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I found the following link to more info on this song:
http://www.contemplator.com/sea/sladies.html
It was known by 1796 and may date to 1624.

gl

On Aug 30, 2:14 pm, glap...@PACBELL.NET wrote:
> I'm curious about when "Spanish Ladies" was composed too. There are
> other differences in the songs (not surprisingly with ships crews
> singing them from memory) and the version I know has the line "let
> tacks and sheets fly" which makes sense for a ship coming to anchor
> when the crew would be hauling up on the clew garnets.  (Thanks for
> the whole song.)
>
> gl
>
> On Aug 30, 1:31 pm, "George Huxtable" 
> wrote:
>
> > Gary LaPook wrote  about the old song which states "Twixt Ushant and Scilly
> > is thirtyfive leagues", to which he added-"we hove our ships to for to
> > strike soundings fair, in forty five fathoms with a white sandy bottom, we
> > squared our main yard and up channel we flew."
>
> >  he added later-
>
> > | I was also attracted by the line "with a white sandy bottom" which I
> > | knew was referring to the bottom sample brought up stuck to the "arming"
> > | of the dipsea lead. I took it from this song that it was common
> > | knowledge, for a long time, that "a white sandy bottom" was good news,
> > | indicating that the ship was near the center of the channel, far from
> > | dangers on either side. Do you know if this is a correct interpretation
> > | and if the character of the bottom was known in 1707 to the extent that
> > | Shovel could have known, from the stuff brought up on the lead, that he
> > | was too close to the Scillies?
>
> > =======================
>
> > To be honest, that line about 35 leagues was all I knew of the song. But my
> > wife Joan is made of sterner stuff, and when I mentioned it, she went
> > straight to the shelf with Stan Hugills's nice book, "Shanties from the
> > Seven Seas" (1984 edition), and found "Spanish Ladies". Stan was himself a
> > shantyman under sail, in one of the limejuice Cape Horners. So what can I do
> > now, but quote you the whole thing?
>
> > Spanish Ladies.
>
> > Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies,
> > Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain,
> > For we've received orders to sail for old England
> > An' hope very shortly to see you again.
>
> > Chorus, repeated after each verse-
>
> > We'll rant an' we'll roar, like true British sailors,
> > We'll rant an' we'll roar, across the salt seas,
> > Till we strike soundings in the Channel of Old England,
> > From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-four leagues.
>
> > We hove our ship to, with the wind at sou'west, boys,
> > We hove our ship to for to take soundings clear,
> > In fifty-five fathoms with a fine sandy bottom,
> > We filled our maintops'l, up Channel did steer.
>
> > The first land we made was a point called the Deadman,
> > Next Ramshead off Plymouth, Start, Portland and Wight.
> > We sailed then by Beachie, by Fairlee and Dungeyness,
> > Then bore straight away for the South Foreland Light.
>
> > Now the signal was made for the Grand Fleet to anchor,
> > We clew'd up our tops'ls, stuck out tacks and sheets
> > We stood by our stoppers, we brailed in our spankers
> > And anchored ahead of the noblest of fleets.
>
> > Let every man here drink up his full bumper,
> > Let every man here drink up his full bowl,
> > And let us be jolly and drown melancholy,
> > Drink a health to each jovial an' true-hearted soul.
>
> > ================
>
> > Hugill mentions a number of alternative wordings, including 35 leagues (and
> > even 45 leagues!) for the distance Ushant-Scilly. On a modern chart, I make
> > it 99 nautical miles, or 33 leagues. There are various alternatives in that
> > list of Channel headlands, all of which will be familiar to the small-boat
> > cruising sailor of today.
>
> > The depth he gives for the sounding, 55 fathoms, differs quite a lot from
> > the 45 figure that Gary quoted. Hugill also mentions a 45-fathom version of
> > the song. 55 would correspond, roughly, to a line between Ushant and Scilly,
> > whereas the 45 fathom figure would correspond better to a line between, say,
> > Lizard and Roscoff, on the North Brittany coast.
>
> > Perhaps, then, in view of those divergences, there should be a disclaimer
> > attached, saying- "The words of this song should not be used for the
> > purposes of navigation."
>
> > What's particular interesting to me, though, is just how technically
> > detailed the words are. It reads almost like a pilot-book.
>
> > The only phrase that seems doubtful to me is "stuck out tacks and sheets".
> > The tacks and sheets are the lines that lead from the lower corners (clews)
> > of the courses, tacks leading forward, and sheets aft. I wonder whether
> > those words should be "struck down", to describe those lines being taken
> > down at the end of the voyage.
>
> > Hugill also tells us of a Bluenose version, sung by Nova Scotians.
>
> > Gary asked about the phrase "white sandy bottom", which Hugill quotes as
> > "fine sandy bottom", and asks if this "was good news, indicating that the
> > ship was near the center of the channel, far from dangers on either side.
>
> > I really couldn't say. That phrase doesn't appear on the Mount & Page chart
> > of 1702. From the context, clearly that was indeed taken to be good news. It
> > might have indicated a mid-channel location, as Gary suggests, or perhaps it
> > indicated simply that the vessel had got East of the dangerous Ushant-Scilly
> > gap. I doubt if reading the lead, in that way, was anything of an exact
> > science.
>
> > I wonder what the date of "Spanish Ladies" was? We might get a clue from the
> > date that the South Foreland became lit.
>
> > George.
>
> > contact George Huxtable at geo...@huxtable.u-net.com
> > or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
> > or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.


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