A west Cumbrian all-female sea shanty singing group are honouring the presence of a visiting tall ship through performances in Whitehaven harbour.
Shanty Girls performed at 12pm on Sunday, August 2 in front of the visiting working replica of the Santa Maria and are scheduled to perform again today (Tuesday) at 6pm as part of the Harbour Sessions.
Founded in 2024, the outfit consists of 12 women, typically performing traditional and lesser-known shanties from women’s perspectives, as well as more well-known crowd pleasers.
Members travel from all over the North West to rehearse weekly in Ullock Village Hall, near Cockermouth.
While some hail from the Cockermouth area, others travel from the Scottish borders, Allonby, Kendal, or Penrith.
Group member Hilary Cowley said: “What we've developed between us is a really strong bond and a real friendship, and it's just so joyful what we do and so lovely to be singing together that it makes it worthwhile, so people are really happy to travel.”
When asked of the curation of songs to perform, she said: “We sing songs from a female perspective, but we also sing some women's working songs as well.
“Old industrial revolution stuff really, things like Cotton Mill Girls, Poverty Knock, stuff like that.”
While performing Poverty Knock, a percussive instrument called a washboard is used to complement the singing.
Ms Cowley said: “It's about working in the mills, the women working in the mills.
“So, the washboard gives the sound of the shuttles in the weaving sheds.”
She expanded further on other female-centred shanties: “We do a song called Sleeping in the Cold and that's about the women who used to sleep below deck on the massive ships, on the fishing boats.
“They just had a terrible time, really awful.
“So, we like to sort of put that point of view across.”
Ms Cowley spoke of the significance of the Santa Maria visiting Whitehaven: “It's wonderful.
“We absolutely love when the tall ship comes in, because of its history, there's so many connections with Whitehaven, with the sea, John Paul Jones and all that kind of history.
“It just feels really special, and it feels even more special because we're women and we're singing about some of the hardships that women suffered and some of the aspects of being a woman who was left alone on the shore when their husbands went off to sea.
“There's all of that side of it that is often not thought about, and what the women used to have to endure, when the husbands were away.”
The group wear different shades of blue, turquoise, and pale green to symbolize the sea, and were originally formed to address the dearth of women’s shanty groups in north west England.
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