Shakespeare and the Sea Conference

Sea songs and shanties in Shakespeare’s plays

In accounts of the shanty’s history, reference is often made to early forms of shanty-like songs appearing in poetry and print prior to the more widely known collections of shanties that were published in the nineteenth century. One work that is often included as an example of early shantying is given in William Shakespeare’s, The Tempest, where Stephano sings a drinking song of a distinctly maritime flavour: ‘The master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I’. Likewise, the cries of the boatswain in the opening storm scene from this same play features language that is clearly reminiscent of the calls of the shantyman to his men, “Heigh my hearts! Cheerly, cheerly my hearts!” While shanties and shantying are more commonly associated with nineteenth-century maritime practices, the familiarity that Shakespeare displays with sailor parlance, as well as the tone and structure of sea songs, demonstrates…