The basis of this song [Heave Ya Ho] was sung to Davy by Bobby Copeland, an old oyster fisherman from Prestonpans, a small town on the Firth of Forth. Davy made the tune and incorporated as many of Bobby's words as he could remember. The oystermen fished in two rowing boats, heading parallell to each other, and the shoreline, dragging (or dreggin) a weighted net between them. The songs would keep the rowers, and therefore the boats, in time with each other. The songs were generally impromptu affairs, and could be fairly gossipy. 'The Whale', by the way, was a fisherman's pub in 'the Pans'.