Spanish Ladies

"Spanish Ladies" (Roud 687) is a traditional British naval song, typically describing a voyage from Spain to the Downs from the viewpoint of ratings of the Royal Navy.

[2] The timing of the mention in the Nellie's logbook suggests that the song was created during the War of the First Coalition (1793–96), when the Royal Navy carried supplies to Spain to aid its resistance to revolutionary France.

It probably gained in popularity during the later Peninsular War when British soldiers were transported throughout the Iberian Peninsula to assist rebels fighting against the French occupation.

[citation needed] After their victory over the Grande Armée, these soldiers were returned to Britain but forbidden to bring their Spanish wives, lovers, and children with them.

However, in his 1840 novel Poor Jack, Captain Frederick Marryat reports that the song "Spanish Ladies"—though once very popular—was "now almost forgotten" and he included it in whole in order to "rescue it from oblivion".

A significantly modified version called "The Ryans and the Pittmans", widely known as "We'll Rant and We'll Roar", is a traditional song from Newfoundland, Canada.

It also appears in Arthur Ransome's books Swallows and Amazons and Missee Lee and Wilbur Smith's works Monsoon and Blue Horizon.

The "Yankee Whalerman" variant of the song notably appeared in the 1975 film Jaws, sung by the shark hunter Quint (portrayed by Robert Shaw).

[31] A variation called "The Spanish Bride" was written and recorded by John Tams for the TV series Sharpe, with the lyrics changed to reflect British soldiers returning home at the end of the Peninsular War.

[33] In The Mentalist episode "Ladies in Red", Patrick Jane sings the tune to himself whilst attempting to find the correct code to open the victim's panic room.

Australian singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko produced a cover of the song which featured in the series Turn: Washington's Spies.