From a book Chris Morgan lent (Bok), called (he thinks) Folk songs of New Zealand. It's a shore-whaler's song, made by the New Zealanders who went to live on the archipelagos to catch whales from small boats. They got their "stake" from an agent of the big companies (like the Weller Company) - hence, any agent of those companies became a "Wellerman." they were paid in staples, not money, so many of them never made enough to return home, and ended up farming or fishing on the little islands upon which they were "set down."Click here for lyrics and the opinions of others, including the esteemed R. Greenhaus.
This is a fanciful tale they put together about big-ship whaling: the picture of a 3-master being towed on some Nantucket sleigh ride by a single whale has some startling implications.
-Joe Offer-
from the Traditional Ballad Index:
Soon May the Wellerman Come
DESCRIPTION: "There was a ship that put to sea, And the name of the ship was the Billy of Tea." The captain spots a whale and sets out to take it. The boats are lost, but the captain will not give up the pursuit even after forty days. The Wellerman visits with supplyAUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1969/70 (collected from Frank Woods, according to Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry)
KEYWORDS: whaler ship hardtimes
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry, p. 17, "Soon May the Wellerman Come" (1 text, 1 tune) (p. 10 in the 1972 edition)
Garland-FacesInTheFirelight-NZ, pp. 48, "(Soon May the Wellerman Come)" (1 excerpt)
DT, WELLRMAN*
RECORDINGS:
Tommy Wood, "Soon May the Wellerman Come" (on NZSongYngCntry)
NOTES [318 words]: Gordon McLauchlan, editor-in-chief, New Zealand Encyclopedia, David Bateman Limited, 1984, p. 593: "WELLER BROTHERS, Edward, George, and Joseph, were among the earliest N[ew] Z[ealand]-based whalers, the first permanent European settlers on Otago Peninsula, and the first merchants to attempt to establish a trade between the South Island and England. They were recorded as having arrived in NZ from Sydney in 1831, aboard their ship carrying gunpowder and muskets, grog, whaling equipment, clothing and stores, and they quickly established whaling stations in the South Island and set up trade links between NZ and Sydney.... [Because of export duties,] by the early 1840s they had abandoned Otago.... [After suffering a lack of success in Australian land speculation,] One of the Wellers, Joseph, had died in Otago in 1835, and Edward and George disappeared from NZ following the rejection of their land claims and were not heard of again."
The Weller Brothers operation was a Sydney-based company which ran a shore-based whaling syndicate. Since they were shore-based, the ships were supplied from shore rather than carrying supplies for long trips. So the Wellerman came to bring the sailors what they needed for their work. My understanding is that it was very hard to leave the employ of the shore whalers, which would explain the plot of this song, where the whalers could not escape the captain's obsession with the whale.
When this song became an odd internet hit at the end of 2020, a number of commentators observed a similarity to a 1971 recording, "The Lightning Tree," by the Settlers. This is only a year and a bit after Neil Colquhoun reported collecting the song, and a year before he published it. The Tommy Wood recording is from about the same time. Colquhoun usually admitted to making up tunes when he did so, but could his source, but could source Frank Woods have heard the song? - RBW
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SOON MAY THE WELLERMAN COME (DT Lyrics)
There was a ship that put to sea,
And the name of the ship was the Billy of Tea
The winds blew up, her bow dipped down,
Oh blow, my bully boys, blow.
cho: Soon may the Wellerman come
And bring us sugar and tea and rum.
One day, when the tonguing is done,
I'll take my leave and go.
She had not been two weeks from shore
When down on her a right whale bore.
The captain called all hands and swore
He'd take that whale in tow.
Before the boat had hit the water
The whale's tail came up and caught her.
All hands to the side harpooned and fought her
When she dived down below.
No line was cut, no whale was freed;
The Captain's mind was not of greed,
But he belonged to the whaleman's creed;
She took the ship in tow.
For forty days, or even more,
The line went slack, then tight once more.
All boats were lost (there were only four)
But still the whale did go.
As far as I've heard, the fight's still on;
The line's not cut and the whale's not gone.
The Wellerman makes his regular call
To encourage the Captain, crew, and all.
Recorded by Tommy Wood on "Song of a Young Country: New
Zealand Folksongs."
Weller Bros, of Sydney, Australia, were the major shore-whaling company in
southern New Zealand in the 1830s and 40s. They had stations at Otakau
(Dunedin), Tautuku, Bluff (and others). Over the years they had several
ships, which serviced these stations - most notable, being the "Magnet"
(Capt Bruce - good poem about her) and "Joseph Weller" (built here on
Stewart Island).
The "Wellerman" referred to is the boat/skipper bringing supplies to the
stations, and taking away the oil accumulated since the last visit. BB
@magic @ship @whaling
filename[ WELLRMAN
TUNE FILE: WELLRMAN
CLICK TO PLAY
RW
