England is an island nation so there is a long tradition of sea-faring ballads and tales. Fairport Convention is one of the best at interpreting this genre of songs and listening to them is a very good way to learn English History. In the days of sailing ships there was gray area between pirates and warships or merchantmen (...legally representing the nation they sailed for) known as privateers. A privateer meaning the ship owners and Captain would receive a, Letter of Margue from a government which basically allowed them to capture, raid and plunder. The convenient part for the governments was that it was easy to deny direct involvement when the annoyed Ambassadors from other nations would show up and protest. A good example would be Queen Elizabeth 1 signing off on the globe spanning raids against the Spanish by Sir Francis Drake. In many cases the recruiting practices to obtain sailors were quite brutal. Polly on the Shore is the story of a young man who finds himself on a privateer that is trapped and sunk by a, Man of War a naval vessel that was more powerful; thus leaving Polly bereft on the shore. This song appears on, Nine and Sense of Occasion. Here is the latter version and the two album covers with the lyrics are just over the electronic horizon.youtube/watch?v=F7WinE1p8Gs
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 21:32:13 +0000
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