There has been some discussion that Sing A Song OF Six Pence was actually used by the pirate Blackbeard to recruit sailors for his ship. Pirates being notorious for going on a drunken spree until their money ran out, pirate captains were usually looking to hire on new sailors.
The story goes that Blackbeard would send recruiters out to the taverns and they would sing the song to let sailors know Teach was hiring.
The rationale goes...
“Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye;”
Most pirate captains paid only a portion of the loot. A dry run cruise meant the crew came back broke.
Not Teach. He actually paid his sailors six pence a day and provided a pocket (about a pint in a leather pouch, like a bota bag) of rum for each man.
“Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
They all began to sing.
Now, wasn’t that a dainty dish
To set before the King?”
Other than his core crew Teach usually carried a replaceable crew of 24. The singer is letting sailors know Teach, the King was hiring.
“The King was in his countinghouse,
Counting out his money;”
No king counted money. This was to let prospective sailors know that Teach,the King of pirates, had cash on hand.
“The Queen was in the parlor
Eating bread and honey.”
Teach had gotten word that a valuable ship was ready to sail. Eating bread and honey meant putting on supplies
“The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes.
Along there came a big black bird
And snipped off her nose!”
The Garden was the area along the north american coast, roughly from Cuba/Florida up to the Carolinas. Every trade ship used that route.
So, the maid, Teach’s ship would hang their sails for the Garden and when a trade ship came along the big black bird would snap it up.
True? Not?
I don’t know or care.
Just throwing it out there.
My ancestor was a victim of the king’s shilling style of recruitment in England. Family lore says he finally rebelled after rising to some prominence and jumped ship to come to America. One of many unvetted family lore stories!