WT2042
Boney
TBB, piano
performance time approx 2m 00s
Range T: d# – c'# / Bar: d# – c'# / B: d# – c'#
See a perusal copy of the
music.
Download a
synthesized realisation
This piece is part of the set
Six sea shanties
The next piece is
The dead horse
If you don't want to buy the whole set, then you can buy
Boney individually using the link on this page.
Boney is a short haul shanty, used for brief but very strenuous jobs – typically adjusting the set of the huge sails against the heavy pressure of the wind. In traditional shanty singing, it was the job of the shantyman to get shanties going by calling out the verses; then all the other sailors would pitch in with the choruses. In this arrangement, the shantyman’s role is taken first by the Tenors, then passed to the Baritones, then back again (or on to the Basses).
‘Boney’ is of course Napoleon Bonaparte, and the song gives a potted and partisan history of his adventures and final defeat at the hands of the British. The ‘Billy Ruffian’ is sailor slang for the Bellerophon, the ship that took Napoleon into exile on St Helena.
Words
Boney was a warrior,
Away hey yah!A warrior, a terrier,
Jean François!Boney beat the Pruss-i-ans,
The Prussians, the Russians.
Boney marched to Moscow,
Lost his army in the snow.
We licked him in Trafalgar Bay,
Shot his main top-mast away.
’Twas on the plains of Waterloo,
He met the boy who put him through.
He met the Duke of Wellington,
And then his downfall was begun.
Boney went a-cruis-in’,
Aboard the Billy Ruffian.
They sent him into exile,
He died upon St Helen’s Isle.
Purchase – 2042: Boney
Before you click the "buy" button, please enter the name of your group and select the appropriate size.
The price depends on the number of singers in your group.
This is a single payment for a licence to make as many copies as you
need for your group to rehearse and perform the song. You can also re-print
- for instance, to replace copies that get lost or worn out.
Copies must not be given, lent, hired or sold to any other group.
Orders are normally despatched within 24 hours - not
instantly, because each PDF file is created specially
for the purchaser.
Canasg sales are processed via Paypal. Paypal lets you pay with a simple
credit or debit card if you don’t have a Paypal account.
Your Paypal transaction will be in
sterling and it will be converted automatically if
your credit card draws on a different currency.
Paypal passes none of your secure information to Canasg.
If you would like us to send an invoice before you pay, or if you would like your order priced in $US or Euros,
then please
e-mail your order to us instead of using the form above.
