On stepping out onto the cobbled street, he saw that Pete was already staggering down the middle of the road, supported by two shipmates, leading another rowdy verse of the crew’s favourite shanty.
In the tavern in Steinburg the crew of Dream Chaser sing a sea shanty. As a tribute to one of my favourite bands, I chose not to use an historical song, but rather one written by them. It is the fourth track on the Ye Banished Privateers album Hostis Humani Generis, which was released on 7th February 2020, and was written by their songwriter and accordion player Björn “Bellows” Malmros.
The song is about Johnnie, a carpenter and Jacobite, who fled his home after the failed Jacobite rebellion in 1745, taking the King’s shilling and joining the British Navy. Always desperate for recruits, no questions were usually asked, especially for someone who was a skilled carpenter, which made it a viable option for those wishing to evade justice. If captured he would have faced execution or slavery in the colonies. Jacobites were supporters of the deposed King James II who wanted to see the Stuarts restored to the throne. There were risings in 1715, 1719, and 1745. Interestingly, there were many Jacobites among the pirates of ‘the Golden Age of Piracy’, including Blackbeard and Charles Vane.
Johnnie’s ship left in autumn for Nova Scotia, probably to participate in King George’s War (1744–1748) against the French, and he is now attempting to return home to the woman he loves, possibly after an amnesty has been declared, but it is no easy task, which is emphasised by the repeated turning of the capstan, a vertical-axled rotating device for working rope and pulley systems aboard a ship, in particular for raising the anchor. His beloved, who is carrying his child, lives in Glenn Dessarry in the Scottish highlands, where she works on the land. At the beginning of the song she is waulking the wool, meaning she is cleaning it of dirt and oil before it can be used.
A hard winter forces Johnnie’s ship to take a longer route. Spring finally comes and the fields are being ploughed and the sheep sheared, but he still hasn’t reached home. In the meantime, his wife has given birth. The progress of his vessel is slow as it passes through shallow and dangerous waters. Spring passes into summer in Lochaber in the Scottish Highlands while Johnnie suffers aboard the ship. The harvest time arrives and his wife is working in the fields. Meanwhile, Johnnie falls from the rigging, but doesn’t die instantly.
At least a year has now passed as his wife is again cleaning the wool. Not far from home, only three days from Durness, a village on the northernmost coast of Scotland, Johnnie finally passes away as a result of his injuries. He is then wrapped in a shroud (cerement) which is stitched up before being buried at sea. Apparently, it was British naval tradition to put the final stitches through the nose and upper lip, to ensure someone was really dead and wasn’t faking death. Sadly, Johnnie never made it home and his wife is now a widow and his child fatherless, a fate that befell many a seaman’s family.
For more information about the Jacobite risings visit the National Army Museum website.
Capstan Shanty lyrics
Johnnie left his home
As a rebel he was known
A carpenter by trade
But a Jacobite by name
A sailor’s life he chose
The Nova Scotian coast
Do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
He sailed away this fall
For a shilling now that’s all
So do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
Strike the hammer to the cable
For the capstan keeps on turning
Push now Johnnie, push now Johnnie
All the way to Glen Dessarry
Where the lass you married
Waulks the wool with arms aweary
Push now Johnnie, push now Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes now Johnnie
The northern wind it blows
Oh, wherever Johnnie goes
Do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
The Highlands white with snow
And stowed away the plough
So do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
No rest upon this boat
From the stern up to the sprout
Do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
To head back home be time
For now pardoned be his crimes
So do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
The isle is over frozen
And a longer route now chosen
Do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
Spring has come so fair
And the share’s behind the mare
So do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
We’re making way so slowly
And waters here be shoaly
Do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
The rams now have been shorn
And your baby boy was born
So do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
So high the waves do roll
In this godforsaken hole
Do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
But Lochaber’s in bloom
In the bonny Highland June
So do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
Oh, Johnnie sighs and moans
From the rigging he was thrown
Do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
While bound his sweet colleen
For the fields to reape and glean
So do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
Strike the hammer to the cable
For the capstan keeps on turning
Push now Johnnie, push now Johnnie
All the way to Glen Dessarry
Where the lass you married
Waulks the wool with arms aweary
Push now Johnnie, push now Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes now Johnnie
Johnnie took his final rest
Three days just from Durness
Do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes
In cerement enclosed
And a stitch right through his nose
Do another lap ’round the capstan Johnnie
‘Round and ’round she goes