Fifty children from Falmouth’s primary schools have joined |their voices to record a shanty inspired by the upcoming Tall Ships Regatta.

Pupils from St Mary’s, St Francis, Marlborough and King Charles schools and Falmouth Primary Academy gathered at the Performance Centre on Penryn Campus to sing the piece as part of the Big Art and Storytelling Tall Ships Project run by John Frankland.

The song, written by Roger Bryant of Rum and Shrub Shanty Men, was a variant on the traditional ‘What shall we do with the drunken sailor?’ with the words changed to tell a story of a tall ship sailing into Falmouth, and will be one of the tracks on a CD titled We’re Falmouth Bound which is going to be sold during the regatta.

Alan Ramsden, who led the singing, said: “We’ve gone around each of the five schools and taught the song to the children, to half of the school in some cases, and |they have chosen and sent ten children each.

“This morning was the first time they have got together to sing it as a choir. They’ve done a brilliant job.”

After they got together to sing the shanty, the children were given a tour of the studio and the centre by Falmouth University’s head of music Antti Saario, who was also in charge of the recording.