BURIED Treasure.

The article explores the origins of sea shanties, revealing that many of these maritime work songs trace back to the plantation work songs of enslaved Black populations in the American South and the Caribbean, rather than solely to British maritime tradition. It highlights research by folk singer Jim Mageean, who draws on 19th-century eyewitness accounts and the work of Stan Hugill, the “Last Working Shantyman,” to show how Black sailors and stevedores influenced the development of shanties through call-and-response singing rooted in West African musical traditions. The article also discusses the multicultural crews aboard ships and the ongoing, though diminished, presence of shanty singing in Black communities in the Americas. It emphasizes that acknowledging these origins enriches the understanding of sea shanties as a form of world music with a multi-ethnic heritage rather than as exclusively British folk songs.