Hi ho Bob,
You've named your version of Ballina whalers as being the one printed in Tradition, but it's not, my friend. What you've done, I'm sorry to say is perpertrate the (IMO) rather lame Alex Hood rendition that got onto Harry's record because he (Alex) did the deal with the publisher (Alberts) and had to have his name writ large, and most unfortunately was given Ballina Whalers to torture, because that's what he did. Bill Morgan tells me that he was lined up to sing the song originally, but "then them 'professional' bastards got involved and f...ed it up!"
I learned the tune from Tony Lavin in 1970, and got the words from that same Tradition mag., and always assumed the song to be as published there...three stanzas of three couplets , first two couplets to the A strain of the tune, third and chorus to the B strain, complete with those subtle variations in timing that are characteristic of Harry's style. The song then has some symmetry, unlike Alex' version where the sequence of the story line is distorted, and the tune squeezed into 3 chord bland land.
I went through all this with the Mathiesons in the run up to the screensound launch, and they trumped me by playing a tape of Harry singing the chorus after each couplet ("He wrote it as a shanty").

ALSO, I may have a bone to pick with you. In another post somewhere, you said you'd heard someone sing this song at a Kiama festival, and you were offhandedly disparaging about their rendition. If it was the first Kiama, then that singer was me. Graeme Dodsworth is the only other person I know who regularly sings the song, and his version wanders even more than Nic Jones', whereas I try very assiduously to be true to what I hear as the original, while allowing myself scope for expression. In fact I agonise sometimes over who does what to certain songs, Wee Pot Stove and Colin Dryden's Factory Lad to name but two.
One of my current personal projects is 'Of Whales and Men', title borrowed from 'the other Robertson', whose book I first read at age 13 or 14, an idiosyncratic compilation of songs verse and spoken word, traditional and contemporary, mostly from the southern hemisphere. Of that, more anon.
Sorry to be so long-winded here, but I feel very strongly about some things, and yet don't want to confront or argue the toss, when it's only a matter of taste or opinion, and nothing personal. I assume goodwill, unless told otherwise.
A story...while in the process of editing (hours of listening, basically) the Declan tapes, I managed to run off 17 items from Harry, sent a copy to Rita and kept one myself. As I say I get bothered sometimes by the crass liberties some take with Harry's songs, to the point where I can't listen to ANYONE sing Wee Pot Stove anymore ( apart from the man himsel') and I found myself, out on my constitutionals, 'walking' his songs, stepping them out, looking for the internal rythms, trying to get right inside...then one day, after a good hour sitting in meditation (the other side of the coin?)in that state very like 'twixt waking and asleep', I had a visitation from yer man. There for just a few moments before 'the confuser' kicked in, was Harry, looking about 35ish, big smile, in a dark blue short sleeved shirt, and he said " It's all perfectly logical. Just listen tae the words!" I told Rita this and she accepted it without demur, and gave me some stories in return, and when I told another friend, he said, 'of course, Harry was an engineer, one of the best, and he made his songs the way he made other things, the best he could.
Incidentally there are some good photos in the other Robbo's book, and Harry would have been there in the same season. The Morgan has a magazine (early 60's) with an article and photos of the Ballina Whalers...I'll try to get a copy of same.
At last year's National, at the Matho's Sunday concert, I recited the Lawson poem 'Robbie's Statue', a copy of which which Harry had on the inside cover of his workbook; this year, at the same time, I was having a solitary coffee, angry and sad, missing the strong wild bastards, Harry and Declan, and wishing for someone like the Morgan to put the boot in certain places..."If Harry Robbo were here today and saw the bloody farce........feckitall I'm going.
give me your email add and I'll send you what I think of the Ballina Whalers.             Branno