THE BALLINA WHALERS
(Harry Robertson)

In ‘56 I sailed on board a ship called Byron One
She carried trawler men on deck and a harpoon whaling gun
With a tractor for a whale winch, our ship an old Fairmile
Twin diesels turned the screws around and we whaled the Aussie style

Chorus
Heigh ho ye trawler men come on, forget the snapper and the prawn
And it’s out of Ballina we’ll sail a-fishing for the humpback whale

So keep a sharp lookout me lads, for the whale is on the run
And we’ll chase him into Byron Bay and kill him with our gun
The harpoon and the line fly true, bedding deep into the whale
But she split the timbers of our ship with a flurry of her tail

Chorus

Our
rigging struts were snapped in two, we reeled beneath the blow
But the gunner fired a killer shot and the humpback sank below

Chorus

Now make her tail fast to the bow, we’ve got no time for bed
For four and twenty hours each day we kept that factory fed
The flensing men upon the land, some had been jackaroos
But they skinned the blubber off them whales like they’d skinned the kangaroos

Chorus

One hundred whales, then fifty more, to the factory we did send
Till a message said, ‘Knock off me lads' - the season’s at an end
Back into Ballina we sailed, tied up and stowed the gear
Then all hands headed for the pub and we filled ourselves with beer

As recorded by Danny Spooner - 'The Great Leviathan' CD.

Danny's note:

Another of Harry Robertson's songs sings the praise of the adaptable Aussie worker. The men who manned the old ex-naval Fairmile to hunt humpback whales out of Byron Bay were trawler men used to fishing and prawning with nets. Now with a tractor mounted on the deck for a whale winch and a harpoon gut mounted forward, they went whale hunting Aussie Style.

Danny's recording is not on the Net, but Nic Jones recorded it as 'The Humpback Whale' on his 'Penguin Eggs' LP.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.