John in the Barrel

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We went to a pub in Fremantle, Western Australia, the other night. Once a month, a sea shanty group, the Lost Quays, sing there, and others are invited to get up for one or two nautically-related items. One of the songs the group sang was ‘John in the Barrel’, which was written by the Fisherman’s Friends’ group, well known for their sea shanties and a film of the same name. ‘John in the Barrel’ tells the story of John Lethbridge (1675-1759), a wool merchant from Devon in south-west England. He supposedly had 17 children and found it difficult to support them all. In 1715, he invented an underwater diving machine, using an airtight oak barrel. Two holes were cut for the arms which were inserted into ‘sleeves’ and a square piece of glass allowed the diver some vision underwater. Using this device, Lethbridge was able to dive on the many wrecks off that part of the coast, and he became very wealthy. One Dutch vessel, the Slot ter Hooge, had sunk with over three tons of silver on board. So many songs have really interesting stories behind them. The photo is from a sculpture in Fremantle.