Songs of Sea Labour

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. Personally I anticipate little profit or credit from the publication of this book. It is true that I have often been asked by literary friends why I did not do some such thing, but I have always refused. Nor should I have yielded now but for a period of enforced leisure before the end and the knowledge that in Mr. Arnold I have found a musician without prejudices, willing to do what he has done to rescue these old songs from oblivion. To conclude, I do not claim that I have here recorded all the Chanties there are - but these are all I know and have sung many times. And although many a furtive smile will creep over old sailors' faces, when they hear these Chanties and remember the associated words that went with them, those words are not down here.