Spanish Ladies: What The Most Popular Shanty Actually Means!!

#seashanty #british #history
Hailing all the way back to 1769, "Spanish Ladies" is one of the most popular and well known of all sea shanties. But do you know the story behind it? What do the lyrics mean? When was this shanty sung?
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[@maplerice6226]

My dad and I were in a pub in Maple Ridge, BC (The Blacksheep Pub to be precise) and it was a hot day out, so he ordered a shandy. The waitress proceeded to insist he wanted a shanty, so after a minute or so, he finally gave up and said ... Well, give us a shanty. She was oblivious to what just went on.

[@cptbenzie]

@@maplerice6226 If someone asked me for a shanty at the bar, I'd have to start singing 😂

[@peterjohnson8106]

The 2nd verse is, “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.” To hove to on a ship means to stop. On a sailing ship they would either turn the ship so it is across the wind so the sails don’t catch any or to adjust the sail to achieve the same results. So to hove our ship to, deep soundings to take, means they stop the ship to get an accurate depth reading. The depth is said to be 45 fathoms, a fathom is 6 feet so they are in 270 feet of water. The next part where it is said the bottom was a “white sandy bottom” is another navigation clue. The charts not only gave the depth but what type of bottom there was with description like Sand, sand and shell, rock, pebbles, mud or silty. This was found out by “arming the lead” where bees wax was put into a hollow on the bottom of the lead and would bring up some of the bottom so you can see what it is like. Some modern charts still list the bottom types to this day. So they know about where they are between Ushant and Silly and in deep soundings meaning less than 300 feet or so, and can confirm it by looking at the depth on the chart and the bottom type.

[@cptbenzie]

@@peterjohnson8106 You are correct here with everything except the "hove". That means to heave away, to move the ship. They move the ship with the wind at southwest. Soundings could be taken from a moving vessel, and there's no point lyrically mentioning the wind if they're reefing the ship. This language is still used in modern parlance, but is explicitly detailed by Terry Breverton in his book.

[@peterjohnson8106]

@@cptbenzie When on the water you may be ordered to "Heave To" or stop so that you can be boarded, usually by the Coast Guard or police agency in near waters. In the US, the Coast Guard may order you to "Heave To and prepare to be boarded." usually for a safety inspection or if you are coming from international waters a customs and immigration check. Should be about the same in UK waters.

[@cptbenzie]

@@peterjohnson8106 Yes, it works that way too, this terminology derives from "heaving the capstan to lower the anchor". As such, heaving often refers to changing the ship's movement, setting sail, reefing, or even changing heading - "heave her to starboard"

[@alanyoung-sh7rh]

The lead had sticky clay on the bottom and would pick up the sand etc from the bottom.

[@cptbenzie]

Also historically beeswax. This was called arming the weight.

[@itssafeinthecity]

A fathom is 6 feet i think.

[@cptbenzie]

Quite right. No idea why I said that and how I didn't catch it in editing!

[@chipi274]

You changed your name again. You should form a band. 😅😅

[@cptbenzie]

@@chipi274 trying to settle on what fits 😅

[@belliott538]

Lubber…

[@cptbenzie]

Not sure what you mean here 🤔