On the Fifth day of
Christmas…The Duckies Made Me Sing, Five Sea Shanties!
Anne Drew wiggled through a crowed and plopped down next to John T Hawser, her fellow sailor, at the biggest table and
snatched up a chicken leg from a platter of food. Everyone was crowded around
this table, talking and laughing, and there was even a little bit of singing
from the Bristol Buskin Frolic down at the far end.
“How’s your head Anne?” John
inquired.
“Hurts a bit,” Anne admitted. She
didn’t like to advertise injuries. “How’s your back?”
“It’s doing fair enough.” John
nodded. The life of a sailor wasn’t easy on anyone. Each member of the crew of
the Gabriel had his (or her) own
small aches and pains they managed. “Nice to be back on land.”
“Can I get you gentlemen some
Adam’s Ale?” asked Kate of the Dirty Duck Inn, ever ready with a pitcher of
Adam’s Ale to quench the thirst of the Duck’s guests.
“Aye, please!” Anne held out her
mug and Kate poured a generous amount into her cup. “Grammercy.”
“Will ye sailors be gracing us this evening with some music, mayhap?” Kate inquired. “We haven’t had any shanties for such a long time.”
“Will ye sailors be gracing us this evening with some music, mayhap?” Kate inquired. “We haven’t had any shanties for such a long time.”
Anne and John looked to each other
and shrugged. “If the Captain agrees to leadin’ I don’t see why not.” Anne
looked about for Captain Frobisher. “CAPT’N!”
She shouted.”
“WHAT?” Came the roaring reply from a dusky corner of the Duck.
John raised his eyebrows. “Well,
you’ve distracted him.” He gave Anne a nudge.
Anne tiptoed her way over to where
her Captain had been busy with Chastity Trollop. Now he was vaguely annoyed at
being interrupted. Deciding to play the ignorance of her captain’s romancing,
Anne took a bracing swig of Adam’s Ale. “We’ve been requested to sing some sea
shanties.”
“Can’t you see I’m busy?” Frobisher
protested. Chastity, however, looked mildly interested in participating with
the shanties. She had a few songs of her own that got a crowd laughing and singing along.
“They promised free something-or-other.” Anne lied, taking another drink of Adam's Ale. She hoped that she could wheedle a mug of mulled cider out of
Master Peter Cabot, the owner of the Dirty Duck Inn.
“Free?” Frobisher’s ears perked up.
“Why not?” Chastity stood up, to
Frobisher’s great disappointment, and the trio made their way towards the main
throng of guests. Kate was already standing atop a cleared table (how the ducks
managed that is simply impressive and nothing short of a miracle!) and was
talking up something she called the “Shipwreck Shanty Show.”
“Can I join in?” Came two voices at
Anne’s elbow. Maggie Pie, and Lettuce Gardener two inhabitants of Bristol who
possessed lovely singing voices. Maggie’s fellow co-worker, Lefty the
Ingles-man (who spoke an extraordinary amount of Spanish for one native to
London), joined the group claiming that he knew all about shanties from having
lived in one.
“Why not?” Frobisher agreed. “Oy!
John, get up here!”
Within minutes the small group of
shanty singers had grown to a chorus, still vastly outnumbered by the guests of
the Duck. With a quick word to Mast Peter Cabot about the Captain’s free drink,
Anne took a perch on the edge of the table and joined into a very loud and
multi-keyed rendition of “Pay Me, You Owe Me.”
Much laughter and five songs later,
the Bristol Buskin Frolic took over with some merry Yuletide songs and the
shanty-sing turned dispersed. Captain Frobisher, with his “free” mug of mulled
cider, had sat himself by Captain Hawkyns and Drake and was regaling them with
much embellished tales of his latest voyage to the arctic. John yawned and said
that he thought that he’d better get some shut eye for the night while there
was still a bed to rent in the Inn.
Anne found herself a solitary
position, leaning against a standing beam and just taking in the warmth that emanated
from not only the fire, but also the people reveling and merrymaking. It felt
good to be back in Bristol.
Fin.
I finished this and posted it before 9pm!!! YAY! I haven't liked needing to post things late. Makes me antsy. As always, I hope that you are enjoying these stories and shall post again tomorrow!
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