#109 Roll and Go

While solo lyrics that sing of Sally, and a “roll and go” refrain, this chanty has yet again a different framework than the “default” “Sally Brown.”

I confess to this being one of my favorite chanties learned from Stan Hugill’s Shanties from the Seven Seas. Somewhat surprising that it has not been (to my knowledge) revived. So, my rendition was completely of my imagination, based on the text.

I have sung it many times since, and now sing it better than in the video, which was after I’d just learned it. I sang it at an open mic night earlier this year, in a very booming voice! It was fun and, I think, something of a new experience for the audience, especially when presented with received ideas of chanties.

Hugill actually just reprinted this from Cecil Sharp’s collection, English Folk-Chanteys. (Although I really don't hear it as "English Folk.") It’s a capstan song that John Short sang for him in 1914. No other versions have turned up in print.

The recent Short Sharp Shanties project, being a set of recorded renditions of the songs that John Short sang for C. Sharp and RR Terry, has since included this on their Vol. 2 CD. It is sung by Roger Watson and chorus, at a faster tempo.

My rendition, I suppose, reads a little bit more plaintiveness into the chanty.

Slighted and done sailed away,

Ranzo