Victoria Nautical Song Circle
NAUTICAL
SITES
Herein lies a dog's breakfast of some interesting Nautical Links. While lots of sites are nothing more than a collection of associated or non-associated links, it's possible to find many of these and more via one of the many search engines.
Your
scribe does not believe the oft written "Google is your friend" which
folks frequently suggest on some e-mail lists. The name of that data
company is also not a verb, or at least needn't be. Try some other
means of searching. ixquick.com also known as Start Page
offers standard and SSL (https) access with proxy based searching
using a choice of cookie based or URI/bookmark settings.
https://ixquick.com/ https://us2.startpage.com/eng/
An approach to using Google indirectly is via http://www.scroogle.org, NB not .com. Alternately https://ssl.scroogle.org/
Some others I've used are The Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com or 37.com http://www.37.com both are meta search engines which search many search engines. Try reading the help files on the site of a search engine, also try enclosing, say a title, between "quotes", this works well on AltaVista. While it retains it's original name of
If you have something worthy of inclusion please send us the link.
If you thought it might be worthy it likely is. Funny how where
else one can go is almost more
important than what one can find where ever one is. Here, though, are a
few of the relatively unique ones and few others:
- The Canadian Privateering site. Two songs, including a backgrounder on the some historical aspects of S. Rogers song Barrett's Privateers, a song of a true privateer, a do-it-yourself letter of Marque and more.
- No Quarter Given - http://www.notquartergiven.net/ a lighthearted look at Pyrates, err, Bucaneering.
- John's Nautical and Boatbuilding Page. Not your circle organiser, a 'nother John. Many folks link direct to John's "Mother Of All Maritime Links" page and miss his welcome mat. Check them both out for lots of interesting material! We're listed there under Music.
- The Archives and Collections Society at http://www.AandC.org is an organisation officed in Ottawa dedicated to maritime conservation and education. Check out their site and links!
- The Contemplator has a lovely tiered site of Folk songs including Songs of the Sea. Not to be missed is her Microencyclopedia of Folk Music. Thanks Lesley, for a great site.
- I love this one at Ask A Biologist entitled Why are English sailors called Limeys?.
- Thanks to Loud Bill we have a link to C. Fox Smith's entry at Old Poetry, lovingly entered by LIKE-RHYMES & CHARLEY NOBLE. From England, she lived for a time after the turn of the last century here in Victoria, BC as well as in Vancouver. Several of Cicely Fox Smith's poems have had music added to make wonderful songs. Tom Lewis and William Pint are just a few who have done so.
- Talk Like A Pirate Day seems to have quite a life of it's own so I've added the link. Here is a unique "application" of the event (This site has been lost at sea. If anyone turns up a link to the Blank Top Chronicles please let us know).
- A nice page on types of sailing rigs at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.
- MMofA also has a neat "Tallship" identification page.
- Victoria, BC hosted a second Tallship festival 26-29 June 2008. The first one was held in 2005. Yes, we had a big singing evening, each of the Fridays. Two years running we've had a singing thing going every night of the festival in one form or another. Unfortunately, the 2011 Victoria festival has been cancelled, as has a second one for Steveston, their first being in 2002.
- BC Lighthouses website. Your scribe worked at Cape Beale in '98 for three months as a relief Assistant Keeper. Neat work.
- A site about the history of BC Packers 1902 - 1999 called In Their Words. For more background on fishing and canning on the BC coast visit the Gulf of Georgia Cannery at Steveston, BC.
- A Canadian history site called Our Roots describes itself as Canadian local histories on-line in French and English.
- Looking to join a traditionally rigged vessel, commonly called a "Tallship"? Gray's Harbor Historic Seaport Authority operate the LADY WASHINGTON & HAWAIIAN CHIEFTAIN. They have a "Two Weeks Before the Mast" program.
- On Grog! The background on it by Michael Quinion @ World Wide Words. Also Three sheets in the wind.
- Just ran across the Northern Shipwrecks Database while looking for diving links. Their byline is interesting, "One Shipwreck is a Disaster... 100,000 is a Maritime History!".
- The National Maritime Museum or NMM, breaks my rule of thumb, which was institutions with National in their name were often American, the similar Canadian organisation having the obvious in it's name and the British itteration not using either, as in the Automobile Association or the Alpine Club. It seemed the origin was simply, understood. So, this is the UK Nat'l Maritime Museum.
- The US NOAA site for their National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program
- Personal site of James Deglado, former director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum, host and producer of the Sea Hunters marine archeolgy, diving television program, author and more. Good speaker.
- On wrecks, here is a 2005 article from Diver Magazine on Diving the EDMUND FITZGERALD (PDF 913 KB). For interest, a Paul Gross song "32 Down On The Robert MacKenzie". Written when Gordon Lightfoot apparently agreed Gross might use his (Lightfoot's) song "Wreck of . ." for a "Due South" episode, however all the families of the survivors should be asked. Definitely not shanty stuff, however Paul really sings, no lip synch to someone else.
-
The ISSA, International Shanty and
Sea Song Association has it's roots in Europe where many Shanty Choirs
exist. "Ports" have opened in Australia and for North America.
- Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, history page at an enthusiast site. This was a neat stumble upon as I wandered away from a page that combined ham radio VHF repeaters and the Appalachian Trail.
- A Stan Hugill site that appears to have been on-line since 2003 or 2002. Have a fun look around it.
- Cyril Tawney's website. Good background on Sammy's Bar, Grey Funnel line, The Oggy Man and two others.
- Robert W. Gordon "Inferno" Collection in the Archive of Folk Song, Library of Congress (1917). Research collection of mildly bawdy to bawdy, original lyrics. You've been told. (Missing, however with other sites pointing to it I hope it's just a down for maintenance on Sunday issue.) Wikipedia entry, where one of the links connects to another location, at MUN which also has audio files.
- Diesel Weasel, a UK site given over to diesel submarines and submariners. Helps with a perspective of life on these "boats" (the accepted, service term for subs).
- Songbook pages of the Wareham Whalers site. Some lyrics mildly suspect. (Missing, will leave in hopes of finding a new location. They have a YouTube channel)
- Stumbled upon a scanned version of an Alan Villiers article in National Geographic magazine, February 1931. Hmm, how many of you kept that one. Rounding Cape Horn in a Windjammer. Check out the rest of Alfonso's eclectic site while you're at it.
- Reading more tales of Cape Horn, including this one relating connections to our area in, "North America and the Cape Horn Route" which includes references to such vessles as THERMOPYLAE. These and others may be found on the site of The Brotherhood of Cape Horners of Chile.
- These sites with Cape Horn content dropped out while doing some reading after receiving this YoutTube link, Sailing Cape Horn. Can anyone identify the footage? I'm not sure if it's from Irving Johnson's film Rounding Cape Horn so many of us enjoyed. Here's a bit about the PEKING which Johnson sailed in.
- Lars Bruzelius continues his deep and abiding interest in nautical heritage and history by presenting the The Maritime History Virtual Archives.
- Stumbled upon Jack Tar Magazine the nautical magazine, networking portal of shipmate Kim Carver (LADY WASHINGTON 2004, "PBTour". Best ask). The focus is the printed magazine, however other snippets are one the web site and presumably on their FB pages. Some of the administrative advise is USA-centric (useful for those joining an American ship), however the nautical community bonding, creativity and expression are quite universal and the point of the effort. Thanks for an outlet Kim. Mmm, yes, they also have a Tall Ship babe calendar on offer.
Finally, if you wish to search this site, give this a try. It uses the
Scroogle.org scraping of a Google search, so doesn't use Google
directly.
To Victoria Nautical Song Circle.
Created 98/12/24. Updated 2011/02/14