KNITTERSHANTY

	And it’s ... Click,  knit one girls
   	Purl one, Drop one,  ( sodit  pickitup )
	Whoops!  cast off me girls, Let's sing the Knitters shanty

   As  I  wove  out  one  Fairisle  morn	My trade perchance two ply,   (yarn)
   I  met  a  lass  named  Wendy  wool	Her needle caught my eye.
        chorus

   I  am  a  Singer,   sew  said  she,	A spinner of bad yarns   (yarn)
   I  wish  you  would  pull-over  here	My booty for to darn
 		       chorus

   So  I  got  out  me  crochet  hook	Her mohair for to Cable   (yarn)
   The  tension  it  was   mounting!	Angora - Blimey was she able.
		        chorus

   You’ve pulled the wool over my eyes,	Unravelled me you rot-ter.    (yarn)
   Your  line  I  swallowed  hook  &  eye	Now  you  must tie the knot sir.
chorus
   But   I’musleave   for   Cardigan.	For my crew neck's tide dumper  (yarn)
   In Jersey we might meet a-skein	But at  least  I  got  ta  jumper..
		                       chorus          ( sodit  pickitup )

http://cresby.com 
Words  &  Musical arrangement   © 11 Nov. 1989  Cresby Brown,  Peter Goillau  &  Lucie Sloan   
Tune is a loose arrangement of  New York Gals / Can’t ye Dance the Polka   with added (asides)
Sung  by  Cresby  &  Jackie                   as a duet, first & second singer can alternate verses & curses !

This song was mooted half-heartedly on several occasions but a chance meeting over coffee and a 
couple of hours later it sounded like a well ewesed off the shoulder number (raglan of course).
The contorted spelling is a result of the phonetic nature of the jokes, (er make that puns) and 
is chosen to look funny so that the reader looks for other meanings (there may be several), 
this should be borne in mind when singing, to telegraph the joke.  A small pause after Cardigan 
is recommended, sufficient to allow the  ambiguity to be appreciated    ( appreciation  is  a  
slight  exaggeration ). 
Cresby has had comments from people sure they heard the song pre-dating 1989 !  The song does 
have that timeless feel, and  it  is,  given that it is a parody,  very true to shanty form.  
If there was a similar song before, it was well hidden, knowledge of it's presence would have 
vetoed Knittershanty's birth.    However folklorist Roy Plalmer chose the song to introduce an 
erudite dissertation on the shanty form at the Lancaster Maritime festival 2001. Ta Roy.
For non-British audiences there may be a few explanations and substitutions needed.  Wendy wool 
is a brand name, maybe Robyn wool or similar.  Raglan and also Cardigan -  Welsh towns (& the 
big Bay on the left) but are they well known enough? & I usually telegraph the pun by stroking 
my arm as I sing the word "sleeve". "Crew neck's tide" is  a quadruple entendre  1) crew necks, 
2) neck tide (tide mark as in a mother's exclamation to "wash yer neck") 3) next tide and 4) 
next I'd  (phew).  Jersey is a Channel Island but New Jersey would substitute perfectly there. 
Try Delaware and substitute NewJersey for Cardigan, ho ho  ho.