Strike The Bell

[Bartholomew Foulsteel]

Well mates, ol' Bart be back for another try at the pulpit. However, this time, instead of tellin'' a yarn, I'll be sharin' a Sea Shanty.

Shanties were the means of keeping a crew or the Watch On Deck coordinated when conducting a seamanship evolution like hoisting a sail, sweating it tight, hauling on a line, turning the capstan or working the pumps. Apparently the merchant navy was the predominant home of the shanty, which was less frequently used in the Royal Navy. In the RN a stamp and go might be employed for activities such as weighing anchor, singing being considered to be a little too light hearted for the "Senior Service", who also tended to have many personnel available, at least when the guns were't manned. Off watch time for the crew, in those pre-VCR/DVD/satellite TV days might see the Other Ranks, other than officers that is, for'ard (foward) on the fo'c'sle (forecastle) engaged in the leisure pursuits of playing musical instruments; concertina, fiddle; singing or dancing. The forward "bitts" or bollards were convenient items to sit on or define the area of the fo'c'sle deck. Consequently these non-work songs or non-shanties became known as forebitters. Americans sometimes call these fo'c'sle shanties to differentiate between them and the working songs or work versions.

So here's today's forebitter (edited a bit, as it were, for present company):


Up on the poop deck and walking about,
There is Li Wildtimbers so steady and so stout;
What she is a-thinkin' of she doesn't know herself
And we wish that she would hurry up and strike, strike the bell.


Chorus
Strike the bell, Wildtimbers, let us go below;
Look well to windward you can see it's gonna blow;
Look at the glass, you can see it has fell,
Oh we wish that you would hurry up and strike, strike the bell.

Down on the main deck and workin' at the pump,
There is Ben Dreadgull just longing for his bunk;
Look out to windward, you can see a great swell,
And he wishes that you would hurry up and strike, strike the bell.

Chorus


Forward on the forecastle head and keepin' sharp lookout,
There is Molly Blue standin', a-longin' fer to shout,
Lights' a-burnin' bright sir and everything is well,
And she's wishin' that Wildtimbers would strike, strike the bell.

Chorus


Aft at the wheelhouse Combat Lizzy stands,
Graspin' at the helm with her wrong-way hands,
Lookin' at the compass though the course is clear as hell
And she's wishin' that Wildtimbers would strike, strike the bell.

Chorus


Aft on the quarter deck Bart Foulsteel stands,
Lookin' out to windward with a spyglass in his hand,
What he is a-thinkin' of we know very well,
He's thinkin' more of shortenin' sail than strikin' the bell.

Chorus

[Sven Osymthe]

Nice job Bart.

[Benjamin Dreadgull]

Very well done, Nice Bart

[Eliza Creststeel]

Nice... cool that you used the pirates names... I suppose the original used the crew's names.

[Bartholomew Foulsteel]

Originally Posted by Eliza Creststeel

Nice... cool that you used the pirates names... I suppose the original used the crew's names.

The positions actually.

[Dr. Zeppers]

Bart, cool shanty..

Curiousity only mate, might I ask the significance/meaning (assuming there is an application/meaning) of "Strike the bell"?

Never ye mind matey, I found it!

“Strike the bell” means to strike the bell every half hour to change the watch (according to NOAA National Oceanic and Atomspheric Association) (when not being used to help navigate through fog)

[Molly Bluesilver]

Well done Bart!

Please just don't make me sing it. lol

[Bartholomew Foulsteel]

Of course, Zep!

Normally, a ship was divided into two watches--the Starboard Watch and the Larboard (nowadays called PORT) watch. One watch would be the duty crew on deck while the other was off duty and free to while away their time as they pleased (scrimshaw, singing, playing music, gambling, etc.).

Time was told aboard ships by use of an hourglass/sundial (in the shanty above, an hourglass) and by using bells. I won't get into the bells here, but just know that ringing the bell refers to an hour or half-hour time.

In the above shanty, the ringing of the bell would signify that the current watch could go below and the NEXT watch would have to come on duty.

As the participants look to windward, they see a big storm on the way. They want to get belowdecks and let the next watch deal with it.

The Captain of course, is planning on reefing the sails and continuing on the voyage instead of locking up and weathering the storm.

[Li Wildtimbers]

hehehehe

That be like me to make everyone wait on me to do sumthing.

and I agree with Blue.......PLZ DONT MAKE ME SING THAT!

this pirate cannt carry a tune to save her life....lolz

luv it Bossman

[combatlizzy]

Do ya actually trust Lizzy at the Helm for that long?...lolz

Great job, Boss! And informative.....

[Davy Keelhawk]

Originally Posted by Li Wildtimbers

hehehehe

That be like me to make everyone wait on me to do sumthing.

and I agree with Blue.......PLZ DONT MAKE ME SING THAT!

this pirate cannt carry a tune to save her life....lolz

luv it Bossman

li, you werent singing, you stood there watching that storm your job was to ring the bell, not sing