"A Drop of Nelson's Blood" is a

sea shanty A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ...

, also known as "Roll the old chariot along" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

No. 3632) The origins are unclear, but the title comes from the line: "A drop of Nelson's blood wouldn't do us any harm". Often described as a "walkaway" or "runaway chorus" or "stamp and go" sea shanty, the song features on the soundtrack of the 2019 film ''

Fisherman's Friends The Fisherman's Friends are a folk music group from Port Isaac, Cornwall, who sing sea shanties. They have been performing locally since 1995, and signed a record deal with Universal Music in March 2010. Whilst essentially an a cappella group, ...

''. The chorus comes from the 19th century Salvation Army hymn, 'Roll the old chariot'. Each line is sung three times and describes something that the singing sailors would miss while at sea for a long time. The last line is always "And we'll all hang on behind", although some versions say "we won't drag on behind".

Nelson's blood

Following his victory and death at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

's body was preserved in a cask of brandy or rum for transport back to England. Though when news of Nelson's death and return to British soil reached the general public, people either 1. argued rum would've been the better alternative or 2. wrongly assumed the body was preserved in rum to begin with. ‘ Nelson's blood' became a nickname for rum, but it can also mean Nelson's spirit or bravery. The shanty was sung to accompany certain work tasks aboard

sailing ships A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

, especially those that required a bright walking pace. Although Nelson is mentioned in the title, there is no evidence that the shanty dates from the time of Nelson, who died in 1805.

Origins

The term 'Roll the chariot' was used by religious groups in the 19th century in England. The

Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...

preacher William Clowes mentions the phrase several times in his journals (1810 to that of 1838) describing his work spreading the word of God. In the 1880s, 'Roll the old Chariot' was used by the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

as a campaign hymn. At around the same time Gospel singers from America were touring in the UK, singing

gospel songs Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

.Ward, Andrew (2000), "Dark Midnight When I Rise: The Story of the Jubilee Singers Who Introduced the World to the Music of Black America". ‘Roll the old chariot along'

Early recordings (Gospel version)

One of the oldest known recordings, dates from the early 1920s and is held by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. The

wax cylinder Phonograph cylinders (also referred to as Edison cylinders after its creator Thomas Edison) are the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their heyday (c. 1896–1916), a name which ...

was donated by

Robert Winslow Gordon Robert Winslow Gordon (September 2, 1888 – March 26, 1961) was an American academic, known as a collector of folk songs. Gordon was educated at Harvard University. He joined the English faculty at the University of California at Berkeley in 19 ...

*An

African-American spiritual Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a Music genre, genre of Christian music that is associated with African Americans, which merged varied African cultural influences ...

version was recorded by

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

in the 1920s *1930 Roll the Old Chariot Along by Rev. T.T. Rose *

Fela Sowande Chief Olufela Obafunmilayo "Fela" Sowande MBE (29 May 1905 – 13 March 1987) was a Nigerian musician and composer. Considered the father of modern Nigerian art music, Sowande is perhaps the most internationally known African composer of works ...

titled ‘Roll de ol chariot' was recorded in the 1950s

In print

*An early publication of the song in America was published in 'Cabin and plantation songs' (1901). *

Alec John Dawson Alec John Dawson (1872 - 3 February 1951), generally known as A. J. Dawson (pseudonyms Captain Dawson, Major Dawson, Howard Kerr, Nicholas Freydon) was an English author, traveller and novelist. During World War I he attained the rank of Major, ...

in an article that was published in ''

The Standard The Standard may refer to: Entertainment * The Standard (band), an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon * ''The Standard'' (novel), a 1934 novel by the Austrian writer Alexander Lernet-Holenia * ''The Standard'' (Tommy Flanagan album), 1980 * ...

'' in 1906. *The song is mentioned by

James Madison Carpenter James Madison Carpenter, born in 1888 in Blacklands, Mississippi, near Booneville, in Prentiss County, was a Methodist minister and scholar of American and British folklore. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the ...

in his collection of songs published in 1920. *According to John Greenway in his book ''Folk Nation: Folklore in the Creation of American Tradition'', it became a protest song for the coal miners.

Notable recordings (shanty version)

*1978 American folksinger, Mary Benson of

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, used the shanty on her album 'Sea Songs Seattle' by

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

. *1983 Jim Mageean and

Johnny Collins Johnny Collins (10 May 1938 – 6 July 2009) was an English folk singer based in London, England, specializing in traditional maritime music and sea shanties. Biography Collins was born in Norfolk, England and adopted by a railway worker an ...

sang "Roll the Old Chariot" on their album, Strontrace!. *2006

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...

appeared on the album '' Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys'' *2010

David Coffin David Coffin is an American traditional folk musician specializing in early music and maritime music, based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States. He is the song leader for the Revels music programs in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also pre ...

posted a version on YouTube which now has over five million views as of November 2021 *2012 Storm Weather Shanty Choir released an album named after the song which features the song as the opening track. *2013 The Wellington Sea Shanty Society released a version of the song on their album ''Now That's What I Call Sea Shanties Vol. 1''. *2021 Industrial/Steampunk band

Abney Park Abney Park is in Stoke Newington, London, England. It is a park dating from just before 1700, named after Lady Abney, the wife of Sir Thomas Abney, Lord Mayor of London in 1700 and one of the first directors of the Bank of England and associa ...

released a version on their album "Technoshanties" *2022 Nathan Evans recorded the song under the title "Roll the Old Chariot" on ''The Wellerman Album'' *2023

The Longest Johns The Longest Johns are an English folk musical group from Bristol, England, consisting of Andy Yates, Jonathan "JD" Darley, and Robbie Sattin. They are known for performing folk music and sea shanties in the English tradition, and they also comp ...

added their version to their album "The C-Sides", under the title "Drop of Nelsons Blood"

References

External links

Example version with lyrics

Clip from the Fisherman's Friends film

Sources

*Waltz, Robert B.; David G. Engle.

". ''The Traditional Ballad Index: An Annotated Bibliography of the Folk Songs of the English-Speaking World'', hosted b
California State University, Fresno, Folklore
, 2007. *
Roll the Old Chariot

Roud Folksong Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

, hosted by the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML) {{DEFAULTSORT:Drop Of Nelson's Blood 19th-century songs Sea shanties Songs about alcohol Songs about sailors English children's songs English folk songs Year of song unknown Songs with unknown songwriters Songs about death Songs about military officers Cultural depictions of Horatio Nelson