Confederate failure mainly to poor decisionmaking, a disorganized chain of command, a scarcity of resources, and a lack of time. This book is well-written and researched. Its engaging tale illustrates well the difficulties and hard decisions that the overmatched Confederate forces had to make to contend against the juggernaut Union navy. This is a useful contribution to the Civil War’s literature, and anyone interested in the Western Theatre should consult it for information concerning naval operations along the Mississippi River. Robert Browning, PhD Roxboro, North Carolina Sailor Song: The Shanties and Ballads of the High Seas by Gerry Smyth (University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2020, illus, gloss, notes, 160pp, isbn 978-0-29574728-6; $19.95hc) This brief volume provides a useful introduction to those common songs of the sea: shanties (songs sung to coordinate work) and forebitters (songs sung for pleasure). There are about fifty songs published in the book, all with musical notation. In most cases, the printed music represents a relatively simplified version of the original tune, and in all cases it is transcribed to C major to make it easier for those who are starting on an instrument (concertina, in this reviewer’s case) to play each piece. And, as the author points out, today one can easily find many versions of any particular shanty online—so providing the musical notation here is less critical than in the past. In some instances, several or even many verses have been cut for space, but this volume does not pretend to be a replacement for a more complete work about shanties. Smyth writes that his book “is intended to be indicative rather than comprehensive.” As the author notes, one should turn to works by Stan Hugill, William Doerflinger, Joanna Colcord, or others who collected shanties and lyrics from those who used these songs at sea. Smyth’s goal, rather than presenting a comprehensive history of shanties, is, he writes, “to provide singable versions of some of the shanties and sea songs that have survived into the present.” (To be clear, given the oral nature of most shanty singing, the age of collecting “traditional” shanties is long past, and the SEA HISTORY 177, WINTER 2021–22
works of Hugill, Colcord, Doerflinger, W. B. Whall, and others, are as complete as we’ll get in those areas. Neither Smyth nor any other contemporary researcher will likely uncover previously unknown collections of shanties.) Smyth provides more than just the lyrics and melodies—he starts with a useful introduction to shanties by way of capstan and halyard chants, with a range of interesting illustrations from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The volume also contains many original illustrations by Jonny Hannah; the combination of new and old illustrations, along with additional design work on endpapers and on essay pages, make for a beautiful, though small, volume overall. While the selected shanties and ballads are a treat and overall serve as a useful introduction to the genre, the ten brief essays on a range of relevant subjects provide insights that are certainly worth further exploration. For example, in “Collectors and Editors,” Smyth nicely outlines the historiography of shanties: after identifying some of the most meaningful col-
lectors of sea music from those who had lived and worked during the Age of Sail, he questions the importance of “folk” music, particularly its initial view that “the old way” was inherently better. He continues this discussion much later in the volume. In “Folk or Fake” the author provides an interesting look into what it means for any given historical topic to be “folk,” and how that impacts shanties in particular. Given their occasional and improvisational nature, it is quite strange to celebrate recording (either in print or aurally), and then publishing, shanty lyrics and musical notation. Unlike, say, opera, most 19th-century shanty singers would likely be appalled at the idea that people in the future would want to save and share this music. For each song that Smyth includes, he provides some useful background about the song itself, along with the simplified and transcribed musical notation, and representative verses. He writes that one shanty “is resistant to any strict time signature,” and describes how prior scholars tried to represent that song in writing—plus the
Over 120,000 Vessels Online @ internationalmaritimelibrary.org This list is mostly compiled from the “List of Merchant Vessels of the United States” and several other annuals, including foreign ones. Other sources have also been used to expand the information included. This list not only includes American vessels, but also foreign ones, whether commercial, yachts, warships, sail, power, unrigged and some not documented. Frequently updated. 53