Meet the Shantyjacs: A Musical Crew

Shanties were working songs. They were led by the shantyman, to set a rhythm for work to be done on a sailing ship; hauling up the anchor, setting the sails or pumping out the bilges.

Modern ships no longer require such rhythms, but shanties survive and there are many groups around the UK who keep them alive.

We, Lesley and Kit, first met when we volunteered to sing with the Mumbles Lifeboat singers. Singing with them encouraged us to rediscover music and playing musical instruments.

We found we had a lot in common. We both enjoy singing Sea Shanties. Everybody can join in with Shanties. The sailors who would have originally sung these songs would have been a mixture of all sorts of voices, accents and musical capabilities. We both felt we would like to go further to expand our repertoire; our singing, playing and performing, so we decided to set up our own group and we started The Shantyjacs . Whilst we do not charge a fee for our performances, we request a donation to charity is made. 2024 is the 200th Anniversary of the RNLI, so it is the charity we are currently supporting.

When Lesley went to an open house event with the Swansea University of the Third Age (U3A), she discovered there was no Shanty singing group. So, she decided to start one.

All our members at the U3A really enjoy the free-style nature of singing sea songs We find that many of our group, who sing with established and well known choirs, particularly enjoy the lack of structure. You have the words, the basic tune and the freedom to harmonise or improvise, something not possible in a choir.

Our goal is to get the audience at our events to join in. We give out the words to our songs and encourage everybody to have a go.

We are based in Mumbles and sing every Monday evening in the Waterloo Stores, so why don't you come along and join in?

Mumbles Bay