Yarmouth Shantymen Concert

The acclaimed Yarmouth Shantymen are coming to Annapolis Royal on July 28th. The group were founded, somewhat by accident, in 1984. Group member Eric Ruff, the retired Curator of the Yarmouth County Museum, asked a number of friends to accompany him to illustrate a talk on traditional Sea Shanties. The group discovered an immediate connection with these working songs.

Almost 30 years later, the group has produced three albums and is still going strong. Sea shanties are the rhythmic songs sung by sailors during the age of sail. Each of the songs has its own rhythm and would be particular to a certain job aboard a ship. The musical rhythm helped co-ordinate the effort of the sailors while hoisting cargo, making sail or any of the countless other jobs performed on a sailing vessel. Many of these songs are centuries old and they certainly would have been familiar to sailors for the Annapolis Royal area.

“I am very excited that the Yarmouth Shantymen are coming to Annapolis Royal” said Annapolis Heritage Society Curator, Ryan Scranton. I have known Eric Ruff through museum circles for years and have had the occasion to hear the Shantymen on a number of occasions. There is something special in hearing the songs and rhythms that our ancestors would have known so well. It is quite interesting to imagine a schooner making its way up the Annapolis Basin with the only sound being the sailors singing”.

The concert will be held at St George and St Andrew United Church (401 St. George Street) at 7:30 pm on July 28. Tickets are available for $10 at the O’Dell House Museum, Sinclair Inn Museum and at the door. This event is a fundraiser for the Annapolis Heritage Society. To reserve tickets please call 902 532-7754.