G'day MartinRyan (All right ... good late last year ... or Merry (last) Christmas ... !),

I must have meandered off elsewheres when you asked about Harry Robertson's whaling songs (pre-Christmas rush ... ?).

There has been energetic posting of Harry's songs over the last year or two. A lot of Harry's songs were picked up, in UK, by Nic Jones ... in sort of "Englished" rewrite style that doesn't wash well with Australian fans of the real Scots Harry (but is fondly recalled by Nic's fans). I posted a number of songs and tunes, in response to MudCatters' requests ... Wee Pot Stove and Ballina Whalers are two that spring to mind. Harry's songs are particularly interesting in that many are written from his experience in Australia - in several "off-shore" and island operations using small craft (eg: Ballina Whalers, Norfolk Whalers, Queensland Whalers.

A lot of his songs cover aspects over than hunting and killing whales (Harry worked as a ship's fitter ... and wintered over in Antarctica bringing ships up to scratch for the next season) - eg Wee Pot Stove and Time for a Laugh & a Song. There are some quite funny songs, coming from the collision of Scottish mores and Australian and the LP Whale Chasing Man, remastered from the LP, was released by the National Library of Australia (Easter ... 2003 ... ?).

You should pick up some of Harry's songs from the names given - and a few "3-year" searches ... but PM me if you need some more specific guides.

Regards,

Bob