This song was handed to me by David Littlefield in March of 2019 who tells me that it is a work song\/rowing chantey associated with “shore whaling” and fishing. The history of the song is a bit murky, having been a long time strictly in the oral tradition, but it is associated with the singing of West Indies sailors (esp. Nevis, Tabago, and St-Vincent Islands) in the mid-20th century and at least one source believes that it may date as early as the 1830s.\u00a0 It was collected by Alan Lomax as well as Roger D Abrahams who published it in his book “Deep The Water, Shallow The Shore” (1974.\u00a0 Incidentally this is the other name for this chantey).\u00a0 Like pretty much any chantey, the lyrics vary from singer to singer, especially with these fairly simple examples.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Oh deep the water and shallow the shore The tide is good, the wind she blows Bend to your oar, boy, sing with me Pull away all through the day Oh what’ll we tell John Gould today? Oh deep the water and shallow the shore <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bear away Yankee, bear away boy!<\/em>
\nOh deep the water and shallow the shore
\n.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bear away Yankee, bear away boy!<\/em><\/p>\n
\nBear away and there she goes<\/p>\n
\nWhen we gets to town, we’ll go on a spree<\/p>\n
\nBear away to Noble Bay<\/p>\n
\nWe’ve done the job, now give us our pay!<\/p>\n
\n.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bear away Yankee, bear away boy!<\/em>
\nBear away Yankee, bear away boy
\n.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bear away Yankee, bear away boy!<\/em><\/p>\n