Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The leader of a chantey, who usually sings one or two lines while the men get their breath and a new-hold, the crew singing the chorus and pulling together when the accented syllable is reached.
Examples
“The slovenly Achill man, who would face death with a grin, the shambling Highlander who on occasion could spring to the shrouds like a cat; the old bos'un who had been for years a castaway on Tierra del Fuego; the wizened chantey-man with his melodeon, who could put new vigor into tired backs, with his long-drag chanteys, like”
“The crew of the _Enchantress_ stood about her capstan and their chantey-man, ready to sing when the swivel should peal and her burgee run down; but the Gilmore group were too far aft to see them.”
“Her negro crew swarmed round her capstan with their chantey-man on its head and sent over the gliding waters the same stalwart perversion of the wilderness hymn of "Gideon's Band" to which the twins had danced the night before.”
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