Sea Green Singers - Repertoire

Sea Green Singers - Citizen Shanty

Citizen Shanty - Commoners Choir - sibelius score file of Nelsons blood

1. Well we've come a long way for to find ourselves a home,
We've come a long way for to find ourselves a home,
We've come a long way for to find ourselves a home,
'Cos we're citizens of the world.

Chorus
And you're more than, more than welcome here,
You're more then, more than welcome her,
You're more than, more than welcome here,
'Cos you're citizens of the world.

2. My father and his father and his father before (x3)
They were citizens of the world.

Chorus

3. Here's a hand to help you all ashore (x3)
'Cos you're citizens of the world. Chorus

4. Well our nation's root spread wide and down (x3)
And we're citizens of the world.

Chorus

The tune of the original shanty 'A drop of Nelson's blood wouldn't do us any harm' can be heard here along with a Midi file which can be opened in Sibelius music program to get a score. The song is African-American in origin and in some versions a golden wheel is used in place of the chariot. According to Hugill, it was sung around the Dismal Swamp in Georgia at corn shucking and log rollings. Doerflinger writes that it was based on the words of a Salvation Army hymn, and the tune is a Scottish reel.

Legend has it that grog aquired the nickname "Nelson's Blood" after Trafalgar (1805). To preserve Lord Nelson's body, it was placed in a barrel of rum. Legend has it that when the sailor's learned of this, they drank the rum. From that time on, grog was also known as "Nelson's Blood."