Blow the Man Down

Harry Johnson

Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928 

James Madison Carpenter Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/A)

Roud 2624, Roud 13026

There are surviving cylinder recordings of the shanty, which can be heard via the VWML Archive Catalogue:

  1. Disc Side 076
    JMC/1/11/76
    https://www.vwml.org/record/VWMLSongIndex/SN17665  
    (starts at 04:47)

    JMC/1/11/77
    https://archives.vwml.org/songs/VWMLSongIndex/SN17664
    (continuation)

The two recordings are in different keys, but in other respects appear to be the same.

None of the recordings includes the Humpty Dumpty verses transcribed by Carpenter. The words are also completely different to those which Carpenter noted from “The Bo’sn” – see ‘Blow The Man Down‘.

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