Penguin: The Greenland Whale Fishery

Subject: Penguin: The Greenland Whale Fishery ^^
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 19 Feb 00 - 08:50 PM

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 ^^

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Greenland Whale Fishery
From: Barry Finn
Date: 19 Feb 00 - 09:43 PM

Good evening to you Alan,

Here's another version recorded from sponger Daid "Pappie" Pryor in Nassau, Bahamas in 1935. It's been worn down to this 1 verse & used as launching song

"When the Whale Get Strike"

"When the whale get strike & the line run down
The whale made a flunder with his tail
And he upset the boat & I lost my darling man
No more, no more green land for me, you brave boy
No more, no more green land for me."

Barry

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Greenland Whale Fishery
From: Troll
Date: 19 Feb 00 - 09:49 PM

" Bad news, bad news to our captain came,

And it grieved his heart full sore.

But we knew that to lose that hundred-barrel whale,

Oh it grieved him ten times more, brave boys

Oh it grieved him ten times more.

troll

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Greenland Whale Fishery
From: Amos
Date: 20 Feb 00 - 01:35 AM

Variants:

The captain stood upon the quarter deck
And a brave little man was he,
Overhaul! Overhaul!
On your davit tackles fall,
And launch your boats to the sea, Brave boys!
And launch your boats to the sea

...

To lose those men my captain cried,
It grieves my heart full sore
But to lose that god-damned twenty ton whale
It grieves me ten times more... (etc).

A

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Greenland Whale Fishery
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 07:40 PM

The version I got was:

Oh, The lossing of those five jolly tars
it greived our captain sore,
But the lossing of that sperm whale fish,
It greived him times more, brave boys,
It greived him ten times more

The resoning I got was that labor was REAL cheap in those days!
One whale back then was worth a lot of money.

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Greenland Whale Fishery
From: Lighter
Date: 01 Jun 26 - 12:40 PM

South Australian Record and Australasian and South African Chronicle (Oct. 10, 1840):


A whale ! A whale! brave boys;
She spouts at every span.

I believe that in *most* reported traditional versions, the captain grieves more for his drowned cabin boy.

Pop culture was different then.

Subject: Moby Dork
From: GUEST,Hølie Tannensdøttir
Date: 02 Jun 26 - 12:23 AM

Moby Dork
Lyrics: Hølie Tannensdøttir
Tune: The Greenland Whale Fisheries, traditional Scottish whaling song


It was in two thousand twenty-six
On a freezing January day
Thirteen dog sleds from Denmark did arrive
To save Greenland from the USA, brave boys
To save Greenland from the USA.

Our Captain stood on his snowmobile
With a Danish flag upon a pole
“Oh, it’s Moby Dork, that bloody orange whale,
And he leaks at every hole, brave boys,
And he leaks at every hole.”

“I need an island,” blubbered Moby Dork
“Where my friends can sport and play
With the sweet young teens, and the younger in-betweens
Who massage us night and day (wink wink),
Who massage us night and day.”

“O, to lose this island I love so well
‘Twould grieve my heart full sore
But to release those dadgum pedo-files
‘Twould grieve me ten times more, naughty boys,
‘Twould grieve me ten times more."

We assailed Moby Dork with our iHarpoons
Till the whale gave a flunder with his tail
And the Dow Jones crashed, four senators resigned,
And we nuked that bloody orange whale, brave boys
And we nuked that orange whale.

Oh, Greenland is cheerful again today
Though it’s white instead of green
Where there's ice cream and snow and the whalefishes blow
And the Yanks are seldom seen, brave boys
And the Yanks are seldom seen.