G'day again Beetle Cat,

I see Hrothgar has given you the words to Harry Robertson's Ship Repairing Men. The early parts of the record/book I mentioned turn out to be just Harry's spoken (if rhymed ... ) narrative about picking up the new whaling craft ... and have no details of the making ... or the makers:

Casting Off
© Harry Robertson

The autumn sky wi' colours tinged, as darkness dawns its coat,
Outlines the four wee whaling ships that sway and gently float;
One moment mooring ropes are slack - then tighten in the breeze
That kills the warmth of the day and chills the River Tees.

Just newly.built and tested - fitted out by shipyard men,
The whaling crews are ready now to go to sea again,
Familiar farewells finished to the people that ye know,
The last song sung and embraces clung, it's now ye have to go.

A sharp command, the engines turn and ropes are cast adrift,
And on the jetty waving friends grow smaller in the mist,
The whalers tender feeling - false gruffness fails to hide
As we head towards Antarctica - upon a running tide.

Whaling Songs of Harry Robertson, Albert Publications, Sydney, 1972, p.8.

Regards,

Bob