NOAH SEA SHANTY

A group of Church of Scotland ministers, elders and members have taken inspiration from the recent maritime musical trend and produced a sea shanty telling the story of Noah.

‘There Once Was a Man’ was written by the Rev Peter Johnston, of Ferryhill Parish Church in Aberdeen, and arranged by organist Kevin Haggart. It is based on the traditional tune ‘Wellerman’, which was made famous by former postman Nathan Evans performing it on the social media platform TikTok.

Mr Johnston said: “With sea shanties becoming all of the rage over the last few weeks, I was on leave and my daughter had been listening to loads at the moment. It then popped into my mind to write a sea shanty for the story of Noah.”

“Those taking part are scattered from all over - from the North East, to Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and everywhere in between.

There was only a week to get submissions in so it was a tight turnaround for all the different parts.

“I was wanting to tell the story in a way that didn’t shy away from the darker elements of it but was also joyous at the same time and gives us a hopeful resolution to it.

“If it helps people to get into the story, that’s great.”