“The Limerick Shanty”
Description
Shanty or forebitter. Verses are in the form of limericks, and any limerick will do. Chorus: "Oh, the elephants walked around, and the band begins to play. And all the girls in Bombay town, were dressed in the rig of the day."
Long description
Shanty or forebitter. Verses are in the form of limericks, and any limerick will do. Chorus: "Oh, the elephants walked around, and the band begins to play. And all the girls in Bombay town, were dressed in the rig of the day." The verses printed were fairly mild but one could easily see this turning into something like "The Good Ship Venus."
Notes
Hugill found this in _Sang under Segel,_ though he figures it was British in origin and was picked up by Swedish sailors, a practice which apparently was not unusual, given the number of English worded shanties sung on Scandinavian ships. One significant difference in practice however, is the use of many popular Victorian English "sea-songs." While these were sung ashore by British seamen, they rarely used at sea (and never as shanties), but the same songs were often sung at the capstan by Scandinavian and German sailors. - SL
References
- Hugill, pp. 511-513, "The Limerick Shanty" (1 text plus fragments, 1 tune)
- BI, Hugi511