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"Spanish Ladies" |
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Quint, the salty old fisherman and captain of the Orca, is fond of singing an old song
called "Spanish Ladies". He only sings part of it during the film, but I have listed
the lyrics below in their entirety (to the best that I can find them). |
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"Spanish Ladies" ( writer unknown ) Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies, Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain; For we've received orders for to sail for ole England, But we hope in a short time to see you again. Chorus: We will rant and we'll roar like true British sailors, We'll rant and we'll roar all on the salt sea. Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England; From Ushant to Scilly is thirty five leagues. Chorus We hove our ship to with the wind from sou'west, boys We hove our ship to, deep soundings to take; 'Twas forty-five fathoms, with a white sandy bottom, So we squared our main yard and up channel did make. Chorus The first land we sighted was called the Dodman, Next Rame Head off Plymouth, off Portsmouth the Wight; We sailed by Beachy, by Fairlight and Dover, And then we bore up for the South Foreland light. Chorus Then the signal was made for the grand fleet to anchor, And all in the Downs that night for to lie; Let go your shank painter, let go your cat stopper! Haul up your clewgarnets, let tacks and sheets fly! Chorus Now let ev'ry man drink off his full bumper, And let ev'ry man drink off his full glass; We'll drink and be jolly and drown melancholy, And here's to the health of each true-hearted lass. Chorus |
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The following passage about the history of "Spanish Ladies" was taken from the website www.contemplator.com
and it provides some interesting background on this song:
This is also known as "Farewell and Adieu to You". According to Stan Hugill it was a capstan shanty (a shanty sung as the capstan was turned to raise the anchor), sung as ships were homeward bound. A ballad by the name of Spanish Lady was registered in England December 14, 1624 with the Stationers' Company. It is possible that tune is related to this tune or one of the variants listed. However, according to the Oxford Book of Sea Songs the earliest known reference to Spanish Ladies is in the logbook of the Nellie of 1796. Collections list different distances from Ushant to Scilly. It is variously given as 34, 35 and 45 leagues. The depth of the Channel also varies from 55 to 45 fathoms by version. Special lyrics were written to the tune for the Bluenose (a famous Canadian sailing ship which sailed out of Nova Scotia). There is no approximate age given for the song or tune. It is only listed as "famous old Naval song." There are also several other variants of this song, including one that was sung by American whalers at sea called "Yankee Whalermen". There is also a Canadian variant called "We'll Rant And We'll Roar" and an Australian variant called "Brisbane Ladies". I have added the lyrics to the American version below. (The lyrics for the other two versions can be found at: www.contemplator.com/folk3/sladies.html.) |
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"Yankee Whalermen" ( writer unknown ) Farewell and adieu to you Spanish ladies Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain For we've received orders to sail from New England And we hope in a short time to see you again. Chorus: We'll rant and we'll roar like true Yankee Whalermen We'll rant and we'll roar on deck and below Until we sight Gayhead off old Martha's Vineyard And straight up the channel to New Bedford we'll go. We hove our our ship to with the wind from the sou'west, boys We hove our our ship to deep soundings to take 'Twas 45 fathoms with light sandy bottom We squared our main yard and up channel did make. Chorus I went to a dance one night in Tombaz. There were plenty of girls there as fine as you wish There was one pretty maiden a chewin' tobacco Just like a young kitten a chewin' fresh fish. Chorus Then the signal was sent for the grand ship to anchor And all in the downs that night for to lie Let go your shank painter, let go your cat stopper Haul up your clew garnets, let tacks and sheets fly. Chorus |