2. BOUND FOR THE RIO GRANDE

The variants of this noble tune are legion. But this version, which a
sailor uncle taught me, has been selected, as I think it the most
beautiful of all. I used to notice, even as a boy, how it seemed to
inspire the shantyman to sentimental flights of _Heimweh_ that at
times came perilously near poetry. The words of the well-known song,
'Where are you going to, my pretty maid?' were frequently sung to this
shanty, and several sailors have told me that they had also used the
words of the song known as 'The Fishes.' Capt. Whall gives 'The
Fishes' on pages 96 and 97 of his book, and says that the words were,
in his time, sometimes used to the tune of 'Blow the man down.'

3. GOOD-BYE, FARE YE WELL

This is one of the best beloved of shanties. So strongly did its
sentiment appeal to sailors that one never heard the shantyman
extemporize a coarse verse to it. Whall prints a version, page 71.

4. JOHNNY COME DOWN TO HILO

This is clearly of negro origin. I learnt several variants of it, but
for its present form I am indebted to Capt. W.J. Dowdy.

5. CLEAR THE TRACK, LET THE BULLGINE RUN

The tune was a favourite in Yankee Packets. It does not appear in
Whall. 'Bullgine' was American negro slang for 'engine.' I picked up
this version in boyhood from Blyth seamen.

6. LOWLANDS

For another version see Whall (page 80), who says it is of American
origin and comes from the cotton ports of the old Southern States. It
was well known to every sailor down to the time of the China Clippers.
My version is that of Capt. John Runciman, who belonged to that
period. I have seldom found it known to sailors who took to the sea
after the early seventies. The tune was sung in very free time and
with great solemnity. It is almost impossible to reproduce in print
the elusive subtlety of this haunting melody. In North-country ships
the shantyman used to make much of the theme of a dead lover appearing
in the night. There were seldom any rhymes, and the air was
indescribably touching when humoured by a good hand. A 'hoosier,' by
the way, is a cotton stevedore. An interesting point about this shanty
is that, whether by accident or design, it exhibits a rhythmic device
commonly practised by mediaeval composers, known as _proportio
sesquialtera_. Expressed in modern notation it would mean the
interpolation of bars of three-four time in the course of a
composition which was in six-eight time. The numbe