Spanish Ladies is a traditional English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 naval song, describing a voyage from Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 to the Downs

The Downs

The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...

 from the viewpoint of rating

Naval rating

A Naval Rating is an enlisted member of a country's Navy, subordinate to Warrant Officers and Officers hence not conferred by commission or warrant...

s of the British Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

.

Origins

It is featured in The Oxford Book of Sea Songs, edited by Roy Palmer in 1986, which states that the earliest known reference to it is in the logbook of the Nellie of 1796 (though a ballad by the same name, registered in England December 14, 1624 with the Stationers' Company, may also be related to it).

The song's namesake, "Spanish Ladies," can most likely be traced to the period between 1793 and 1796 in which British ships would often dock in Spanish harbours while Spain and Britain were still allies in First Coalition

First Coalition

The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...

 against Revolutionary France. While this may help to contextualize the song's mention of Spain, no truly definitive dating has surfaced as of yet.

There is also a possibility that the song traces its origins to the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

 (the Spanish and Portuguese theater in the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

) when, after defeating the French army, the British soldiers

British Army during the Napoleonic Wars

The British Army during the Napoleonic Wars experienced a time of rapid change. At the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, the army was a small, awkwardly administered force of barely 40,000 men. By the end of the period, the numbers had vastly increased. At its peak, in 1813, the...

 were shipped off to England, and forbidden to bring the Spanish women they married (in varying degrees of legitimacy), as well as their children, with them.

Its story is that of ships in fog (and therefore unable to determine their latitude by sighting) trying to find the entrance to the English Channel, between the dangers of Ushant

Ushant

Ushant is an island at the south-western end of the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon. Administratively, Ushant is a commune in the Finistère department...

 to the south and the Isles of Scilly

Isles of Scilly

The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...

 to the north. The sandy bottom is a good sign - and there is always the added reassurance of the width of the entrance, thirty-five leagues. A discussion in Arthur Ransome's novel Peter Duck

Peter Duck

Peter Duck is the third book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons sail to Crab Island with Captain Flint and Peter Duck an old sailor to recover buried treasure...

 notes that the succession of headlands on the English shore suggests a ship tacking up-channel, identifying a new landmark on each tack.

The song, while believed by some to typify a shanty

Sea shanty

A shanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels. Shanties became ubiquitous in the 19th century era of the wind-driven packet and clipper ships...

, predates the emergence of that genre in the mid-19th century. Further, shanties were the work songs of merchant sailors, while "Spanish Ladies," belonging to the 18th century, was a navy song. However, the popularity of "Spanish Ladies" remained such throughout the 19th century that it was sung by merchant sailors, too, for off-duty entertainment. All of the writers on shanties throughout the 19th century and up through the early 20th are clear that it was not a shanty, and only one, Stan Hugill in 1961makes a claim that it, like other borrowed songs from outside the genre, might be used as such.

Several variants exist that utilize the same melody but substitute different lyrics. "Brisbane Ladies

Brisbane Ladies

Brisbane Ladies is an Australian folksong and is one of many adaptations of Spanish Ladies. The version given below is the most commonly sung, but the original mentions Nanango favorably as "that jolly old township".-History:...

" is an Australian variant about drovers

Drover (Australian)

A drover in Australia is a person, typically an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep or cattle, "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for droving may include: delivering animals to a new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a drought in...

 instead of sailors; a significantly modified version called "The Ryans and the Pittmans

The Ryans and the Pittmans

"The Ryans and The Pittmans" is a popular Newfoundland folk song. It tells of the romantic entanglements of a sailor named Bob Pittman, and his desire to sail home to finally marry his "sweet Biddy"...

", widely known as "We'll Rant and We'll Roar", is from Newfoundland; and there is an American variant called "Yankee Whalermen". In other variants the title "Spanish Ladies" is sometimes retained with the appropriate locations changed. Lastly, a version was created especially for the Bluenose

Bluenose

Bluenose was a Canadian fishing and racing schooner from Nova Scotia built in 1921. She was later commemorated by a replica Bluenose II built in 1963. A celebrated racing ship and hard-working fishing vessel, Bluenose became a provincial icon for Nova Scotia as well as important Canadian symbol in...

, a famed Canadian ship based in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

.

Lyrics

This is one of many versions; notable variations are shown in brackets after each line.

Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies,

Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain;

For we've received orders for to sail for old England, (or '...under orders...')

But we hope in a short time to see you again. (or 'And we may never see you fair ladies again')

Chorus:

We will rant and we'll roar like true British sailors,

We'll rant and we'll roar all on the salt sea. (or 'We'll range and we'll roam...')

Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England;

From Ushant

Ushant

Ushant is an island at the south-western end of the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon. Administratively, Ushant is a commune in the Finistère department...

 to Scilly

Isles of Scilly

The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...

 is thirty-five league

League (unit)

A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...

s. (variously 34, 35 and 45 leagues)

We hove

Heaving to

In sailing, heaving to is a way of slowing a sail boat's forward progress, as well as fixing the helm and sail positions so that the boat does not actively have to be steered. It is commonly used for a "break"; this may be to wait for the tide before proceeding, to wait out a strong or contrary...

 our ship to with the wind from sou'west, boys

We hove our ship to, deep soundings

Sounding line

A sounding line or lead line is a length of thin rope with a plummet, generally of lead, at its end. Regardless of the actual composition of the plummet, it is still called a "lead."...

 to take; (or '...for to make soundings clear')

'Twas forty-five fathom

Fathom

A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems, used especially for measuring the depth of water.There are 2 yards in an imperial or U.S. fathom...

s, with a white sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

y bottom

Seabed

The seabed is the bottom of the ocean.- Ocean structure :Most of the oceans have a common structure, created by common physical phenomena, mainly from tectonic movement, and sediment from various sources...

,

So we squared

Square (sailing)

The term to square a yard is used when sailing a square-rigged ship.To "square a yard" is to lay the yards at right angles to the line of the keel by trimming with the braces.-Explanation:...

 our main yard and up channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 did make. (or '...did steer')

chorus

The first land we sighted was call-ed the Dodman

Dodman Point

Dodman Point is a high headland near Mevagissey, Cornwall. It was once an Iron Age promontory fort. At its seaward end is a large granite cross, erected to help protect shipping from this headland...

,

Next Rame Head

Rame Head

Rame Head is a coastal headland, southwest of the village of Rame in southeast Cornwall, United Kingdom.-History and antiquities:The site was used for a hill fort in the Iron Age. The headland has a prominent chapel, dedicated to St Michael, accessible by a steep footpath...

 off Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, Start

Start Point, Devon

Start Point is a promontory in the South Hams district. It is one of the most southerly points in Devon, England, . It marks the southern limit of Start Bay, which extends northwards to the estuary of the River Dart....

, Portland

Isle of Portland

The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...

 and Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

;

We sailed by Beachy

Beachy Head

Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m above sea level. The peak allows views of the south...

, by Fairlight

Fairlight, East Sussex

Fairlight is a village in East Sussex, England within Rother district, three miles to the east of Hastings. Fairlight is also the name of the civil parish forming part of the Rother district which includes the villages of Fairlight and Fairlight Cove.The village of Fairlight lies on a minor road...

 and Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

, (or 'Dungeness

Dungeness

Dungeness is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh...

')

And then we bore up for the South Foreland light

South Foreland Lighthouse

South Foreland Lighthouse is a Victorian lighthouse on the South Foreland in St. Margaret's Bay, Dover, Kent, England, used to warn ships approaching the nearby Goodwin Sands. It went out of service in 1988 and is currently owned by the National Trust...

. (or 'until we brought to

Heaving to

In sailing, heaving to is a way of slowing a sail boat's forward progress, as well as fixing the helm and sail positions so that the boat does not actively have to be steered. It is commonly used for a "break"; this may be to wait for the tide before proceeding, to wait out a strong or contrary...

 by the...')

chorus

Then the signal

International maritime signal flags

The system of international maritime signal flags is one system of flag signals representing individual letters of the alphabet in signals to or from ships...

 was made for the grand fleet to anchor,

And all in the Downs

The Downs

The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...

 that night for to lie;

Let go your shank painter

Shank painter

In sailing, a shank painter is a short rope or chain by which the shank of an anchor is held fast to a ship's side when not in use....

, let go your cat stopper (that is, drop the anchor

Anchor

An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...

)

Haul up your clewgarnets, let tacks and sheet

Sheet (sailing)

In sailing, a sheet is a line used to control the movable corner of a sail.- Fore-and-aft rigs:Fore-and-aft rigs comprise the vast majority of sailing vessels in use today, including effectively all dinghies and yachts. The sheet on a fore-and-aft sail controls the angle of the sail to the wind,...

s fly! (that is, roll up the sails)

chorus

Now let ev'ry man drink off his full bumper,

And let ev'ry man drink off his full glass; (or 'bowl')

We'll drink and be jolly and drown melancholy,

And here's to the health of each true-hearted lass. (or 'soul')

chorus

In literature and film

The song is quoted in full in the 1840 novel Poor Jack, and is briefly sung in Chapter 40 of Moby-Dick

Moby-Dick

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...

and also appears in the 1975 film Jaws

Jaws (film)

Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...

(an Americanized version using 'Boston' instead of 'England', and the last line changed to "And so never more shall we see you again."), the 1993 episode "Ghost of a Chance

Ghost of a Chance (Homicide: Life on the Street)

"Ghost of a Chance" is the second episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 3, 1993. The teleplay was written Noel Behn based on a story by executive director Tom Fontana, and...

" of the television series Homicide: Life on the Street

Homicide: Life on the Street

Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...

.

The song is sung in the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin and released by 20th Century Fox, Miramax Films and Universal Studios...

, which is based on Patrick O'Brian

Patrick O'Brian

Patrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...

's Aubrey–Maturin series

Aubrey–Maturin series

The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of nautical historical novels—20 completed and one unfinished—by Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centering on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, who is also a physician,...

 of novels set during the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. In Treason's Harbour

Treason's Harbour

Treason's Harbour is a historical novel by British author Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic period, which follows the life of two friends, naval captain Jack Aubrey and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin. It is the ninth book in the Aubrey-Maturin series.-Plot summary:Jack and Stephen are...

, the 9th book in the Aubrey-Maturin series, it is sung after dinner by the captain of the Dromedary and his mate (here, the last line of the first verse is the less romantic but undoubtedly more realistic "And perhaps we shall never more see you again"). It is also sung in the 2003 television series Horatio Hornblower

Hornblower (TV series)

Hornblower is the umbrella title of a series of television drama programmes based on C. S. Forester's novels about the fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Naval officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....

in the episode "Retribution" by David Warner

David Warner (actor)

David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...

.

"Spanish Ladies" also appears in Arthur Ransome

Arthur Ransome

Arthur Michell Ransome was an English author and journalist, best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. These tell of school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. Many of the books involve sailing; other common subjects...

's Swallows and Amazons

Swallows and Amazons

Swallows and Amazons is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome; it was first published in 1930, with the action taking place in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District...

. The song is also regularly sung by the character Daniel Hagman in the television series of Sharpe

Sharpe (TV series)

Sharpe is a British series of television dramas starring Sean Bean about Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Sharpe is the hero of a number of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books...

. A portion of it is also sung by Ed Westwick

Ed Westwick

Edward Jack P. "Ed" Westwick is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.-Early life and career:...

's character "Chuck Bass

Chuck Bass

Charles Bartholomew "Chuck" Bass is a fictional character in the Gossip Girl series of teen novels and the television series of the same name. He is portrayed by English actor Ed Westwick. Although he is a secondary, antagonistic character in the original book series, in the television series Chuck...

" in episode 2.14 of the television show Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl (TV series)

Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007...

, and by Patrick Jane

Patrick Jane

Patrick Jane is the protagonist on the CBS crime drama The Mentalist, portrayed by Simon Baker. Jane is a consultant for a fictionalized version of the California Bureau of Investigation and helps by giving advice and insight from his many years as a fake psychic medium...

 in episode 1.4 of the television show "The Mentalist

The Mentalist

The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer...

". The song is also mentioned in Wilbur Smith

Wilbur Smith

Wilbur Addison Smith is a best-selling novelist. His writings include 16th and 17th century tales about the founding of the southern territories of Africa and the subsequent adventures and international intrigues relevant to these settlements. His books often fall into one of three series...

's book, "Monsoon" and "Blue Horizon."

The opening verse of the song is also sung repetitively with an ominous gallows' humor tone by Robert Shaw

Robert Shaw (actor)

Robert Archibald Shaw was an English actor and novelist, remembered for his performances in The Sting , From Russia with Love , A Man for All Seasons , the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three , Black Sunday , The Deep and Jaws , where he played the shark hunter Quint.-Early life...

's character Quint in Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

's (dir.) Jaws

Jaws (film)

Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...

(1975) while on their shark hunt. Shaw also sings a variant of the same verse in the television show The Buccaneers

The Buccaneers (TV series)

The Buccaneers was a 1956 Sapphire Films television drama series for ITC Entertainment, networked by CBS in the US and shown on ATV and selected ITV companies in the UK....

in the episode "The Ladies" (1956).

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, often shortened to just Jimmy Neutron, is an American animated television series, and spin-off of the Academy Award-nominated computer-animated movie, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. The series first officially aired on July 20, 2002, on Nickelodeon...

utilizes its own version of the song in the episode "Monster Hunt", with the lyrics "Farewell and adieu, all ye cankered young ladies; Farewell and adieu, though my song is quite lame; For we received orders to sail to Pacoima; And then nevermore will we eat cheese again."

A portion of the song is played on guitar by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards

Keith Richards

Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...

 in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. During a meeting of the Pirate Lords (the nine leaders in the pirate community), Keith Richards' character Captain Teague sits down away from the meeting (apparently bored) and begins to play the song Spanish Ladies. Originally the producers intended for Richards' to simply play around a little on the guitar during the scene. However when given the guitar on the first day of filming, Richards' played the song and his version was considered so beautiful by the producers that they agreed to include it in the movie.

In print and recordings

The song forms part of Sir Henry J. Wood's composition Fantasia on British Sea Songs

Fantasia on British Sea Songs

Fantasia on British Sea Songs or Fantasy on British Sea Songs is a piece of classical music arranged by Sir Henry Wood in 1905 to mark the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. It is a medley of British sea songs and for many years was seen as an indispensable item at the BBC's Last Night of the...

. It has been recorded numerous times.

External links

• Spanish Ladies at Contemplator
• Yankee Whalermen at Contemplator
• Rant and Roar (Canadian) at Contemplator
• A Yankee version using New Bedford