In naval architecture, a taffrail is the handrail around the open deck area toward the stern of a ship or boat. The rear deck of a ship is often called the afterdeck or poop deck. Not all ships have an afterdeck or poop deck. Sometimes taffrail r ...

when she's

yardarm A yard is a spar on a mast from which sails are set. It may be constructed of timber or steel or from more modern materials such as aluminium or carbon fibre. Although some types of fore and aft rigs have yards, the term is usually used to desc ...

under Heave him by the leg in a runnin' bowline. Scrape the hair off his chest with a hoop-iron razor. Give 'im a dose of salt and water. Stick on his back a

mustard plaster A mustard plaster is a poultice of mustard seed powder spread inside a protective dressing and applied to the body to stimulate healing. It can be used to warm muscle tissues and for chronic aches and pains. It was once part of conventional medical ...

. Keep him there and make 'im bail 'er. Give 'im a taste of the bosun's rope-end. What'll we do with a Limejuice skipper? Soak him in oil till he sprouts a flipper. What shall we do with the Queen o' Sheba? What shall we do with the Virgin Mary? ''Additional verses:'' Tie him to the mast and then you flog him. Keel haul him till he's sober. Shave his chin with a rusty razor. Beat 'im o'r wi' a

cat-o-nine-tails The cat o' nine tails, commonly shortened to the cat, is a type of multi-tailed whip or flail that originated as an implement for severe physical punishment, notably in the Royal Navy and British Army, and as a judicial punishment in Britain ...

. Shave his belly with a rusty razor. Give 'im a hair of the dog that bit him. Put him in the bilge and make him drink it. Put him in bed with the captain's daughter. Hit him on the head with a drunken soldier Put him in the back of a paddy wagon (Great Big Sea) Take him to the pub and get him drunker Have you seen the Captain's Daughter? (various) ''Parody verses:'' Put him at the wheel of an Exxon tanker. (Or "make him captain of") ::A common parody reference to the 1989

Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, west o ...

. Book him a room at the Tailhook Convention. ::References the 1991

Tailhook scandal The Tailhook scandal was a military scandal in which United States Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aviation officers were alleged to have sexually assaulted up to 83 women and seven men, or otherwise engaged in "improper and indecent" conduct at t ...

. Make him sing in an Irish Rock band (Sevon Rings) Lock him in a room with disco music (Schooner Fare – Finnegan's Wake) Don't let him drive/steer/near that cargo freighter. ::References the

2021 Suez Canal obstruction In March 2021, the Suez Canal was blocked for six days after the grounding of , a container ship. The vessel was buffeted by strong winds on the morning of 23 March, and ended up wedged across the waterway with its bow and stern stuck in the ...

Pronunciation of "early"

In modern performances, the word ''early'' is often pronounced as {{respell, URL, eye ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɜːr, l, aɪ). Publications in the 19th and early 20th century, however, made no note of a stylized or vernacular pronunciation. Almost all of the available field recordings, including those by

in the 1920s use the usual{{clarify, date=February 2021, reason=Word "however" in next sentence implies contrary claim, but the two sentences seem to agree pronunciation {{respell, URL, ay. However, one of Carpenter's recordings of a man named Tom Leary of

Olin Olin may refer to: People Organizations * OLIN, American landscape architecture firm * Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis * Olin College, an undergraduate engineering college in Massachusetts * Olin Corporation, a chemica ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, which can be heard online, does in fact use this pronunciation. The opera singer

Leonard Warren Leonard Warren (April 21, 1911 – March 4, 1960) was an American opera singer. A baritone, he was a leading artist for many years with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Especially noted for his portrayals of the leading baritone roles in ...

recorded the song in July 1947{{cite web , url=http://www.naxos.com/SharedFiles/pdf/rear/8.111345r.pdf# , title=Sea Shanties • Kipling Songs • Songs for Everyone , type=CD back cover , series=Naxos Historical , website=naxos.com , format=PDF , access-date=5 December 2015 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208201919/http://www.naxos.com/SharedFiles/pdf/rear/8.111345r.pdf , archive-date=8 December 2015 , url-status=live with the {{respell, URL, eye pronunciation. Later, on his popular recording of 1956,

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

also pronounced ''early'' as {{respell, URL, eye. The influential shanty collector

Stan Hugill Stanley James Hugill () (19 November 1906 – 13 May 1992) was a British folk music performer, artist and sea music historian, known as the "Last Working Shantyman" and described as the "20th century guardian of the tradition". Biography He wa ...

(1961) subsequently wrote that the word was ''always'' pronounced {{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɜːr, l, eɪ {{respell, URL, ay.{{cite book , first=Stan , last=Hugill , author-link=Stan Hugill , title=Shanties from the Seven Seas , year=1961{{full citation needed , date=March 2020

References

{{reflist

External links

Example version with lyrics

Ubisoft's version from the game Black Flag

An example of a high school male choir singing the version arranged by Robert Shaw and Alice Parker

An Irish Rovers version
{{authority control 19th-century songs Sea shanties Songs about alcohol Songs about sailors English children's songs English folk songs Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown