The Cornish town was once a hub of maritime industry. Can a folk festival return it to its roots?
It’s late in Falmouth and outside on the bay sailing masts rattle in the quiet, dark blue night. But things are a little livelier inside the Pennycomequick pub, an 18th-century tavern and one of the town’s oldest drinking spots. The Barrel Seagals, an all-female sea shanty group, are singing to a hushed crowd, chanting the story of the Bencoolen, a merchant ship that sank off the coast of Bude in 1862.
Claire Ingleheart started writing new shanties inspired by famous Cornish women after visiting the festival 10 years ago. She went on to found Femmes de la Mer, an all-female choir group. The younger generation of shanty singers “don’t want to just be singing about whaling and prostitution”, she says. Ingleheart’s compositions pay tribute to the likes of Ann Glanville, a 19th-century champion rower, and Jenny Mopus, a ferrywoman on the Truro River.
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