Wellerman sea shanty

Bristol-based sea shanty group The Longest Johns wellerman sea shanty why 'Wellerman' isn't technically a sea shanty and why, in fact, only about a third of their repertoire could be classed as shanties. The definition of a 'shanty' is often disputed within the folk community by historians, experts and even shanty singers themselves. Although we now think of a sea shanty as any kind of nautical folk music based around themes of the sea, a shanty is actually something much more specific. So, wellerman sea shanty, what does this mean for the TikTok hit 'Wellerman', which everyone has come to think of as a sea shanty?

The song refers to the " wellermen ", pointing to supply ships owned by the Weller brothers , who were amongst the earliest European settlers of Otago. In early , a cover by Scottish singer Nathan Evans became a viral hit on the social media site TikTok , leading to a "social media craze" around sea shanties and maritime songs. The history of whaling in New Zealand stretches from the late eighteenth century to In , the British-born Weller brothers Edward, George and Joseph, who had immigrated to Sydney in , founded a whaling station at Otakou near modern Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand, seventeen years before Dunedin was established. At its peak in , the Otakou station was producing tons of whale oil a year [6] and became the centre of a network of seven stations that formed a highly profitable enterprise for the Wellers, employing as many as 85 people at Otago alone. The song's lyrics describe a whaling ship called the Billy o' Tea and its hunt for a right whale.

Wellerman sea shanty

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The Guardian. So, what actually makes a song a sea shanty?

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Wellerman sea shanty

Long ago, when most of the world was outside of their homes, working, growing, building, hunting, and living off the land and not on social media machines , the work song was as important as any bit of rain or sunshine to creating a life. A long song with lots of lyrics, the song likely provided a great deal of meaning and accompaniment to long days in the country as shore whalers hunted their giant sea mammals for flesh and oil. The title of the song is a reference to supply ships owned by the Weller brothers, who were some of the earliest European settlers of the Otago region of New Zealand. The Weller brothers were known then for shipping many important items, including luxury supplies like rum and gun powder. From , the Weller brothers made a name for themselves, supplying whalers in New Zealand with what they needed. It was a great deal of work and require a song with catchiness and meaning that provided some stability to them as they toiled. At its peak in the early s, the Otakou station produced tons of whale oil per year.

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Retrieved 24 January Recording Industry Association of America. Toggle limited content width. We explain here what a sea shanty is and how you can decipher between a maritime song and a shanty. Folk , pop. Evans's version has been praised for its "authentic sense of stoic forbearance" that has appealed to young people in lockdown during the COVID pandemic , who like 19th-century whalers "are similarly marking time". Retrieved 25 January Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. IFPI Switzerland. Retrieved 14 February Note: insert into search. Retrieved 23 March Retrieved 27 February

The song refers to the " wellermen ", pointing to supply ships owned by the Weller brothers , who were amongst the earliest European settlers of Otago.

Retrieved 21 February — via YouTube. The reason given is: www. Music Canada. Retrieved 24 August Catholic Courier. Retrieved 30 January Dutch Top Digital download — Argules version [40] No. Archived from the original on 5 February NZ Folk Song. Retrieved 3 February Archived from the original on 19 January Retrieved 30 June Retrieved 3 December Retrieved 28 January