‘Goodbye, Fare Thee Well’ The Original Fo’c’s’le Firkins Farewell Sunset Concert

The Fo'c's'le Firkins are one of Australia's oldest sea shanty groups and will perform a farewell sunset concert at the Fremantle Navy Club on Saturday 12 October 2024.

The Fo’c’s’le Firkins originally formed 40 years ago to present a shanty workshop for the National Folk Festival, held at the University of Western Australia in Perth in 1985.

The original ten-man shanty team was created by Peter Bugden, who ran the popular Peninsula folk club at the time, and Francis Gill, a former merchant seaman and renowned shanty singer. Together they gathered a crew of hearty singers from the local folk scene and named the group referencing wooden barrels on a ship’s forecastle.

In the late 80’s, the group was in huge demand during the America’s Cup celebrations in Fremantle and toured Australia for the 1988 Bicentennial Tall Ships voyage. The ‘Firkins’ continued for many years, led by Peter ‘Murf’ Murphy, with several line-up changes until taking a break in the mid-2000’s.

In 2013, the original Fo’c’s’le Firkins line-up reunited for a charity concert for Little Folk that was completely sold out. The popularity of the concert encouraged them to reform and they have since performed at many concerts, festivals, and folk clubs over the past decade.

The huge global shanty renaissance in recent years created many great shanty groups throughout the world, including Western Australia, and the Fo’c’s’le Firkins are proud to have been part of this ongoing folk tradition for four decades.

The original Fo’c’s’le Firkins are Peter Bugden, Peter ‘Murf’ Murphy, Greg Hastings, Steve Cope and Jon Cope, who will perform the farewell sunset concert at the Fremantle Navy Club on Saturday 12 October 2024 from 5pm-8pm.