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- The Yarmouth Shantymen are a
fun-loving group of guys who gather around good maritime beer
to tell jokes and sing the old work songs of the age of sail.
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- They want to share the excitement
of this unique style of music. For nearly 20 years this enthusiasm
has led them to perform in a variety of venues for many difference
audiences. About eight years ago they created a CD which has
proven very popular with locals and tourists alike.
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- As many have found out, sea
shanties are not a musical genre that should be relegated to
the history books. The life and vigor of this music has led to
its renaissance. Shanties are featured in folk music festivals,
as well as, sung in pubs around the world!
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- Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada is one of the best places in the world
to live. Though a small seaport (less than 10,000 people) it
boasts a vibrant arts and cultural community which reflects in
its history.
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- Yarmouth has experienced a rich
English-French heritage for over 200 years. The first settlers
were New England loyalists from Massachusetts in the late 1700's.
They found themselves nestled among Acadian communities which
were settled after the French were deported from other areas
of Atlantic Canada by the British in the mid-1700's.
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- Yarmouth can boast an amazing
history of sailing. The late 1800's was the "golden age
of sail" as Yarmouth had the third largest registry of merchant
sailing ships in North America. Yarmouth ships were found in
every major seaport in the world.
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- Located on the coast of Nova
Scotia, closest to the eastern seaboard of the United States,
Yarmouth has kept its connections with its past. "Seafest"
in mid-July is a celebration of the richness of our fishing and
sea-going heritage -- it is a favorite among American tourists.
Today two car ferries connect the region to Bar Harbor and Portland,
Maine making Yarmouth a very accessible port-of-call.
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Sea shanties
are sailors' work songs that were sung on board sailing ships.
Their timings and cadences made the hard work easier and so got
the work done faster and more efficiently. Shanties were divided
into various types by the cadence of the words and rhythms which
suited the particular task at hand.
Forebitters were
songs used by sailors to entertain themselves in their spare
time. Most shanties spoke of the sailors' favourite likes ashore:
booze and women; others discussed their shipmates, particularly
the "Old Man" or captain and his officers -- often
not in complimentary terms! |
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