Our Mayflower CD is currently out of stock

The Harwich Ship

In 2014 Harwich International Shanty Festival ran a very special project commissioning new songs to commemorate the town’s connections to the Mayflower and its Master, Christopher Jones, who was born and lived in Harwich. We had a fantastic response with some 17 new songs written and a unique concert showcasing the songs. This CD comprises the fruits of everyone’s labours. Unfortunately there are a few songs not able to be represented here, not because of lack of excellence but because the vagaries of a live performance means that occasionally the sound quality is not sufficient.

We apologise to those artists not featured, but hope everyone will agree that the songs which do feature show a wide variety of interesting takes on the subject matter. We very much hope that not only will some of these songs be taken up and sung in clubs and pubs around the land, but that they will awaken an interest in the history of the Mayflower and its voyage to the New World. Harwich can rightly be proud of its heritage and of the fact that such an important aspect of it is now recorded in song.

Thanks go to all artists who took part in this project, including: John Conolly, Old Wild Rovers, Malcolm Ward, Naze Shanty Crew, Alan Lake, Ian Roper & Mick Rogers, Swinging the Lead, Peter Hunt, Bob Watson, Mick Verrier, Alan Whitbread, Gerald Donaldson, Michael Fitzgerald & The Chantey Cabin.

1. The New World Shanty – The Naze Shanty Crew 2:46
2. Haul Away Drift Away – Swinging The Lead 2:56
3. Flowers of May – John Conolly 4:41
4. Bound For North America – Holland Park Primary School 2:18
5. Mayflower Last Waltz – Malcolm Ward 4:04
6. Sign Up With Capt. Jones – Alan Whitbread 3:50
7. The Tale of Christopher Jones – The Naze Shanty Crew 3:10
8. Pollyanna..Bob Watson 4:37
9. The Little Harwich Ship – Ian Roper and Mick Rogers 3:29
10. Josian Jones – Burning Glass 5:31
11. We Sail Together – Pete Hunt 4:27

Out of stock

Our 2019 Shanty Festival CD features 24 artists who played Harwich Sea Shanty Festival in 2019

See below for purchase options

Back in 2019 we recorded some of the performances from artists appearing at that year’s festival:

Alan Whitbread
Armstrong’s Patent
Baggyrinkle
Brise Glace
Chris Roche
Dan McKinnon
Dutch Uncle
Geoff Higginbottom
Hog Eye Men
Jim Radford
Ken Stevens
Mains’l Haul
Malcolm Ward
Mollyhawks
Motley Crew
Naze Shanty Crew
New Scorpian Band
Pete McCelland
Salt Water & Beer
Sheringham Shanty Men
Shotley Crue
Swinging The Lead
Sloop Groggy Dogs
Tyburn Road

Sadly a few of these artists are no longer with us.

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• Currently out of stock
• Our lockdown shanty CD, In Dry Dock, is back in stock and available via this site priced £8 plus p&p. It features 22 artists who have either played Harwich Sea Shanty Festival in recent years or who were due to play this year:

For a track listing and purchase options please see below.

Lockdown!

Well the year 2020 will certainly go down in history, but not as a commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower, as many in the UK and USA had hoped! The plans of the whole world have been put on hold, including ours here at Harwich International Shanty Festival. When Coronavirus first hit and the world was reeling in disbelief, we still hoped, with a Festival towards the end of the year, that we might be able to go ahead. It soon became apparent this was not an option and we regretfully took the decision to postpone our planned special Mayflower Festival until 2021.

But what now? An online event was considered but rejected for various reasons, though we wanted to mark this rather strange year in some way. And so, just as the Festival is effectively In Dry Dock for the year, the idea of a CD “In Dry Dock” was born. We are hugely grateful to all those artists who have so generously donated a track to this project and to Chantey Cabin for their work in producing the CD. The result is a mix of songs both from those due to perform this year – now deferred until 2021- and many past performers, including some of our most popular acts from the last fifteen years. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supports the Festival for their loyalty over the years and we hope that you will enjoy this unique souvenir. And finally, we look ahead to brighter times when we can all meet up again in person. Here’s to October 2021!!

1. Shake Her Johnny Chris Roche
2. Sam’s Gone Away El Pony Pisador
3. Herzogin Cecile Ken Stephens
4. Davy Nik Nik Hans Weehuizen
5. Johnson Girls The Johnson Girls
6. Wild Goose The London Sea Shanty Collective
7. Ranzo Ray Nordet
8. Limehouse Reach Alan Whitbread
9. Flash Frigate Dominic Magog
10. The Corncrake The Rogues Shanty Buoys
11. Reuben James Act of Mutiny
12. Little Pot Stove Mains’l Haul
13. Fire Maringo Hoy Boy
14. The Captain’s Daughter The Longest Johns
15. John Cherokee Tyburn Road
16. Noah Could Not Navigate Men Overboard
17. The Worst Old Ship The Hoolies
18. Wellerman Norfolk Broads
19. Brave Wolf Sound Tradition
20. Rolling To Cairo Town Naze Shanty Crew
21. Crossing the Bar Swinging the Lead
22. Shores of Normandy Jim Radford

We would especially like to thank every artist, or their representative, for the kind offer of their tracks.

The CD is usually available via this site but, if you are having difficulties or require further information, contact us by email – 

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