University of Aberdeen Music Seminar Series

Minstrelsy, music hall and marches: popular music and sea shanties during the 19th century

In this presentation, we’ll be looking at some of these shanties from shore-based origins that can be directly traced back to the popular music of the 19th century – such as minstrel songs, music hall, marches and popular ditties of the time, which the sailors then incorporated into their own repertoire. In some instances, the shanty version adapted by the sailors now being the most prevalent version of the song as it is sung in the present day. This paper explores how popular music of the nineteenth century made its way into shanty repertoire, how these songs were then adapted to fit the shipboard setting, why particular shanties with popular music origins were incorporated into standard shanty repertoire and the subsequent reaction of collectors seeking to preserve an “authentic” shanty tradition.