Tag: pirates

Songs from the Birdcage

by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog

As you may know from previous posts we play a lot of songs of the sea and shanties and similar nautical and marine related pieces on guitar, fiddle, mandolin and bodhran so it is really welcome to get any feedback from our audiences.

So – as you might imagine – I’m absolutely thrilled to say that we received the following testimonial from the organisers of the Pirates in the Port festival in Newport Gwent.

“An excellent duo with brilliant and varied musicianship. Charismatic, energetic and original they harmonise very well and really got the audience going. Highly recommended. Bois Y Bryn”.

We had a fantastic time over in Newport and if anyone reading our page lives near enough to Newport South Wales and sees an opportunity to listen to Bois y Brin Shanty crew – just go and do it – you won’t be disappointed. They are accomplished and entertaining! Check out their facebook page here!

On other ship and shanty related matters we will be playing at the Birdcage in Brixham for an afternoon of shanties and songs of the seas organised by Andy from the local and highly respected shanty crew Missin’ Tackle – there will be several of us performing but as yet I am waiting for confirmation who will be there – as I know I will post it on Facebook and on the website here.

And the Venue for this illustrious concert will be …

The Birdcage. Hence the title of the post. See what I did there?

SO here’s a link to the Birdcage pub in Brixham – which is a great little venue. I performed there in another shanty crew, the always entertaining The Marldon Wonky Donkeys -back in May and really love the atmosphere there – if your near come and say hello!

Piracy Pays!

by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog

Well, let me tell you, if you found yourself in Brixham during the early May bank holiday, you were in for a laugh! It’s like a comedy fest with sea air and scones—who knew holidaying could be this much fun?

And when I say it pays, I don’t mean we walked away with bags of gold or treasure maps, but let me tell you, we had a riot!

It is impossible to explain the Brixham Pirate Festival. Many tens of thousands of people descend on our little fishing town for three days of the celebrations. Pirates of every conceivable variety arrive – so many variations on a theme from Jack Sparrow to Blackbeard and everything in between – not to mention original piratical creations dreamt up in the minds of some very interesting people! Music resounded seemingly from every street – it was a fantastic affair that I for one will never forget. Roll on the Pirate Festival 2026!

In the middle of all the piratical mayhem we were very kindly welcomed on board the beautiful Vigilance – the last sailing to trawler in the port of Brixham. She was built in 1926 and my, she’s a beautiful craft.

When we were on board we filmed a video for my song of the same name. You can hear it here .

It was an emotional experience filming on board – the level of heritage craftsmanship that has gone into bring her back to her former glory is astonishing – and I should add almost literally boat loads of money!

Check out the Friends of the Vigilance website here.

So, as you can see we’ve been pretty busy and have a lots more adventures in the pipeline. I’ll post soon with more news

In the meantime, fellow hooligans, stay safe and take care.

Tony & Lucy

Updates and News

by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog, Home

Good morrow to all ‘ee Pirates out there ’tis nearly Brixham Pirate Festival time again!

In around three weeks time if the weather’s set fair the good ship Hooligan’s Rule will be sailing to Brixham for to entertain the folks there with our brand of songs of the sea and piratical shenanigans.

‘t all starts on Friday afternoon of 2nd May at the Pearl and Oyster bar – like it says on the poster above – from 4 o’clock

Then we will be in Brixham Town Centre carpark at 1100 hrs on Saturday 3rd May and again on Sunday 4th May at 1100 hrs for more….

Now I suppose it may not be obvious but to put on a festival like this is no mean feat – a small bunch of dedicated volunteers work tirelessly to get it all up and running and you would be astounded at how many dubloons it takes to get all the stuff in place that’s needed – health and safety arrangements, equipment hire, staging, road closures, events, even portaloos! And nobody does nothing for free nowadays – except for the volunteers of course! It all takes a heap of treasure to make it happen – all for YOUR ENTERTAINMENT.

So we’d ask you two favours!

One – yes, my friends, support our local traders! Buy things from the market and our shops. As you will know many small town traders are facing stiff competition from the big boys …

Two – Pirates are not known for asking nicely. But here goes: Please Please Please donate to the Brixham Pirate Festival to ensure that we can continue to make the festival a success this year and into the future. We are very proud here in Brixham that we host THE BEST PIRATE FESTIVAL IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Let’s keep it that way – and the only way to hang on to such an accolade is – well, MONEY MONEY MONEY. And a bit more MONEY. It can only happen year on year if the volunteers that organise the whole Festival cover the overheads. A Spanish galleon full of gold would hardly cover it! So please donate whatever spare dubloons you can afford.

All we want is for you all you ladies, gentlemen and kids to come along and enjoy. Come and sing along and laugh until your sides ache; get you ice cream and your chips and your souvenirs of our beautiful town, and if the grown ups fancy a few drinks (responsibly and peaceably of course), I’m sure you’ll be made to feel most welcome. Then when it’s all over go home with your very own treasure of rich and wonderful memories.

Who could want more treasure than that?