What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?
Ask almost anyone to name a sea shanty and there is a good chance ‘Drunken Sailor’ will be the first one they think of. It is one of the best known shanties in the world, and it is a favourite in our own repertoire, particularly when the crowd on the lifeboat station apron is ready to join in.
The song is usually known by its opening question, ‘What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?’, and by its roaring chorus of ‘Hooray and up she rises, early in the morning’.
Where Did It Come From?
Like most shanties, ‘Drunken Sailor’ has no known author. It was passed from sailor to sailor by ear, changing a little with every ship and every voyage, so there is no single ‘original’ version.
It is generally thought to date from the early to mid 19th century. Many shanty writers and collectors have suggested Irish or Royal Navy roots, and the tune has a lot in common with Irish dance music and traditional folk melodies of the British Isles. Because the song was never written down at the time it was being created, nobody can say for certain where it began.
What we do know is that it spread quickly. Ships of many nations carried the song around the world, and versions can be found in English, Welsh, Irish, Scots and many other traditions.
How Was It Used at Sea?
‘Drunken Sailor’ is usually described as a ‘stamp and go’ or ‘walkaway’ shanty. It was sung for jobs where the whole crew hauled together on a long rope, then walked away with it along the deck.
The song is built on the ‘Call and Response’ pattern we described on our main history page. The shantyman sings the question in each verse, and the crew answer together on the chorus, heaving in time with the beat. The strong, steady rhythm meant that every pair of hands pulled at the same moment, which made hard work lighter and faster.
As is true of many shanties, the shantyman could make up new verses as he went along, as long as the work lasted. That is why so many different verses exist.
The Verses
The song asks what should be done with a sailor who has come back on board the worse for drink. The answers get more outlandish with each verse. The sailor might be put in a long boat until he is sober, or have a hose turned on him, or be shut away in the ship’s brig. Some of the suggestions are rather rougher than we would care to try on a Selsey Saturday!
There are dozens of verses in circulation, and a different crew will often sing a different selection. If you hear us sing it, you may well hear a verse that you have never heard before.
Jolly Jack and the Royal Navy
Life aboard ship could be very hard. Alcohol was part of daily life on many vessels, and in the Royal Navy a daily rum ration, known as the ‘tot’, continued until 1970. A song about the problem of a drunken shipmate, and what to do with him, was something every sailor could understand, and probably laugh at.
The song’s humour and its simple, repeating chorus also made it easy to teach to newcomers. A new hand could learn the response in minutes and join in with the rest.
From the Deck to the Dance Floor
When the age of sail came to an end, the shanties might have disappeared with it. They were saved by collectors and singers who wrote down what old sailors remembered, and by folk singers who began to perform them on stage and on record in the 20th century. ‘Drunken Sailor’ was a natural choice, because it is so easy to sing and so hard to forget.
The Irish folk groups of the 1950s and 1960s made it a staple of the folk revival, and it has been recorded countless times since. It has been sung in pubs, at football matches, in school music lessons and at folk festivals around the world. In 2021 a wave of interest in sea shanties on social media brought the whole tradition to a new generation, and ‘Drunken Sailor’ was part of that revival.
“Hooray and up she rises, hooray and up she rises, hooray and up she rises, early in the morning!”
Why Does It Still Work?
There are a few reasons why ‘Drunken Sailor’ has lasted nearly two centuries:
- The chorus can be learned in seconds, so everybody can join in.
- The strong beat makes you want to stamp your feet, just as the sailors did.
- The verses are flexible, so a singer can add new ones, including local jokes.
- It is cheerful, a little cheeky and a lot of fun.
That last point matters to us a great deal. We started The Selsey Shantymen to bring our seafaring heritage to life, and there is no better way to do that than to get a whole crowd singing a song that sailors were singing generations ago.
Come and hear it for yourself. Have a look at our Performances page to see where we will be next, and don’t forget to sing along. If you have a favourite verse, drop us an email at contact@theselseyshantymen.co.uk and tell us about it!