A charity has defended using an alternative version of the popular children’s nursery rhyme What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?, which removes alcohol and violence from the lyrics.
The Scottish Book Trust said it uses the song What Shall We Do With The Grumpy Pirate? because the lyrics are “ideal for enhancing positive, fun interactions” between parents and children.
The newer version of the song – which has been around for more than a decade – replaces the old line “shave his belly with a rusty razor” with the lyrics “do a little jig and make him smile”, while references to alcohol have also been erased.
A spokesperson for the literacy charity denied editing the lyrics itself and told Sky News that reports about their nursery rhymes “have been misleading”.
It pointed out the Grumpy Pirate song includes actions, such as tickling, paired with the lyrics.
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The spokesperson said: “The song What Shall We Do With The Grumpy Pirate? has been sung in early years settings for many years.
“Scottish Book Trust did not edit the lyrics to the song and we do not prescribe to parents or carers which versions of songs to sing with their children.
“We use this song in our Bookbug Sessions which take place in libraries and community spaces across Scotland, because the inclusion of actions paired with the lyrics, about tickling, making their child giggle etc, are ideal for enhancing positive, fun interactions between parent/carer and child.”
The spokesperson added: “Many popular songs and rhymes change and evolve over successive generations.
“There are often many variations of the same song and we include different variations in our Bookbug song and rhyme library so parents and carers have more choice.”
