THE WATERWITCH
(Trad)

A neat little packet from Hobart set sail
To cruise the wide oceans for the monster sperm whale
To cruise to the wide oceans where the stormy winds blow
Bound away in the Waterwitch to the west'ard we'll go

Chorus
Bound away, bound away, where the stormy winds blow
Bound away in the Waterwitch to the west'ard we'll go

Oh ‘twas early one morning just as the sun rose
The man from her mast head cries out, 'There she blows'
‘Where away' cries our skipper and springing aloft
‘Three points off yer lee bow and scarce three miles off'

Chorus

We sailed off the west wind and came up a pace
The whale boats was lowered and set for the chase
Get yer lines in the boats see yer box line is clear
And lower her down boys and after him steer

Chorus

We fought him alongside, the harpoon thrust in
In just over an hour, he rolled out his fin
The whale was cut in boys, tried out and stowed down
He's worth more to us, boys, than five hundred pound

Chorus

When the ship she gets full boys to Hobart we'll steer
Where there's plenty of pretty girls and plenty good beer
We'll spend our money freely with the girls on the shore
And when it's all gone go a-whaling for more

Chorus

As recorded in Danny Spooner 'The Great Leviathan'

Danny's note:

From the singing of a Mr Jack Davies of Hobart, this is similar to The Coast of Peru and New Zealand Whales. It recalls the days when Tasmanian whalers hunted the Southern Right Whale from the Derwent across the Tasman sea. I got the words originally from Lloyd Robson, who with Norm O'Connor, recorded Mr Davies in the early 1960s.

Also recorded in Alan Musgrave 'Songs They Used To Sing'

Youtube clip

You can hear Jack Davies sing it on Mark Gregory's site:

Click

--Stewie.