and every day is a warm endless gold afternoon

[timeripple]

Whoa. Have just finished The Tower at Stony Wood. Am somewhat numb. That was weird! I must re-read.



Thayne Ysse, you twerp! You turned your brother over to the dragon in the end after all! Even if you did figure things out eventually. Poor Craiche, he doesn't understand, nobody tells him anything, and everybody wants him for their own nefarious purposes! At least, that's what we're supposed to think. He's just so... so... gah, lost for words. And that was one strange dragon. Talk about manipulative beings with god-like powers! *sigh* Oh, how I love this book. I think. Melanthos and Sel are way cool. But I think Anyon is another of those who just doesn't get it, although he's all right. Cyan Dag, the other hand, is totally my hero.

Temperatures are in the mid-90's F and rising. Have found some lyrics for MacCrimmon's Lament. It remains to be seen if they're reputable, but since the source had both the Gaelic and a translation, I'm inclined to think favorably of them.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

speaking of lyrics, i found two versions of the first shanty that my captain taught us. he taught us one more, but i can't seem to find it. most likely because i'm not spelling it right. anyway, here they are. the one that my captain sings is a combination of the two.

version #1
Ranzo

Well it's poor old Reuben Ranzo,
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
Yes it's poor old Reuben Ranzo.
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

Ranzo was no sailor,
He was a New York tailor

He was a New York tailor
Shanghai'd aboard a whaler

They put him holy-stonin'
And cared not for his groanin'

They gave him lashes thirty
Because he was so dirty.

They gave him lashes twenty
That's twenty more than plenty

Ranzo nearly fainted
When his back with oil was painted

The captain gave him thirty
His daughter begged for mercy

She took him to her cabin
And tried to ease his moanin'

She gave him rum and water
And a bit more than she oughter

She gave him education
And taught him navigation

She made him the best sailor
On board that New York whaler

He married the captain's daughter
And still sails on salt water

He's known where'er the whalefish blow
As the toughest bastard on the go

Huzzah! For Reuben Ranzo
Huzzah! For Captain Ranzo!

version #2
Reuben Ranzo
Oh poor old Reuben Ranzo!
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo
Oh poor old Reuben Ranzo!
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

Now Ranzo was no sailor
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
He was a New York tailor.
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

No Ranzo was no sailor
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
But he shipped on board of a whaler.
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

He could not do his duty
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
So they gave him lashes twenty.
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

They gave him lashes thirty
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
Because he was so dirty.
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

The captain's daughter Suzy,
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
She begged her pa for mercy.
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

She gave him wine and water
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
And a little more than she oughta!
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

She taught him navigation.
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
She raised him from his station.
RRanzo, me boys, Ranzo!

Now Ranzo is no sailor,
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
He's the captain of a whaler.
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

And wherever those whalefish blow,
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
He's the meanest bastard on the go!
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

Hurrah for Reuban Ranzo!
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
Hurrah for Reuban Ranzo!
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!

enjoy!

-melanie

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

*giggle* That's great stuff. Break out the grog! Or Gatorade, which probably tastes a lot better, come to think of it.

[(Anonymous)]

new shanty!!!! the version i learned was shorter & was slightly different. don't remember the tune either. :(

anywho, here it is:

Paddy, Lay Back

'Twas a cold an' dreary mornin' in December, (December)
An' all of me money it was spent (it was spent),
Where it went to Lord I can't remember (remember),
So down to the shippin' office went, (went, went),

Paddy, lay back (Paddy, lay back)!
Take in yer slack (take in yer slack)!
Take a turn around the capstan - heave a pawl - heave a pawl!
'Bout ship, stations, boys, be handy (be handy)!
Raise tacks, sheets, an' mains'l haul!

Alternative final line of chorus:
For we're bound for Valaparaiser 'round the Horn!

That day there wuz a great demand for sailors (for sailors),
For the Colonies and for 'Frisco and for France (an' for France),
So I shipped aboard a Limey barque the Hotspur (the Hotspur),
An' got paralytic drunk on my advance ('vance, 'vance),

Now I joined her on a cold December mornin',
A-frappin' o' me flippers to keep me warm.
With the south cone a-hoisted as a warnin',
To stand by the comin' 0' a storm.

Now some of our fellers had bin drinkin',
An' I meself wuz heavy on the booze;
An' I wuz on me ol' sea-chest a-thinkin'
I'd turn into me bunk an' have a snooze.

I woke up in the mornin' sick an' sore,
An' knew I wuz outward bound again;
When I heard a voice a-bawlin' at the door,
'Lay aft, men, an' answer to yer names!'

'Twas on the quarterdeck where first I saw 'em,
Such an ugly bunch I'd niver seen afore;
For there wuz a bum an' stiff from every quarter,
An' it made me poor ol' heart feel sick an' sore.

There wuz Spaniards an' Dutchmen an' Rooshians,
An' Johnny Crapoos jist acrosst from France;
An' most o' 'em couldn't speak a word o' English,
But answered to the name of 'Month's Advance'.

I wisht I wuz in the 'Jolly Sailor',
Along with Irish Kate a-drinkin' beer;
An' then I thought what jolly chaps were sailors,
An' with me flipper I wiped away a tear.

I knew that in me box I had a bottle,
By the boardin'-master 'twas put there;
An' I wanted something for to wet me throttle,
Somethin' for to drive away dull care.

So down upon me knees I went like thunder,
Put me hand into the bottom o' the box,
An' what wuz me great surprise an' wonder,
Found only a bottle o' medicine for the pox.

I felt that I should skip an' join another,
'Twas plain that I had joined a lousy bitch;
But the chances wuz that I might join a worser,
An' we might git through the voyage without a hitch.

I axed the mate a-which a-watch wuz mine-O,
Sez he, 'I'II soon pick out a-which is which';
An' he blowed me down an' kicked me hard a-stern-O,
Callin' me a lousy, dirty son-o'-a-bitch.

Now we singled up an' got the tugs alongside,
They towed us through the locks an' out to sea;
With half the crew a-pukin' o'er the ship's side,
An' the bloody fun that started sickened me.

Although me poor ol' head wuz all a-jumpin',
We had to loose her rags the followin' morn;
I dreamt the boardin'-master I wuz thumpin',
When I found out he'd sent me around the Horn.

I swore I would become a beachie-comber,
An' niver go to sea no ruddy more;
For niver did I want to be a roamer ,
I'd shanghai the boardin'-master an' stay ashore.

But when we got to bully ol' Vallaparaiser,
In the Bay we dropped our mud hook far from shore;
The ol' Man he refused ter let us raise 'er,
An' he stopped the boardin'-masters comin' aboard.

I quickly made me mind up that I'd jump 'er,
I'd leave the beggar an' git a job ashore;
I swum across the Bay an' went an' left 'er,
An' in the English Bar I found a whore.

But Jimmy the Wop he knew a thing or two, sir,
An' soon he'd shipped me outward bound again;
On a Limey to the Chinchas for guanner, boys,
An' soon was I a-roarin' this refrain.

So there wuz I once more again at sea, boys,
The same ol' ruddy business over again;
Oh, stamp the caps'n round an' make some noise, boys,
An' sing again this dear ol' sweet refrain.

-melanie

[(Anonymous)]

wow...that's, um...a long sea chanty. which is cool, but...wow. what are you supposed to be doing when you sing it? i don't think i'd want to do anything that you might sing a chanty to for that long...

i saw a small book of sea chanties in the store in inverness where i bought my fiddlebook (speaking of which, i don't remember which one i got, and i left it at home, with my fiddle :( but hopefully my mom will be sending both to me soon and then i can tell you), but i decided not to get it since i assumed i'd be learning a lot at mystic.

fiona, farenheit 911 is coming out on the 25th - go see it! i don't know how he got it distributed, but he did, and i saw the trailer (somewhere at michaelmoore.com), and it looks awesome, despite the fact that i usually don't like michael moore.

i haven't been doing much fiddling, due to my separation from my fiddle, but i've been singing a lot from the scottish songbooks i got, and there's some really exciting ones allie and i started learning in scotland that we can add to our chuffed collection :)

siena

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

what are you supposed to be doing when you sing it? i don't think i'd want to do anything that you might sing a chanty to for that long...

I would suppose one would be swabbing the deck or something equally nautical and equally tiresome. *shrug* Yeah, I wouldn't want to be doing that for that long either! :)

[(Anonymous)]

what are you supposed to be doing when you sing it?

haven't found that out yet, & yeah, that one's really long. the one i learned was much shorter & am quite sure they don't sing the entire thing. also finally remembered the tune, at least for the chorus. :)

glad to hear that everyone's doing well. one week down, 3 to go before i head out to sea!

-melanie

random info

[(Anonymous)]

this has absolutely nothing to do with anything here, but i just wanted to let everyone know that i have just made the amazing discovery that the graph of number people living on farms in southwestern michigan for the past 50 years fits an exponential trendline of the formula y=2E+38e^-0.0388x (that's a downward curve) almost perfectly, with an R^2 value of 0.9972.

that is all.

siena

p.s. i saw the documentary laura was talking about a while ago, spellbound. it was really good. everyone should see it.

Re: random info

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

Gotta love those R^2s. What's this about a documentary?

new shanty!!!!

[(Anonymous)]

new shanty!! this one's called Towrope Girls

Oh a ship in the tropics,
rolling along,
With every stitch drawing,
the trade blowing strong,
The white caps around her
all breaking in spray,
For the girls have got hold
of her tow-rope today!

chorus
And it’s haul away, girls,
steady and true,
Polly and Dolly and Sally and Sue,
Mothers and sisters and sweethearts and all,
Haul away, all the way, haul away,
haul away girls!

She’s logging sixteen
as she speeds from the south,
With the wind in her royals,
with a bone in her mouth,
With a wake like a mill-race
she rolls on her way,
For the girls have got hold
of her tow-rope today!

Of cargoes and charters
we’ve had our full share,
Of grain and of lumber enough and to spare.
Of nitrates at Taltal and rice for Bombay,
And the girls have got hold
of our tow-rope today!

Don’t you hear the good trade wind
a singing aloud,A homeward bound shanty
in sheet and in shroud,Oh, hear how she whistles
in the halliard and the stay,“The girls have got hold
of the tow-rope today!”

And it’s oh, for the chops
of the channel at last,
And the cheer that goes up
when the tug hawser’s cast,
The mate’s “that’ll do”
and fourteen months’ pay,
For the girls have got hold
of our tow-rope today!

Version #2
There's a ship in the Tropics a'foaming along,
With every stitch drawing, the wind blowing strong,
The white caps around her, all breaking in spray,
For the girls have got hold of her tow-rope today,

Chorus:
An' it's: Haul away girls, steady and true,
Polly and Dolly and sally and Sue,
Mothers and sisters, sweethearts and all,
Haul away, all the way, haul away, haul.

She's logging sixteen as she speeds from the South,
A wind in her royals, a bone in her mouth,
With a wake like a millrace she speeds on her way,
For the girls have got hold of her tow-rope today.

Of cargoes and charters we've had our full share,
Of grain and of lumber, enough and to spare,
Of nitrates at Taltal and rice for Bombay.
And the girls have got hold of out tow-rope today.

The Old Man he stood on the poop at high-noon,
He paced fore-and-aft and he whistled a tune,
Then he put by his sextant and this he did say:
"The girls have got hold of our tow-rope today."

She has dipped her yards under, hove-to off The Horn,
In the fog and the floes she has drifted forlorn,
Becalmed in The Doldrums a week long she lay,
But the girls have got hold of her tow-rope today.

Hear the good Trade Wind a-singing aloud,
A "homeward bound" shanty in sheet and in shroud,
Hear how he whistles in halliard and stay,
"The girls have got hold of our tow-rope today."

And it's: "Ho!"; for the chops of The Channel, at last,
The cheer that goes up when the tug-hawser's passed,
The Mate's: "That'll do!"; and fourteen month's pay,
For the girls have got hold of the tow-rope today.

enjoy!!!!

-melanie