Also found in Rickaby’s collection and also sung by logger M.C. Dean, "The Cumberland’s Crew," though it describes an event that occurred far south (the sinking of the Union ship Cumberland off of Newport News, VA in 1862), was, according to Dean, “a great favorite among the boys.” Johnson worked for a fraught and lonely mood with a bass flute solo followed by tight and often dissonant three-part harmonies. The shanty-boy worked alone, and, unlike the tunes sung by many other laborers, shanty-boy songs were not often accompaniment for group work. But in the evenings, when lumberjacks came together in camp, storytellers and singers were highly prized.
