A rather incongruous combination of drinking song and Christian hymn (the “roll the old chariot along” part of the song apparently originating as a gospel song that proved popular with the Salvation Army), A Drop of Nelson’s Blood refers, unsurprisingly, to British naval hero Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson.
Famous for signalling to his fleet that “England expects that every man will do his duty” —
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: J.M.W. Turner. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Public Domain.
— then promptly dying in the course of doing his own duty, Horatio Nelson is regarded as one of Britain’s greatest war heroes. It is worth noting that, despite being fatally shot, he did win at Trafalgar.
Which sets the scene nicely for today’s music, A Drop of Nelson’s Blood.
After dying at Trafalgar, Nelson was transported back to England in a cask of either brandy or rum. As is often the case with folklore, the exact details are inconsistent.
Supposedly, the sailors aboard the ship would sneak drinks from said cask. I guess the distinct aftertaste of Dead Guy isn’t enough to dissuade you from a chance at the Good Stuff when you’re stuck in the floating hell that is the 19th-century Royal Navy. Hence, “Nelson’s Blood” refers to liquor, and the fact that a drop of it wouldn’t do us any harm is basically an exhortation to keep drinking.
A more charitable interpretation that the shanty is not, in fact, a drinking song holds that “Nelson’s Blood” refers to the Admirals heroism and patriotism and a drop of it not doing any harm instead means that we should all be more like the good Admiral.
Though, for what it’s worth, most of the versions I’ve heard are very clearly drinking songs…
As is invariably the case with folk music, there are infinite variations of the song. In particular, the list of more things that “wouldn’t do us any harm”, while usually alcoholic, inevitably changes between versions.
And, of course, because it’s both a drinking song and a sea shanty, it’s very much a crowd song.
But the lyrics do usually follow this kind of pattern:
“Well, [Thing] wouldn’t do us any harm. [3x]
And we’ll all hang on behind.
And we’ll roll the old chariot along [3x]
And we’ll all hang on behind.”
Again, this is one of those things (i.e. music) that’s easier to demonstrate in song that in text, so here’s A Drop of Nelson’s Blood performed by Sea Shanty and Pirate Cosplay Aficionados The Jolly Rogers:
Though, worth noting that there’s a bit of an anachronism here. The Jolly Rogers are very much going for Golden Age-era pirates (incidentally) and, in fact, seem to start the aforementioned preamble by yelling at Treasure Island character Billy Bones. The problem is that the general Golden Age of Piracy was well over by the time Nelson died at Trafalgar, and Billy Bones himself is established vis-a-vis the events of Treasure Island to have died at some point in the mid-1700s, decades before Trafalgar.
Sorry for spoiling the first couple chapters of a 200-year-old book, I guess…
So, basically, they shouldn’t be singing about Nelson’s blood, because the incident that gave rise to the expression hasn’t happened yet in the time period they’re recreating.
But, like, it’s a band with a stage persona, not a serious historical document, so as much as I can’t stop myself from going “Waaaaaaait a minute”, it has very little actual impact on my enjoyment of their version of the song.
Though I’m still not sure why pirates of all people are hanging onto chariots, of all things…
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