Greenland Whale Fisheries
(1. modern folk version)
Words & Music:
Traditional Sea Shanty
This is a traditional sea
shanty; however, unlike most of them (which can trace their roots to the
1830s-1850s), this shanty was first published as a ballad before 1725. There are many variations and
covers and David Hodge has an arrangement of it in the March 2007 issue of Acoustic
Guitar.
G C G
Am
D
'Twas eighteen hundred and
fifty-three and on June the thirteenth day,
G Am C D
That our gallant ship, her
anchor weighed,
G
Am D
G C D7 G
And for Greenland bore away,
brave boys, and for Greenland bore a--way.
[alt: And from England bore away...]
E
B7 E
And for Greenland bore a-way.
Our captain stood on the
quarterdeck
With a spyglass in his hand,
"It's a whale, and a
whale, and a whalefish," cried he,
Where she blows at every span,
brave boys,
Where she blows at every span.
Then the boats were launched
and the men on board
With the whalefish well in
view,
And well-prepared were all our
jolly shipmates
For to strike where the
whalefish blew, brave boys,
For to strike where the
whalefish blew.
Then the whale was struck and
the line played out,
But he gave such a flourish
with his tail,
He capsized our boat, and we
lost five men,
And we never did catch that
whale, brave boys,
And we never did catch that
whale.
Well, then, the loss of that
whalefish,
It grieved our hearts full
sore,
But oh! The loss of our five
shipmates,
That grieved us ten times
more, brave boys,
That grieved us ten times
more.
"Up anchor, up
anchor," our captain cried,
"Let us leave this cold
country,
Where the storm and the snow
and the whalefish do blow,
And the daylight's seldom
seen, brave boys,
And the daylight's seldom
seen."
(2. 1833 Bengal Journal version, per Bob Pfeiffer)
Words & Music:
Traditional Sea Shanty
This lyric version came from The Mudcat Cafˇ. Your source for all things DigiTrad!
D A7 D
D A7
'Twas in 17
hundred and 84 and of March the seventeenth day
D
G D
A7 D A7
That we weighed
our anchors to our bow and for Greenland bore away, brave boys!
D
A7
D
And for Greenland
bore away.
Bold Stevens was
our captain's name & our ship the "Lion" so bold
And we, poor
souls, our anchors weighed
To face the storms
and cold, brave boys, to face the storms and cold.
And when we
arriv-ed in that cold countree
Our goodly ship to
moor
We wished
ourselves safe back again
With those pretty
girls on shore, brave boys, ith those pretty girls on shore.
Our boatswain in
the maintop stood
With a spyglass in
his hand
"A whale, a
whale my lads," he cried
And she spouts at
every span, brave boys, and she spouts at every span.
Our captain walked
the quarter-deck
And a fine little
man was he
"Overhaul,
overhaul, let your davit tackles fall
And launch your
boats for sea, brave boys, and launch your boats for sea."
We struck that
whale, and down she went
But she gave a
flourish with her tail
And the boat
capsized, and four gallant men were drown'd
And we never
caught that whale, brave boys, and we never caught that whale.
Well, the losin'
of those gallant men
It grieves my
heart full sore
But the losin' of
a hundred-barrel whale
Well it grieves me
ten times more, brave boys, well, it grieves me ten times more.
The winter star
doth now appear
So boys, we'll
anchors weigh
It's time to leave
this cold countree
And homeward bear
away, brave boys, and homeward bear away.
Oh, Greenland is a
dreadful place
A land that's
never green
Where there's ice
and there's snow and the whale-fishes blow
And daylight's
seldom seen, brave boys, and daylight's seldom seen.
(3. "Greenland Whale Fishery" version)
Words & Music:
Traditional Sea Shanty
Per The Mudcat Cafˇ, this
was printed in Patrick Shuldham-Shaw and Emily B. Lyle, The Greig-Duncan Folk
Song Collection, vol 1., version A.
No longer we will stay on
shore since we are so deep in debt
And a voyage to Greenland we
will go
Some money for to make, brave
boys, some money for to make.
It was the year of eighteen
five and March the twentieth day
When our gallant ship from her
anchor swayed
To the seas she bore away,
brave boys, to the seas she bore away.
It's Bollard was our captain's
name and our ship the Lion bold
We're away to some far north
cold country
Where the snow forever lies,
brave boys, where the snow forever lies
When we did arrive in this far
country where the snow for ever lies
Where the hail, wind and snow,
and the big whales blow
And the daylight never dies,
brave boys, and the daylight never dies
Our mate was up in the crow's
nest high with a spy glass in his hand
"Oh a whale, oh a whale,
oh a whale fish," he cried
"And he blows at every
span, brave boys, and he blows at every span"
Our captain on the deck did
run and a clever little man was he
"Overhaul, ovehaul, from
the davits let them fall
And lower your boats to the
sea, brave boys, and lower your boats to the sea"
The boats being launched and
the lines paid out and every boat her crew
There have orders been given
to all steersmen
To steer where the whale fish
blew, brave boys, to steer where the whale fish
blew.
Oh we steered east and we
steered west and it's all to catch the whale
But he capsized our boats and
we lost five men
Nor did we catch the whale,
brave boys, nor did we catch the whale
When this sad news to our
captain came, he called up his old ship's crew
For the losing of his five
'prentice boys
He down his colors drew, brave
boys, he down his colors drew.
Alas, alas, don't be dismayed
for the losing of five men
For Providence will have its
own way
Let a man do all that he can,
brave boys, let a man do all that he can.
(4. "Greenland Fisheries" version)
Words & Music:
Traditional Sea Shanty
1. 'Twas in
eighteen hundred and fifty-three
And of June the
thirteenth day,
That our gallant
ship her anchor weighed,
And for greenland
bore away, brave boys,
And for greenland
bore away.
2. The lookout in
the crosstrees stood
With spyglass in
his hand;
There's a whale,
there's a whale, there's whalefish he cried
And she blows at
every span, brave boys
She blows at every
span.
3. The captain
stood on the quarter deck,
And a fine little
man was he;
"Overhaul,
overhaul! Let your davit tackles fall,
And launch your
boats for sea, brave boys
And launch your
boats for sea.
4. Now the boats
were launched and the men aboard,
And the whale was
full in view.
Resolv-ed was each
seaman bold
To steer where the
whalefish blew, brave boys
To steer where the
whalefish blew.
5. We stuck the
whale the line paid out,
But she gave a
flourish with her tail,
The boat capsized
and four men were drowned,
And we never
caught that whale, brave boys,
And we never
caught that whale.
6. "To lose
the whale," our captain said,
It grieves my
heart full sore,
But oh! to lose
(those) four gallant men
It grieves me ten
times more brave boys
It grieves me ten
times more.
7. The winter star
doth now appear,
So, boys we'll
anchor weight;
It's time to leave
this cold country
And homeward bear
away, brave boys
And homeward bear
away.
8. Oh Greenland is
a dreadful place
A land that's
never green
Where there's ice
and snow, and the whalefishes blow
(and the)
daylight's seldom seen brave boys
But the daylight's seldom
seen.