View source for Spanish Ladies (New England)

{{
LilyPondTune
| title=Spanish Ladies
| tunetype=song
| subtype=sea chantey
| filename=spanish_ne
| altname=Farewell and Adieu
| altname2=Talcahuano Girls
| altname3=Yankee Whalermen
| mudcat=49621
| musicbrainz=dc621700-2d56-4995-a9c0-ae78371e16b0
}}
== Liner Notes ==
“[[Spanish Ladies (New England)|Spanish Ladies]]” is track 7 on ''[[Shower Chanteys]]'', recorded 12 March 2018 at [[Mill Pond Music Studio]].<ref>“Spanish Ladies,” recording by Chris Maden. [https://musicbrainz.org/recording/3605db29-38c9-4878-9d58-70cdba22579e MusicBrainz].</ref>

“Spanish Ladies” is a homeward-bound capstan chantey—used for raising the anchor when returning homeward.  One of [[Spanish Ladies|a family of chanteys]], originally, “[[Spanish Ladies (England)|Spanish Ladies]]” was a British naval song, lamenting separation from local wives or girlfriends from Gibraltar at the end of the Napoleonic wars.  Hugill notes that few sources give it as a proper chantey (as opposed to just a recreational song).<ref>Stan Hugill.  ''Shanties from the Seven Seas'', pp. 292–294.  New U.S. Edition.  Mystic, Conn.: Mystic Seaport, 1994.</ref>  The original was a navigational mnemonic for the trip through the English Channel around to the Thames and London; as the song was coöpted by other groups, including New England whalers, the lyrics changed accordingly.  Smith, in 1888, seemed unaware of the New England variation.<ref>Laura Alexandrine Smith.  ''The Music of the Waters'', pp. 63–64.  London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1888.</ref>

The melody changes in some variations; the British version, I’ve never heard except with a minor key; the New England version I’ve heard in both minor and major variations, though the Talcahuano Girls version, a close cousin of the Yankee version, is always minor; the Newfoundland version always seems to be in a major key.

Some of the British verses survive into this New England version I recorded.  Other verses are common to the more generic whaling versions, but the refrain is based entirely in New Bedford whaling.

I was a little uncertain about this recording.  I wanted to have the melody doubled an octave apart, but as it has a moderately wide range in the melody alone, that forced me to the bottom or top of my range for the main lead part.  There seems to be a general consensus among the people I’ve asked—including [[Jim Prendergast|my recording engineer]]—that it sounds fine down in the basement of my range where it ended up.  It’s easy as a singer to hear only the errors and problems… but as I often tell people at chantey sings, there are only two ways to sing sailors’ songs: good, and authentic.  I guarantee you, as I guarantee them, that this recording is at least one of those two.

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Chris’s songs]]
[[Category:Shower Chanteys]]
[[Category:Capstan chanteys]]