The Padstow Farewell

Despite it's name "The Padstow Farewell," also known as "The Farewell Shanty" or "Padstowe Shanty," is not a traditional shanty, lacking the rhythms associated with working songs. In spite of this it is popular with many shanty singers and we often sing it as the last song of the night before heading for home ourselves.

Its exact origins are unclear, but it was first recorded by Johnny Collins on his 1973 album "The Traveller's Rest. The song is sometimes attributed to Mervyn Vincent, who claimed to have found it in a book and had Alan Molyneaux help him with the tune. However, the true authorship remains uncertain, and the song is often credited as "traditional. Mervyn once said of the song "It's my song in as much as I found it in a book. And I couldn't read the music so I got some bugger to tell me the tune, and I was hoping that one day they'd put it on a record 'cos it's 'ansome!" The buggger in question was Alan Molyneux who helped Vincent with the tune.