These songs are a living tradition, and we learned them from friends, relatives, concerts, or sometimes just sitting with a Stan Rogers CD over and over until we got it down.
Though there are hundreds of versions of these songs, the lyrics on these pages are how we tend to sing ’em, having taken the best lines from the sources we’ve heard, or, when we’re particularly inspired, adding a verse or two of our own. We’re always eager to learn new verses, tunes, or entire songs, particularly if they fit the above criteria about the sea, lassies, and rum.
All songs are traditional unless noted. Sometimes shanties are called chanties. I say this only for the benefit of a search engine.