Cabin Boys, Milkmaids, and Rough Seas

During his correspondence with erotic folklore collector Gershon Legman, famed chantey singer and collector Stan Hugill (1906–1992) shared unexpurgated versions of the songs in his repertoire. These bawdy songs were meant to be a part of Legman’s larger project concerning erotic folksong. Upon Legman’s death in 1999, the unfinished and unpublished manuscript sank into obscurity and was believed by many to be permanently lost. Thankfully this “holy grail” of chantey texts had been safe in the pri