THE BALAENA

The noble fleet of whalers went sailing from Dundee,
Well manned by British sailors to work upon the sea.
On the Western Ocean passage, none with them can compare,
But the smartest ship to make the trip is Balaena, I declare.

CHORUS: Oh, the wind is on her quarter, her engines working free.
There's not another whaler that sails out of Dundee
Can beat the ol' Balaena. She needs no trial run.
We challenged all, both great and small, from Dundee to St John.

It happened on a Tuesday three days out of Dundee.
The gale took off her quarter boat and a couple of men, you see.
It battered at her bulwarks, her stanchions and her rails,
And left the old Balaena boys a-frothing in the gale.

Bold Jackman cut his canvas and fairly raised his steam
And Captain Guy with Erin Boy was ploughing through the stream,
And the noble Terra Nova her boilers nearly burst
And still at the old whaling grounds Balaena got there first.

And now the season's over and the ship half full of oil.
Our flying jib boom points for home towards our native soil,
And when that we have landed, boys, where rum is very cheap,
We'll drink success to the skipper's health for getting us over the deep.

The Balaena was right around the time (1890's) of cutting edge tech, fast steamers and the harpoon cannon. While Captain Guy started the hunt for bottlenose whales (considered the most dangerous to chase), the Balaena went into the Antarctic after the fin and blue whales. They were fast swimmers and couldn't be caught in the old style. They were too big and too fast, yet the fin was easy to cut and try and had a good yield. The blue was a great yield and meant big money for the men. The fast steamer and cannon changed the face of the industry and its music. Barry