Jenkins’ Ear

Jenkins’ Ear Shanty Men, one of Guernseys best kept secrets!

In 1992 a group of 7 Guernseymen, passionate about the sea and its traditions, got together and formed Jenkins’ Ear.

They made their debut in the summer of 92 at the Brest-Douarnenez92 Maritime Festival. Since then they have built up a very large repertoire of British, American and French shanties, forebitters and sea songs.

Life and career changes have kept the line up fluid and whilst never actually ceasing to be the Band did fall in to decline toward the end of the last Millennium. The Crew however sprung very much back into action very quickly and since early 2000 with the help of some new blood Jenkins’ ear can be once more found plying their many Shanties and songs at Festivals far and wide.

Although now just 4 in number they still produce a very huge sound, a mighty fanfare of voices that conjures up the spray of the sea.
You can feel the sea breeze and taste the salty spray in the music of Jenkins’ Ear. When their strong male voices, including Ram Club stalwart Ian Palmer, burst into the rhythm of a shanty, it is a mighty fanfare that reminds us how vital such work songs have always been. But there’s much more to Jenkins’ Ear than the robust life aboard ship, as they blend in the delicate and the intricate with some fine musicianship, too.

The group’s stated web address, (“jenkinsear.co.uk”) does not appear to be operational at time of writing, May 2025

Note on the origin of the group’s name:

The War of Jenkins’ Ear was fought by Great Britain and Spain between 1739 and 1748. The majority of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea.

The name derives from Robert Jenkins, a British sea captain whose ear was allegedly severed in April 1731 by Spanish coast guards searching his ship for contraband. In 1738, opposition politicians in the British Parliament used the incident to incite support for a war against Spain.

Source: Wikipedia