Spanish Ladies

“Spanish Ladies” is a traditional British naval song, dating back, by some estimates, to the 1620’s. The song is considered a sea shanty; work songs sung by merchant sailors.

I first heard this tune as a kid when Quint (played by actor Robert Shaw) sang Spanish Ladies in the film, JAWS. Shaw was a well known alcoholic, and was drunk during most, if not all of the filming of JAWS. The character of Quint was also a drunken sailor type — so this was some ‘more than convenient’ method acting…