It was
Brian Kelly who put me on to this wonderful song. Some ten years ago he taped a few songs for me to transcribe for his own use. for one reason or other I forgot about it and never heard it again. It was only when clearing out some old cassettes during a very untypical spring-cleaning (every ten years or so!) that I actually played and listen to it. And what gems there were! this
The Gauger and
The Dreadnought sung by
Ewan MacColl as well as
Santa Anna and
The Coast of Peru sung by
A.L. Lloyd.
The Gauger is a very jolly love song where a seaman is obliged by the strength of his love to take up the mysterious trade of a
Gauger (any surfer out there who knows what a gauger is? I've checked all manner of dictionaries without success!). It seems that his intended lass is just a little flighty but there is a jolly happy ending whereby he himself, his bonny lass and even his mother-in-law are all delighted with the outcome.
