The words to What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor have been sung by countless numbers of children for generations. Having originated from the sailing ships in the 1800s and revived as a popular rhyme in the 20th century, it has become a beloved national classic in many nursery classrooms.But a national reading charity has now decided to alter the lyrics, in a bid to remove references to alcohol and violence from nursery rhymes.As a result, the tune’s title has been changed to What Shall We Do with a Grumpy Pirate, removing lines such as ‘shave his belly with a rusty razor’ and replacing them with ‘do a little jig and make him smile’, while ‘Put him in a long boat till he’s sober’ has been changed to ‘tickle him till he starts to giggle’. Critics have blasted The Scottish Book Trust’s amendments as ‘ridiculous’ and accused it of serving up ‘politically acceptable gruel’.Elsewhere in its quest to sanitise children’s nursery rhymes, the Trust has altered Baa Baa Black Sheep to make it gender-neutral, as the line ‘one for the little boy who lives down the lane’ has been revised to ‘the baby who lives down the lane’. A national reading charity has now decided to alter the lyrics to What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor, in a bid to remove references to alcohol and violence from nursery rhymes (file image)  Critics have blasted The Scottish Book Trust’s amendments as ‘ridiculous’ and accused it of serving up ‘politically acceptable gruel’ (file image) What Shall We Do with the Grumpy Pirate? Lyrics  What shall we do with the grumpy pirate?What shall we do with the grumpy pirate?What shall we do with the grumpy pirate?Early in the morning.Ooh-ray and up she risesOoh-ray and up she risesOoh-ray and up she risesEarly in the morning.Do a little jig and make him smile,Do a little jig and make him smile,Do a little jig and make him smile,Early in the morning.Make him walk the plank till he starts to wobble,Make him walk the plank till he starts to wobble,Make him walk the plank till he starts to wobble,Early in the morning.Tickle him till he starts to giggle,Tickle him till he starts to giggle,Tickle him till he starts to giggle,Early in the morning.Ooh-ray and up she risesOoh-ray and up she risesOoh-ray and up she risesEarly in the morningAnother popular pirate-themed song, When I Was One, has seen the lyric ‘a bottle of rum to fill my tum, and that’s the life for me’ replaced with ‘a bottle of milk to fill my tum’ by the charity.Subsequent versus of the children’s classic ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ were also changed to ‘If you’re angry and you know it stamp your feet’ and ‘If you’re sad and you know it have a cry’.The alterations were first discovered by Stephen Kerr, the Scottish Conservative MSP, who claimed that parents did not need ‘do-gooding politically correct commissars to tell them what to sing to their children’.He told the Telegraph: ‘Puritanical policing of our language is like something out of George Orwell’s 1984.’Our children are the losers in this as our rich linguistic history is no longer being passed down the generations.’Instead, our rich culture is being homogenised and turned into a politically acceptable gruel that will suck all the fun out of life.’Defending these changes, The Scottish Book Trust claimed that it is common for songs to evolve over ‘successive generations’.They said the re-workings, such as the ‘grumpy pirate’, were now widely used and stated there was no issue with parents or children singing their own versions of songs.Over recent years, many children’s books have faced scrutiny over the choice of words or content. Staples like Lewis Carroll – author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – was hit with a disclaimer after York St John University warned students over the ‘colonialist narratives’ that some stories may contain.The warning was put on the website of the Rees-Williams Collection of Children’s Literature stories which includes another classic – Peter and Wendy by JM Barrie.It stated how the tales – many of which are from the 19th and early 20th centuries, with some dating back to 1780 – may contain ‘colonialist narratives’. Many of Roald Dahl’s classics have been edited to change the wording in the belief modern children would be upset by some of the language A warning on Alice in Wonderland stated how it could contain ‘colonialist narratives’, with vocabulary and illustrations likened to ‘white supremacy’ Oompa Loopas in recent years have been redesignated as being gender neutral, a concept that was alien to Roald Dahl’s original work  Hundreds of changes have been made to Dahl’s books, with some passages not written by the author being addedThe books could contain vocabulary and illustrations which may appear ‘racist’, according to the site – giving some of the tales a warning for ‘white supremacy’.Roald Dahl’s books have also been extensively rewritten by censors last year after publisher Puffin hired sensitivity readers.Willy Wonka’s Oompa Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have now been made gender neutral and new editions no longer use the word ‘fat’.Augustus Gloop was also only described as ‘enormous’ rather than the original phrasing.The changes triggered a wave of outrage from parents with some saying they would be boycotting the updated tales.The Roald Dahl Story Company, which controls the rights to the books, previously said it worked with Puffin to review the texts because it wanted to ensure that Dahl’s ‘wonderful stories and characters continue to be enjoyed by all children today’. The language was reviewed in partnership with Inclusive Minds and any changes were ‘small and carefully considered,’ the company said.Other changes to Dahl’s books included to The Twits – a popular tale about a wicked couple, Mr and Mrs Twit – Mrs Twit’s ‘fearful ugliness’ was been chopped to ‘ugliness’.Since the edits, in The Witches, a paragraph describing them as bald under their wigs is now followed by a new line: ‘There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.’A witch posing as a ‘cashier in a supermarket’ now works as a ‘top scientist’. Children need to read about ‘wretched’ things and not be protected from ‘offensive’ words, best-selling author Daniel Handler (pictured) has said The Lemony Snicket writer hit out at publishers rewriting Roald Dahl’s books to make them more ‘inclusive’ by removing words such as ‘fat’. (Pictured: Jim Carrey as Count Olaf in the 2004 film of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) Anjelica Huston (left) as Miss Eva Ernst, the Grand High Witch, in a scene from the 1990 film adapted from Roald Dahl’s children’s classic The Witches (right)Earlier this year, best-selling author Daniel Handler hit out at the rewriting of Dahl’s books, claiming that children need to read about ‘wretched’ things and not be protected from ‘offensive’ words.When asked on the Private Passions podcast whether he supported the rewriting of Dahl’s work, Handler said: ‘Well, I was against it. I mean, I understand that urge.’You know, if you’re with a child and there’s a strange noise in the middle of the night, what you want to say is that is nothing.’If they see something from a news report, I understand that you want to be protectionist about it.’He continued: ‘You just can’t, and you certainly can’t do it by tinkering with Roald Dahl until his words are not offensive.’His words are offensive. I mean, he was an offensive person in some ways, and his stories are full of really, really wretched things.’That’s a wonderful way to learn about wretched things.’ How editors tried to change Roald Dahl’s storiesTHE WITCHESOriginal – ‘Don’t be foolish,’ my grandmother said. ‘You can’t go round pulling the hair of every lady you meet, even if she is wearing gloves. Just you try it and see what happens.’ 2023 – ‘Don’t be foolish,’ my grandmother said. ‘Besides, there are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.’ CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 2001 – Mrs Salt was a great fat creature with short legs, and she was blowing like a rhinoceros2022 – Mrs Salt was so out of breath, she was blowing like a rhinocerosTHE TWITS2001 – Mrs Twit may have been ugly and she may have been beastly, but she was not stupid 2022 – Mrs Twit may have been beastly, but she was not stupid.MATILDA2001 – Get your mother or father 2022 – Get your familyTHE BFG2001 – ‘BFG,’ she said, ‘would you please tell these rather dim-witted characters exactly what to do.’2022 – ‘BFG,’ she said, ‘would you please tell them exactly what to do’.THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE2001 – We eat little boys and girls2022 – We eat little childrenESIO TROT2001 – ‘I beg you to tell me Mr Hoppy! I’ll be your slave for life.’ 2022 – ‘I beg you to tell me Mr Hoppy! You’ll be my hero for life.’FANTASTIC MR FOX2001 – Bunce, the little pot-bellied dwarf, looked up at Bean…2022 – Bunce looked up at Bean…JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH2001 – They were like a couple of hunters who had just shot an elephant 2022 – They were like a couple of hunters who had just shot their prey