Subject: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Mick Lowe Date: 13 Feb 99 - 06:35 PM Hi gang Anyone have the lyTO HEAVEN" (Melody: "The Great Speckled Bird" When Mama lay a-dyin' on the flatbed, She told me not to truck with girls like you; But I w sun instead. Thanks link.net ö!Î à!Î €Ô€8 ÿ ´ |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca Date: 14 Feb 99 - 03:00 PM Your thread title asks for the lyrics to Old Polina, but your message asks for another song. If it is the lyrics to The Old Polina you seek, I do have them. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Philippa Date: 14 Feb 99 - 03:05 PM Tim Jacques. Do go ahead and post the Old Polina. I've seen the reference to The Great Speckled Bird already in another recent thread. This cross-pollination is happening a lot when people try to start new threads - it seems that, in succession, everything that can go wrong is going wrong! I think at the moment that you CAN paste in lyrics on existing threads. You certainly can type msessages directly in to extant threads. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Mick Lowe Date: 14 Feb 99 - 06:45 PM HI Tim, Thought I'd finally flipped when I opened this.. as Phillipa says.. This ain't my thread.. wonder where that's gone to?.. Mine should have read something like.... I'm looking for the lyrics to The Old Polina and if possible Blow Ye Winds in the Morning..Someone gave me a tape of the Paddy Doyles performing these, but the quality is so bad (sounds like it was recorded in someone's toilet) you can't make them out.. So to stop being long winded.. yes please Tim. Cheers Mick |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Pete M Date: 14 Feb 99 - 07:46 PM Hi Mick, BLOW YE WINDS IN THE MORNING is in the DT here. If you enclose the title in square brackets [] as a search string the search engine looks for that phrase but because its looking for an exact match it can be a bit dodgy; for example it wouldn't find "Blow ye winds of the morning". I find the best option is to search on something fairly specific to the song, but which is unlikely to be misheard or misspelt. Given the poor quality of the recording, could the other song be "the Old Baleena? The chorus goes:
Here's a health to the old Baleena, she needs no trial run, If so I'll try and it dig out. Pete M |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Frank Maher Date: 14 Feb 99 - 10:11 PM The Old Polina is a Newfoundland Song..... I'm from Newfoundland and I've never heard of the Old Baleena!!!!!! |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Frank Maher Date: 14 Feb 99 - 10:18 PM The Old Polina is a Newfoundland Song..... I'm from Newfoundland and I've never heard of the Old Baleena!!!!!! |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Pete M Date: 14 Feb 99 - 10:22 PM No reason you should have Frank, it's about Scottish whalers. Not all songs that mention a place originate there. I merely thought that given the first song requested was a whaling song, it was at least reasonable that the second was also, and given that Mick stated that recording was rather unclear, polina / baleena seemed a possible confusion. If it's any consolation I've never heard of any songs about a Polina, whatever it is. Pete M |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Mick Lowe Date: 15 Feb 99 - 11:15 AM Pete, Thanks.. I did check the database and drew a blank.. honest injun... Cheers Mick |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Mick Lowe Date: 15 Feb 99 - 11:22 AM Whoops! Forgot to say.. definitely the Old Polina as Frank quite rightly says.. i.e. The Newfoundland song Cheers Mick |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BALAENA From: Barry Finn Date: 15 Feb 99 - 02:46 PM I refreshed the other Polina thread but it seems that it may not have been spotted. Here's part of that thread.
Subject: RE: Words to The Polena? THE BALAENA
The noble fleet of whalers went sailing from Dundee,
CHORUS: Oh, the wind is on her quarter, her engines working free.
It happened on a Tuesday three days out of Dundee.
Bold Jackman cut his canvas and fairly raised his steam
And now the season's over and the ship half full of oil. 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 |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Mick Lowe Date: 15 Feb 99 - 06:21 PM Hi Barry Sorry I forgot also to mention I noticed you'd refreshed the thread.. different song though I'm afraid. Thanks anyway Mick |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Jack Hickman - Kingston, Ontario Date: 16 Feb 99 - 04:29 PM I read with interest the posting from Barry Finn. The song included therein is almost identical to one by the Irish Rovers on their tape "Tall Ships and Salty Dogs", but their title is the "Old Polina." Jack Hickman |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Jon Bartlett Date: 18 Feb 99 - 03:31 AM Yes, the song is a Newfoundland song, but the ship's name (says Edith Fowke, Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs) is the Polynia, launched 1861, a 472-tonner owned by Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company (so you didn't know whales and seals were fish?). It was commanded by Capt. William Guy from 1883 until it was lost in davis Strait 10 July 1891, being crushed between two ice floes in a gale. Fowke got the song from Doyle (Old-Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland, 1955 ed.), and it's also mentioned in Paul Mercer's "Newfoundland Songs and Ballads in Print 1842-1974" and Michael Taft's "A Regional Discography of Newfoundland and Labrador 1904-1972", both lovely books from Memorial U. Folklore dept. I recall singing it in the Saint John (New Brunswick) Public Market years ago with John Murphy of th4e Saint John Folk Club, and he sang it as "... from Dundee to Saint John." |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Jerry Friedman Date: 18 Feb 99 - 01:42 PM And for your etymological digression, I wonder if Polynia is a spelling of "polynya", an area of open water in sea ice, from Russian polyn'ya. If so it was a new word then--Merriam-Webster On Line gives the first use in English as 1853. And the pronunciation changed, as the Newfoundland tape I've heard pronounced it to rhyme with "Carolina". And the fate of the ship was ironic. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Barry Finn Date: 19 Feb 99 - 12:11 AM The Report of the Commisioner of Fish & Fisheries (New England), register a Balaena from the 1850's up till it's sale in while in the port New Bedford 1871. She had been managed by the same ship's agent (James Howland & among her captains there was never a Guy), tonnage was 301. She was ship rigged & somtime between 1863 & 64 rerigged as a bark. She fished the Alantic, Pacific & Indian Oceans. In Nov. 1868 she lost her 3rd mate & 3 others & sent home 550 sperm. The copy of my report only goes as far as 1876, so there could've been another Balaena later but if she was lanched in 1861 I'd say it was slim. At 301 tons she would've been a fair size then, I only found 2 ships over 400 tons, 1 at 407 & 1 at 408, so it seems that 472 tons would be a mega ship at that time. I couldn't find any listing of a Polynia or Polina or anything close to that spelling. None of the reports cover futher north than Mass. only from New York to Mass. but I'd think that those ports handled a very large percentage of the ships in the whaling industry for the North Alantic. Barry |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Mick Lowe Date: 20 Feb 99 - 06:44 PM All very interesting guys, but it's not getting me the lyrics...LOL. Tim do you still have them? I'd be much obliged if you could do the honours.. Now I'm wondering whether I should submit this message 3 times or not... Cheers Mick |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE OLD POLINA From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca Date: 21 Feb 99 - 03:37 PM A CD recording I have of The Old Polina states that the Newfoundland song "The Old Polina" comes from "The Old Balena", described as "an old English whaling song." (Hence, one assumes, "Balena" which makes much more sense for the name of a whaling ship.) The lyrics to the Newfoundland song are very much as posted above.
THE OLD POLINA
There's a noble fleet of Whalers, a sailing from Dundee
CHORUS
'Twas the second Sunday morning, just after leaving port
[chorus again]
There's the noble "Terra Nova", a model without doubt
And now we're back in old St. John's, where rum is very cheap
|
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Mick Lowe Date: 21 Feb 99 - 09:51 PM Thanks Tim Cheers Mick |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca Date: 10 Sep 03 - 10:09 AM Les had some great information on the ship(s)' named Polynia/Balena |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: GUEST Date: 05 Oct 03 - 05:45 PM |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: GUEST,lynn in australia Date: 27 Jun 04 - 05:07 AM Hello to Les from Hull and all others who have given information with regards to the Old Polina/Balaen. I am a descendant of Captain William Guy and am pleased to have learnt so much about him. I read with interest the story Les supplied from Arctic Whalers. Do you have a copy of this book Les. I can not buy one or order one in Australia. Thankyou Lynn |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Deckman Date: 27 Jun 04 - 11:55 AM To me, this thread represents the very BEST of what mudcat is and can be. This thread started in 1999, was revived in 2003, and just look at the posting prior to this posting. Great going MUDCAT. (in case you didn't know it, I'm a great Mudcat fan). CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Les from Hull Date: 27 Jun 04 - 02:59 PM I'm sorry Lynn, but it took me some little time to find my copy of the book I mentioned in the other thread. I've got far too many books! These are the references to Captain William Guy. In 1883 he took over the Arctic when Captain William Adams retired from the sea. Actic was a steam whaler owned by Messrs Alexander Stephen and Sons of Dundee. She was 828 tons gross (522 net), 200 ft 6 ins in length with 98hp engines. In 1887 his ship Arctic II was abandoned near Cumberland Gulf while trying to get Fox Channel. 1891 he commanded Polynia on the voyage I mentioned earlier in these threads heading for the Newfoundland sealing grounds. Polynia carried on fishing and accounted for 16,535 seals. She then went on to the Davis Straight and on July 10, in a strong NE gale was caught by the stern between two floes and sank. Her crew of 37 got off safely and were picked up by the Aurora two days later. In 1892 he took Eclipse to the Newfoundland sealing grounds. Because of an accident with her machinery, she only got 3,595 seals, and missed going on to the whaling. In 1893 he had Nova Zembla in the Davis Straits, killing 4 whlaes in near Coutts Inlet. In 1894 he took Nova Zembla to the Davis Straits, nearly losing her on July 8 when stuck in the ice. An iceberg came down, the crew got onto the pack ice, the iceberg pushed the ship onto her beam ends but she wasn't crushed. As the iceberg drifted past, over the next four hours, the ship fortunately righted. They got four whales that season. In 1906 he left the whaling trade (his last ship was Balaena, and became master of the training brig Frances Mollison, attached to the training ship Mars, moored below the Tay Bridge. Cheers, Les |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Les from Hull Date: 28 Jun 04 - 09:40 AM refloat |
Subject: RE: Lyr Reqd.. The Old Polina From: Susanne (skw) Date: 28 Jun 04 - 07:41 PM A little more info about Captain Guy, the Balaena and other ships mentioned in the song. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Old Polina From: GUEST,graeme Date: 19 Dec 07 - 04:34 AM there was a dundee folk band in the 60s called the lowland folk from Dundee in Scotland. They recorded a Dundee song called the Baleana. It is virtually the same song. Given that Dundee was a base for Whaling -as it needed the oil for working jute-the major industry in the town at the time- and that the song sets off from Dundee I would think it's origin may well be there. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Old Polina From: GUEST,Graeme Date: 19 Dec 07 - 04:43 AM Sorry forgot to add that the song can be heard on the Lowland Folk Four album "Eh'll tell the boaby" -a collection of dundee songs. Interestingly some of the boats names live on in Dundee as there are pubs named after the Arctic and the Terra Nova. I can't remember the verse about the storm being in any versions i heard of this song in the 60's so maybe it was added after a real storm was experienced by the whaling fleet on the other side of the Atlantic? |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Old Polina From: Mrrzy Date: 19 Dec 07 - 08:42 PM Polina = the little ball in bocce? Polynia = hole in pack ice? Thank you, mateys! |
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