G'day,
From the Penguin Book Of English Folk Songs, Ed Pellow's rendition of the tune of The Greenland Whale Fishery can be found here.

THE GREENLAND WHALE FISHERY
Sung by W. Bolton, Southport, Lancs. (A.G.G. 1906)

'Twas eighteen hundred and twenty four,
On March the eighteenth day,
We hoist our colours to the top of the mast,
And to Greenland bore away, brave boys,
And to Greenland bore away.

Oh, the look-out up on the mainmast stood
With a spy-glass in his hand.
'There's a whale, there's a whale, and a whale-fish,' he cried.
And she blows at every span, brave boys,
And she blows at every span.'

The captain stood on the quarterdeck,
And the ice was in his eye.
'Overhaul, overhaul, let your jib-sheet fall,
And put your boats to sea, brave boys,
And put your boats to sea!'

Oh, the boats got down and the men aboard,
And the whale was full in view.
Resolved, resolved was each whalerman bold
To steer where the whale-fish blew, brave boys,
To steer where the whale-fish blew.

Now the harpoon struck and the lines played out,
But she gave such a flourish with her tail,
She capsized our boat and we lost five men,
And we could not catch that whale, brave boys,
And we could not catch that whale.

Oh, the losing of that sperm-whale fish
It grieved our captain sore,
But the losing of those five jolly tars,
Oh, it grieved him ten times more, brave boys,
Oh, it grieved him ten times more.*

'Up anchor now,' the captain cried,
'For the winter's star do appear,
It is time for to leave this cold country,
And for England we will steer, brave boys,
And for England we will steer.'

Oh, Greenland is a barren place,
It's a place that bears no green,
Where there's ice and snow, and the whale-
And the daylight's seldom seen, brave boys,
And the daylight's seldom seen.

*In some more modern versions, the two sources of grief are put in reverse order.

See also:
GREENLAND WHALE FISHERY
GREENLAND WHALE FISHERIES
GREENLAND FISHERIES
THE GREENLAND WHALE
GREENLAND MONOPOLE

Previous song: The Green Bed.
Next Song: The Grey Cock Or The Lover's Ghost.

Cheers,
Alan ^^