English Folk-Chanteys

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Of these, the last two are at once the most recent and, in my opinion, the most authoritative. Each is the compilation of a professional sailor and avowedly a one - man collection, containing those chanteys only which its author had himself heard and learned at sea. Here, of course, Mr. Whall and Mr. Bullen have the advantage of me. I have no technical or practical knowledge whatever of nautical matters; I have never even heard a chantey sung on board ship. But then I approach the subject from its aesthetic side - my concern is solely with the music of the chantey and with its value as an art - product - and this I contend is quite possible even for one who is as ignorant as I am of the technical details of the subject.

Of these, the last two are at once the most recent and, in my opinion, the most authoritative. Each is the compilation of a professional sailor and avowedly a one — man collection, containing those chanteys only which its author had himself heard and learned at sea. Here, of course, Mr. Whall and Mr. Bullen have the advantage of me. I have no technical or practical knowledge whatever of nautical matters; I have never even heard a chantey sung on board ship. But then I approach the subject from its aesthetic side — my concern is solely with the music of the chantey and with its value as an art — product — and this I contend is quite possible even for one who is as ignorant as I am of the technical details of the subject.