Thanks to a viral rendition of the New Zealand whaling song ‘Wellerman’ by a postman on the social media app TikTok, the sea shanty has experienced somewhat of a revival in January 2021. For many shanty enthusiasts this has been a long time coming, but it has also drawn in record numbers of new fans.

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What is a sea shanty?

The history of this nautical tradition spans hundreds, even thousands, of years. Whilst there aren’t too many references to shanties throughout the first half of the 18th century, we know songs about life at sea and ashore certainly existed at this time, and this is when they gained common recognition in wider society. Sailors, predominantly those on merchant vessels, used these simple songs to coordinate their actions onboard when heaving lines, setting sails, or turning the capstan (the winch used to raise the anchor).

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