Le Capitaine de Saint-Malo

"Le Capitaine de Saint-Malo" is a traditional French shanty from the region of Brittany, in northwestern France. The lyrics tell of the captain of a whaler ship from the eponymous town, and go on to describe the poor treatment of the sailors on his ship.

It is unclear when exactly the shanty first emerged, but as a shanty about a whaling ship, it most likely originated sometime in the early-to-mid 19th century, the height of both shanties and whaling.

The Longest Johns released their version of the song as track 2 on the  Santiano EP on 22 April 2021, and as track 17 on the  French version of *Between Wind and Water*.

## Factoids

**Saint-Malo** is a historic French port in Brittany, on the English Channel coast. In the 17th and 18th century, it developed a reputation as a haven for French pirates and privateers, known as corsairs, earning it the nickname "The Hornet's Nest" from British sailors.

**Il donne la goutte** is a slang phrase with several possible meanings. A YouTube commenter on Sean Dagher's *Shanty of the Week* version of the song said, "'donner la goutte' is an actual turn of phrase in the late 18th c. / mid 19th c. French Navy. It's basically the bit of brandy that is given at the end of a hard day, to thank the sailor" — so essentially, the captain thanks his sailors for their hard work by hitting them. This editor was not able to independently verify that exact usage, but an 1896 dictionary of French slang does give "boire la goutte" as meaning "to drink a glass of brandy". That same entry also gives "payer la goutte" as meaning "to beat [someone]", so it may be a pun on that double meaning.

## Lyrics

Lyrics sourced from musixmatch.com and verified against the official recording. Translation by  Andipants, with very kind assistance from Discord users *jendefer*, *TweetBison*, and *llamaloupe*.

**Original**

Le Capitaine de Saint Malo

(Ali alo)

Qui fait la pêche au cachalot

(Ali ali ali alo

Ali alo) [continues throughout]

Il a trois filles qui font la peau

La première à Valparaiso

La deuxième à Rio de Janeiro

La troisième à San Francisco

Il mange la viande, nous laisse les os

Il boit du vin et toi de l'eau

Il donne la goutte à ses matelots

À grande coups de barre de guindeau

Le lieutenant t'envoie la haut

À coups de bottes dans le dos

Et le second, qui est le plus beau

Si tu groumes, il te fout à l'eau

Le Capitaine de Saint Malo

Qui fait la pêche au cachalot

(Ali ali ali alo

Ali alo)

**English Translation**

The Captain of Saint-Malo

(Ali alo)

Who hunts sperm whales

(Ali ali ali alo

Ali alo) [continues throughout]

He has three girls who have killed

The first in Valparaiso

The second in Rio de Janeiro

The third in San Francisco

He eats the meat, leaves us the bones

He drinks wine and you, water

He gives his sailors a spot of brandy

With great blows from a capstan bar

The lieutenant sends you up top

With a boot to your back

And the second mate, the handsomest

If you grumble, he throws you overboard

The Captain of Saint-Malo

Who hunts sperm whales

(Ali ali ali alo

Ali alo)

## Recordings

#### Streaming/Purchase

* Amazon Music
* Apple Music/iTunes
* Deezer
* Pandora
* Spotify

#### Full Band Streams

* Amazing Technicolor Stream-coat!! (7 Jul 2021)
* Cadbury Stream Egg (13 Apr 2022)
* Midsummer Nights Stream (5 Jul 2023)

#### Gaming Streams

* Give it away, give it away, give it away now! | Sea of Sings - 15/03/2021
* Too many gosh darned BUCKETS!!!! ... - 18/10/2021

1. ↑ https://daily.jstor.org/codfish-pirates-saint-malo/
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3INGY-EyBY&lc=UgyD-3jxUGf6xUktGVx4AaABAg.9Mm7m2Hdpi09MmXf9ud7L6
3. ↑ https://archive.org/details/dictionnairearg00dellgoog/page/n171/mode/2up