Dr. Mollie Carlyle

Spent the weekend grappling with Medieval sources of shanty singing- swapping out last week’s Greek texts for Latin dictionaries. Looking forward to rolling up my sleeves for some deep manuscript work next weekend as I step into the Early Modern period #seashanties #maritimehistory #FromShiptoScreen

Stepping out of my 19th/20th-century comfort zone to explore proto-shantying in Ancient Greek and Roman sources. Largely relying on my schoolgirl knowledge of Greek (which I haven’t studied since I was 14) to get me through! #FromShiptoScreen #shanties #seasongs #οἶνοψπόντος ⚓️🎶

V&A and Bunnett-Muir Musical Theatre Archive Trust award their first Musical Theatre Fellows and Grant Recipients • V&A Blog When we invited researchers and practitioners to apply for the new Musical Theatre Research Grants earlier this summer, we could not have anticipated the breadth of exciting proposals we would receive...

A nice little summary of my Autumn/Winter research project (‘From Fo’c’sle to Footlights: Maritime Imaginaries in British Musical Theatre’) has just been published on the V&A website ⚓️🎶

www.vam.ac.uk/blog/news/va...

Reflections on the RMA Annual Conference 2025 The Royal Musical Association’s Annual Conference has long been a fixture in my academic calendar, and this year’s gathering in Southampton confirmed once again why it remains one of my favourite scho...

Had a brilliant few days at the RMA Conference. I presented on London’s sailortown and shanty repertoire (no one criticised my map-drawing skills!), and had a great time reconnecting with colleagues. Can’t wait for Belfast 2026! @royalmusical.bsky.social

www.molliecarlyle.com/post/reflect...

Following the Annual Conference, I’m delighted to share that I have been awarded a Royal Musical Association 150th Anniversary Fellowship! This will support the completion of my book: ‘From Ship to Screen: The Cultural Legacy of Sea Shanties’. Huge thanks to the RMA for this recognition! ⚓️🎶

Traditional Tunes and Popular Airs: Speakers Announced The 4th Traditional Tunes and Popular Airs (TTPA) conference taking place at Cecil Sharp House, London, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 November 2025, brings together researchers working on ‘traditional’ and ...

Speakers Announced!
For the two days of Traditional Tunes and Popular Airs Conference at @cecilsharphouse.bsky.social in November. Book your tickets now.
bit.ly/47sgL0e

I'm thrilled to share that I've received a £1,000 grant from the V&A/Bunnett-Muir Musical Theatre Archive Trust to write a new article: ‘From Fo’c’sle to Footlights: Maritime Imaginaries in British Musical Theatre’. Can’t wait to dive into the archives! ⚓ #VandA #TheatreStudies #CulturalHistory

A couple of years ago now, I think - but yes, that was me!

Here is the (very) short Q&A with me that appears in the official Tall Ships Aberdeen programme. I spoke about historical shanty singing and multilingual traditions. Proud to be credited as a maritime musicologist! #seashanties #maritimehistory #TallShips

Just returned from the Tall Ships Race in Aberdeen. Saw two ships Stan Hugill once sailed on: Belem and Sørlandet. It rained non-stop, but it was still a joy to be back in the city. www.molliecarlyle.com/post/tall-sh...

Glad to see that my new website is up and running! 🎉

Next week, I’ll be posting about the Tall Ships Race in Aberdeen (including my own involvement), so stay tuned.

www.molliecarlyle.com

Presenting a paper at the North American British Music Studies symposium on ‘Rethinking Landscape: Environment, Place, and Heritage in British Music Studies’ this evening. It’ll be great to share some of my initial thoughts on developing a maritime-led framework for understanding global history.

Had an absolutely amazing time at the Connecticut Sea Music Festival. This is my second year attending and on both occasions I’ve been blown away by how supportive, encouraging and knowledgeable everyone is. Can’t wait to come back next year and do it all over again! #seashanties #maritimehistory

Made it down from Boston to the Connecticut Sea Music Festival. Especially looking forward to the Hugill paper from the fantastic shanty singer, Jerry Bryant! ⚓️ #seashanties #maritimehistory

Journal of the Hakluyt Society The online Journal of the Hakluyt Society, which is a refereed journal, publishes occasional articles on navigation, exploration and similar topics.

In more publication news, my article on ‘Shanty singing in the Mediterranean’ has just been published in the Journal of the Hakluyt Society, if anyone fancies a read. #maritimehistory #SeaShanties #Mediterranean

www.hakluyt.com/journal-of-t...

Publication news! This morning I signed the contract for my first book! *From Ship to Screen: The Cultural Legacy of Sea Shanties* is officially underway and will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2026. ⚓️ ⛵️ 🎶 #Shanties #FromShipToScreen #MaritimeHistory

Quick dash from the British Library to the Royal College of Music Museum to talk shanties for a new exhibition ⚓️ #maritimehistory #seashanties

At the British Library today (with a horrendously overpriced coffee) for a meeting of the Abolition Song and Its Legacies research network. Looking forward to sharing my work on the maritime history of British abolition song and chattel slavery. #seasongs #maritimehistory #tinycoffee

🎉 Just booked my flights for the Connecticut Sea Music Festival in June!

Looks like there’ll be absolutely amazing papers at the symposium. Always some of the best shanty singing that I’ve come across live too. Can’t wait! #seashanties #seasongs #maritime

Giving a paper on shanty singing in the Mediterranean today at the University of Sousse for the Sea Songs of the Mediterranean conference. It’s a pleasure (though slightly intimidating) to open the conference. Can’t wait to hear the panel on maritime work song immediately afterwards too!

Presented ‘A lesson in shanty singing through the ages’ at the British Forum for Ethnomusicology conference this morning at the University of Cambridge. It’s always such a delight to talk about the rich history of the shanty - an endlessly fascinating topic!

#maritimehistory #shanties #BFE2025

Had a great time talking about global perspectives on maritime song exchange and transmission at the University of Cambridge yesterday. Looking forward to giving another paper on shanty singing and performance at the BFE conference on Sunday 🎉

📢February 2025 Volume 37 Issue 1 - Available online now!!

journals.sagepub.com/toc/ijha/37/1

This issue of IJMH includes some open access articles

Contributors include:
@molliecarlyle.bsky.social
@roperlou.bsky.social
@saracaputo.bsky.social
@tamsinprideaux.bsky.social

Just finished the first draft of a new paper on shanty singing in the Mediterranean, which I’ll be talking about at the sea songs conference in Tunisia later this year. Celebrated with a cold (though gloriously sunny) walk around UEA #seashanties #seasongs

I wrote a short article about shanty singing in POW camps during WWII for the Royal Musical Association, which has just been published. Enjoy!

www.rma.ac.uk/2024/12/12/s...

Call for Proposals: Royal Musical Association 61st Annual Conference, Department of Music, University of Southampton (10–12 September 2025)
www.rma.ac.uk/2024/11/20/c...

I see that the Connecticut Sea Music Festival has released its call for papers for the next symposium. This is such a fantastic event to be part of - both as speaker and audience member. Some of the best shanty singing that I’ve ever heard live too! ⚓️🎶

I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! I am currently in the process of collating all of my PhD materials into an online archive (dedicated to Stan Hugill). The plan is to hopefully publish as a book too. Fingers crossed it will all be done by the end of next year!

Thank you! I such a fantastic time doing the research.