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The Worlds of Gilbert and Sullivan

There is no greater dread on board any ship than a blaze on the vessel. This certainly applies today, and in the days of sailing ships even more so. In fact, by their very nature, the wooden sailing ships of yesteryear were intrinsically floating fire-hazards. Wood, tar and canvass were a formidable combustion mixture. And far from land, extra special care was taken in all aspects of Fire-management.

So the call: 'Fire Down Below', would have been an urgent call for immediate action, and took precedence no matter what else was happening. The copy of music we have been particularly following is appropriately marked 'Fast and panicky'! And although our arrangement is an adaptation of several versions of the song, we have applied this principle generally to the piece as the music gets faster and faster.

The sea shanty Fire Down Below is as old as the hills. It is (as indicated in the title) a pumping shanty. However, when wooden ships were replaced by iron vessels it became a capstan shanty. Tradition has it that it was the last shanty to be sung aboard a British square-rigger. There are several tunes to the shanty, and this MusicSmiles tune is perhaps one of the best known. We hope you enjoy our rousing finale to the MusicSmiles 'Sea Shanty Suite'. 'Out with a bang' - as the saying goes . . .!!

Fire Down Below
(4 bar Intro)

Solo: Fire in the galley,
Fire down below:
It's fetch a bucket of water boys,
There's fire down below.

Chorus Fire, fire, fire down below,
It's fetch a bucket of water boys,
There's fire down below.

Solo: Fire in the cabin,
Fire in the hold:
Fire in the strong-room
Melting the gold.

Chorus Fire, fire, fire down below,
It's fetch a bucket of water boys,
There's fire down below.

Solo: Fire in the fore-top,
Fire in the main:
It's fetch a bucket of water boys,
And put it out again.

Chorus Fire, fire, fire down below,
It's fetch a bucket of water boys,
There's fire down below.

Solo: Fire round the capstan,
Fire on the mast,
Fire on the main-deck,
Burning it fast.

Chorus Fire, fire, fire down below,
It's fetch a bucket of water boys,
There's fire down below.

Solo: Fire in the store-room,
Spoiling the food,
Fire on the orlop¹,
Burning the wood.

Chorus Fire, fire, fire down below,
It's fetch a bucket of water boys,
There's fire down below.

Solo: Fire up aloft,
And fire down below,
It's fetch a bucket of water boys,
There's fire down below.

Chorus Fire, fire, fire down below,
It's fetch a bucket of water boys,
There's fire down below.

Feel like another bucketful of Fire Down Below . .?

OR: 

Would you like to return to the Sea Shanties page?

Footnote 1:  The word orlop is the name of the lowest deck in a ship; a covering to the hold. Return to song.

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