{title: Spanish Ladies}
{artist: Traditional (English Royal Navy)}
{album: Late-1700s English Royal Navy ballad; widely sung throughout the Napoleonic Wars; appears in Moby-Dick (1851) and Master and Commander (2003)}
{key: D}
{tempo: 100}
{difficulty: intermediate}
{phase: 4}
{strand: M}
{feel: sway}
{lead_voice: mid}
{lead_mode: unison}
{lead_demand: moderate}
{harmony: M,H,B}
{a_cappella: no}
{kit: fdl,conc,gtr}
{set_role: builder}
{lang: en}
{country_tags: UK}
{copyright: pd}
{tags: capstan,chorus,classic,english,harmony,public-domain,royal-navy,shanty,traditional}

{c: "Farewell and adieu to you Spanish ladies." One of the great English maritime classics — the Royal Navy's farewell as the fleet leaves Spain for home. Classic feel, more melodic demand than the average shanty. Public domain (pre-1800).}
{c: Three chords (D, G, A). Capstan tempo, around 95-110 BPM.}

{start_of_verse}
[D]Farewell and adieu to you, [A]Spanish ladies
[D]Farewell and adieu to you, [G]ladies of [A]Spain
For we've [D]received orders for to [G]sail back to [A]England
But we [D]hope in a [G]short time to [A]see you a[D]gain
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
We'll [D]rant and we'll [A]roar like true British [D]sailors
We'll [D]rant and we'll [G]roar all on the salt [A]seas
Until [D]we strike soundings in the [G]channel of [A]old England
From [D]Ushant to [G]Scilly is [A]thirty-five [D]leagues
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
We [D]hove our ship to with the [A]wind from sou'west, boys
We [D]hove our ship to, deep [G]soundings to [A]take
With the [D]land at Black Cap to the [G]northeast we [A]swept her
With [D]our jib all a[G]back and our [A]topsails a[D]back
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
We'll [D]rant and we'll [A]roar like true British [D]sailors
We'll [D]rant and we'll [G]roar all on the salt [A]seas
Until [D]we strike soundings in the [G]channel of [A]old England
From [D]Ushant to [G]Scilly is [A]thirty-five [D]leagues
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
The [D]first land we made was a [A]point called the Deadman
Next [D]Ramshead off Plymouth, [G]Start, Portland, and [A]Wight
We [D]sailed by Beachy, by [G]Fairlee and [A]Dungeness
And [D]then bore a[G]way for the [A]South For[D]eland Light
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
We'll [D]rant and we'll [A]roar like true British [D]sailors
We'll [D]rant and we'll [G]roar all on the salt [A]seas
Until [D]we strike soundings in the [G]channel of [A]old England
From [D]Ushant to [G]Scilly is [A]thirty-five [D]leagues
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
Now the [D]signal was made for the [A]grand fleet to anchor
We [D]clewed up our topsails, [G]stuck out tacks and [A]sheets
We [D]stood by our stoppers and we [G]brailed in our spankers
And [D]anchored a[G]head of the [A]noblest of [D]fleets
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
We'll [D]rant and we'll [A]roar like true British [D]sailors
We'll [D]rant and we'll [G]roar all on the salt [A]seas
Until [D]we strike soundings in the [G]channel of [A]old England
From [D]Ushant to [G]Scilly is [A]thirty-five [D]leagues
{end_of_chorus}

{c: ===== HOW TO PLAY IT =====}
{c: The melody is more demanding than the average shanty — the verse line covers more than an octave. Pitch the song so the lead can hit the highest note ("ladies of SPAIN") without strain.}
{c: Strum: smooth 4/4 capstan, no harsh accents. Mandolin can take a melodic role on the verses.}
{c: Chorus is the singalong moment — full crew on "We'll rant and we'll roar." Three-part harmony works nicely.}
{c: Reference recordings: Sarah Blasko (Master and Commander soundtrack, 2003); The Longest Johns; Sting (Rogue's Gallery, 2006); many traditional folk-revival recordings.}
{c: Reading note: this song appears verbatim in Chapter 40 of Moby-Dick (Melville, 1851) — Pip recalls hearing it. It's the literature-of-the-sea reference.}