#27-28 Walk Him Along, John (General Taylor)

This next "Stormalong" form was rarely documented in history, though unlike the others, it is quite popular in the Revival—no doubt a case of the influence of Stan Hugill's Shanties from the Seven Seas.


The chanty lives in the world between "Stormalong" and "Santianna"; they all have the must of cotton-screwing about them. And the "-along" phrase wedges it still more characteristically among other cargo of the stevedore's trade. 


There's an instance of the last chanty discussed on this blog, "Stormalong, Lads, Stormy," which shares the "carried him along" bit. From Leslie, A Sea Painter's Log (1886):

So. We carried him along to London town—

Ch. Starm along, boys—Starm along.

So. We carried him away to Mobille Bay,

Ch. Starm along, Starmy. 

But Nordhoff's (1855) description of a Mobile Bay cotton-screwing chant is the earliest reference to something that seems to match the present chanty's form more exactly:

    Old Stormy, he is dead and gone,

Chorus—Carry him along, boys, carry him along,

      Oh! carry him to his long home,

Chorus—Carry him to the burying-ground.

      Oh! ye who dig Old Stormy's grave,

Chorus—Carry him along, boys, carry him along,

       Dig it deep and bury him safe,

Chorus—Carry him to the burying-ground.

       Lower him down with a golden chain,

Chorus—Carry him along, boys, carry him along,

          Then he'll never rise again,

    Chorus—Carry him to the burying-ground.

Grand Chorus—Way-oh-way-oh-way—storm along,

Way—you rolling crew, storm along stormy.

Of course, that text also has the mysterious "lost" song, "Fire, Maringo," which also mentions "carrying along":

Lift him up and carry him along,

Fire, maringo, fire away,

Put him down where he belongs.

Fire, maringo, fire away.... 

In the context of sailors' chanties, it is documented three times that I can see in my notes. John Short sang it for both Cecil Sharp and RR Terry. Here's the one from 1914.

General Taylor gained the day;

Walk him along, Johnny, carry him along.

General Taylor gained the day;

Carry him to the burying ground.

Oo oo oo.... oo you stormy,

Walk him along, Johnny, carry him along;

oo-oo you stormy,

Carry him to the burying ground.

Dan O' Connell died long ago;

Dan O’ Connell died long ago

Hugill reproduced the chorus of John Short's version by way of comparison:

Yet Hugill's full version was otherwise not so different.  I'm singing it with the help of some friends:

I chose to emphasize the "Stormalong" theme—the "family" to which this belongs.

Popular revival interpretations have focused more on "General Taylor." The Newfie band Great Big Sea recorded it under that title on their 1997 album Play. I know that, from there, this song got quite popular, especially among Newfies, who perform cover versions. This is clear because they seemed unaware of the common chanty "pick up" phrase, "to me/timme...", and they rationalized "to me way hey Stormy" to "tell me where 're ya Stormy?"

I'd be interested to know which, if any, performers popularized the song earlier.

Ranzo :{