In the summer of 1928 James Madison Carpenter collected eight shanties and other songs from William ‘Paddy’ Gaul, a resident at the Royal Alfred home for merchant seamen at Belvedere.

Carpenter’s notes for ‘Be Handy, Boys’ record that William Gaul was born in Waterford, Ireland, and spent forty five years at sea. The singer may well be the William Gaul whose death was registered in the Dartford district in the third quarter of 1928 (i.e. shortly after his songs were collected by Carpenter). His age was given as 70.

In which case, he is almost certainly the William Gaul, born Waterford, 1859, who was the recipient of the Mercantile Marine Ribbon and British Medal Ribbon in 1921, for service at sea during the First World War. And, possibly, the William Gaul from Waterford, birth year given as 1863, who served as a fireman on board the Antelope, registered at Milford, from January to June 1891.

Songs

• Australia for me (Roud 0)
• Be Handy Boys (Roud 814)
• Green Burgee (Roud 7989)
• Hawksbury Banks (Maids of Australia) (Roud 1872)
• Lucianna (I’m Just Gone Over The Mountain) (Roud 9127)
• Paddy Works on the Railway (Roud 208)
• Shamrock Shores (Roud 0)
• Tiger Bay (Roud 2432, Roud 16872)