Ranzo

[ Roud 2626 ; VWML AGG/7/272 ; DT RANZRAE , RNZORAY2 ; trad.]

Jim Mageean sang Ranzo Ray in 1978 on his Dingle’s album The Capstan Bar.

A halyard shanty of Negro origin, which came from the American cotton ports. The name ‘Ranzo’ is thought by most collectors to come from the Portuguese name ‘Lorenzo’, although other theories exist that it may have a Latin-American, Sicilian, Danish or Russian origin. This version is one collected by Stan Hugill from his West Indies friend Harding.

Brian Peters sang Ranzo in 2015 on his CD Squeezebox, Voicebox. He noted:

Anne Gilchrist, who Lancastrians can thank for preserving much valuable folk song and dance material from their county, noted the capstan shanty Ranzo in Southport in 1905, from the old salt Mr Bolton in his “dark little cave of a shop hung with stalactites of rope and twine” [VWML AGG/7/272] . Mr Bolton used to self-censor the obscene lines in his shanties for the ears of the refined Ms Gilchrist; for whatever reason, she only recorded a single verse of Ranzo, which more generally consists of stanzas in which unlikely cargoes are rhymed outrageously with ports; I dug out a few from maritime song sites on the web.

Lyrics

Brian Peters sings Ranzo

I’m bound away to leave you but I never will deceive you
Ranzo, Ranzo, away, away
I’m bound away to please you and my half-pay I will leave you
Ranzo, Ranzo, ray

We’re homeward bound from China on board a Limey liner,
We’re puttin’ on those longtail blues to waltz those girls ashore.

We’re bound to Venezuela with a crew of drunken tailors,
We’re outward bound from Rio, with a load of stinking guano.

We’re bound for Giberralterr with a load of bricks and mortar,
We’re bound for Yokahama with a load of grand pianos.

We’re bound for Valparaiso with a load of rusty razors,
We’re bound for Buenos Aires with a load of green canaries.

We’re loaded down with curios from China and the Indies, O
We’re bound for Santiago with a load of German lager.

We’ve sailed the whole world over like a proper deep sea rover,
We’ll pass the cliffs of Dover, and then we’ll be in clover.