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> Steeleye Span > Songs > Bring 'Em Down

Bring 'Em Down

[trad.]

A.L. Lloyd sang this hauling shanty on his and Ewan MacColl's album A Sailor's Garland. He commented on the album sleeve:

Like Bold Riley O, this tune (a Dorian one) was brought to Liverpool from the West Indies where a variant of it had served as a challenging stick-fight song. Among the vessels that adopted the tune as a shanty for heavy hauling were those running up the coast of Chile. Oldtime sailors, who had a high regard for Valparaiso women, pronounced the name of the country to rhyme with “versatile”.

The Young Tradition recorded four sea shanties, Fire Maringo, Hanging Johnny, Bring 'em Down, and Haul on the Bowline, for their 1967 EP Chicken on a Raft. Royston Wood sang lead on the first and third shanty, Peter Bellamy on the second and fourth. Like all tracks from the EP, they were included in the compilation album The Young Tradition Sampler and CD Galleries / Chicken on a Raft / No Relation. The EP sleeve notes comment:

Brin 'Em Down is a heavy hauling song. A.L. Lloyd says that it was brought to Liverpool from the West Indies, where a variant of it had been a stick-fight song.

Steeleye Span sang this shanty and Haul on the Bowline on September 15, 1971 on the BBC radio programme “Peel's Sunday Concert”. Martin Carthy sang lead on this shanty. This programme was included as bonus CD on the 2006 reissue of Ten Man Mop or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again.

Roy Harris sang Bring 'Em Down on the Topic Records compilation Sailors' Songs & Sea Shanties. This album's sleeve notes comment:

Bring 'em Down - A heavy-haul one-pull shanty with a triple-stamp refrain. Some of the words refer to ports of Chile and Peru and the memorable girls thereof but that doesn't mean that this shanty was limited to the West Coast run.

Lyrics

The Young Tradition sing Bring 'Em Down	Steeleye Span sing Bring 'Em Down
In Liverpool I was born, Bring 'em down London is me home from home. Bring 'em down	In Liverpool I was born Bring 'em down London is me home from home. Bring 'em down
And Rotherhite girls, they look so fine, They're never a day behind their time.	Rotherhite girls, they look so fine, They're never a day behind their time.
It's around Cape Horn we go, All through the ice and snow.	Around Cape Horn we all must go, Around Cape Horn in the frost and snow.
At the coast of Vallipo, Northward to Callao.	And northward up to Vallipo, And northward on to Callao.
Them Callao girls I do adore, They take it all and ask for more.	Them Vallipo girls I do adore, They take it all and they ask for more.
Vallipo girls they put out a show, They waggles their arse with a roll and go!	And Vallipo girls put out a show, They waggles their arse with a roll and go!
It's back to Liverpool, I spend my pay like a bloddy fool.
Them Liverpool girls I do admire, They set your rig all a-fire.
I'm Liverpool born and bred, Strong in the arm and thick in the head!	I'm Liverpool born and bred, Strong in the arm and thick in the head!
Up come and roll me over, boys, And get this damn job over, boys!	Ah, up come and roll me over, boys, We'll get this damn job over, boys!