Hello Sounding Out families,
Or should I say, ‘Ahoy there, me hearties!’ because, of course, tomorrow is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! It’s a chance for you to try out all your best pirate lines such as ‘Shiver me timbers!’ and ‘Yo ho ho!’
There are lots of exciting films and stories about pirates, but life on board a big ship was extremely hard. The youngest of the crew was the ‘cabin boy’ or ‘cabin girl’ who could be as young as 8 years old!
If you did happen to find yourself on a ship 150 years ago you can bet that there would have been lots of singing. Sometimes this would have been purely for entertainment but frequently sailors used songs called SEA SHANTIES to help them work together. Maybe you have sung the most famous shanty of all, ‘The Drunken Sailor’, at school! Watch this short clip to find out more.
Here is a wonderful version of a shanty called ‘Bully in the alley’ which was recorded in Deal. In the song, the sailor asks for help from his friend, Bob, because he is ‘bully’ (drunk!) in the alley.
LISTEN for the CALL from the SHANTYMAN, who has a lovely deep voice, and the RESPONSE from the other men.
And finally, here is clip of an ORCHESTRA playing the theme to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ by Hans Zimmer. See if you can spot the trumpets and violins!
Have a great week, land lubbers!
Jemma