Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come

Subject: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From:
Date: 13 Sep 99 - 10:05 PM

I'm in the process of recording this incredible song. My research has led me to certain beliefs about what "Wellerman" means. Before I tip my hand, I'm wondering if anyone in cyberspace has any ideas. I"d love to hear them. Thanks. P.S. A free cd to whoever corroborates my research.

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Sep 99 - 10:34 PM

From Gordon Bok's notes for the And So will We Yet CD by Bok, Muir, and Trickett:

From a book Chris Morgan lent (Bok), called (he thinks) Folk songs of New Zealand. It's a shore-whaler's song, made by the New Zealanders who went to live on the archipelagos to catch whales from small boats. They got their "stake" from an agent of the big companies (like the Weller Company) - hence, any agent of those companies became a "Wellerman." they were paid in staples, not money, so many of them never made enough to return home, and ended up farming or fishing on the little islands upon which they were "set down."
This is a fanciful tale they put together about big-ship whaling: the picture of a 3-master being towed on some Nantucket sleigh ride by a single whale has some startling implications.

Click here for lyrics and the opinions of others, including the esteemed R. Greenhaus.
-Joe Offer-

---

from the Traditional Ballad Index:

Soon May the Wellerman Come

DESCRIPTION: "There was a ship that put to sea, And the name of the ship was the Billy of Tea." The captain spots a whale and sets out to take it. The boats are lost, but the captain will not give up the pursuit even after forty days. The Wellerman visits with supply
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1969/70 (collected from Frank Woods, according to Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry)
KEYWORDS: whaler ship hardtimes
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry, p. 17, "Soon May the Wellerman Come" (1 text, 1 tune) (p. 10 in the 1972 edition)
Garland-FacesInTheFirelight-NZ, pp. 48, "(Soon May the Wellerman Come)" (1 excerpt)
DT, WELLRMAN*
RECORDINGS:
Tommy Wood, "Soon May the Wellerman Come" (on NZSongYngCntry)
NOTES [318 words]: Gordon McLauchlan, editor-in-chief, New Zealand Encyclopedia, David Bateman Limited, 1984, p. 593: "WELLER BROTHERS, Edward, George, and Joseph, were among the earliest N[ew] Z[ealand]-based whalers, the first permanent European settlers on Otago Peninsula, and the first merchants to attempt to establish a trade between the South Island and England. They were recorded as having arrived in NZ from Sydney in 1831, aboard their ship carrying gunpowder and muskets, grog, whaling equipment, clothing and stores, and they quickly established whaling stations in the South Island and set up trade links between NZ and Sydney.... [Because of export duties,] by the early 1840s they had abandoned Otago.... [After suffering a lack of success in Australian land speculation,] One of the Wellers, Joseph, had died in Otago in 1835, and Edward and George disappeared from NZ following the rejection of their land claims and were not heard of again."
The Weller Brothers operation was a Sydney-based company which ran a shore-based whaling syndicate. Since they were shore-based, the ships were supplied from shore rather than carrying supplies for long trips. So the Wellerman came to bring the sailors what they needed for their work. My understanding is that it was very hard to leave the employ of the shore whalers, which would explain the plot of this song, where the whalers could not escape the captain's obsession with the whale.
When this song became an odd internet hit at the end of 2020, a number of commentators observed a similarity to a 1971 recording, "The Lightning Tree," by the Settlers. This is only a year and a bit after Neil Colquhoun reported collecting the song, and a year before he published it. The Tommy Wood recording is from about the same time. Colquhoun usually admitted to making up tunes when he did so, but could his source, but could source Frank Woods have heard the song? - RBW
Last updated in version 6.0
File: Colq010

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2022 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

---

SOON MAY THE WELLERMAN COME (DT Lyrics)

There was a ship that put to sea,
And the name of the ship was the Billy of Tea
The winds blew up, her bow dipped down,
Oh blow, my bully boys, blow.

cho: Soon may the Wellerman come
And bring us sugar and tea and rum.
One day, when the tonguing is done,
I'll take my leave and go.

She had not been two weeks from shore
When down on her a right whale bore.
The captain called all hands and swore
He'd take that whale in tow.

Before the boat had hit the water
The whale's tail came up and caught her.
All hands to the side harpooned and fought her
When she dived down below.

No line was cut, no whale was freed;
The Captain's mind was not of greed,
But he belonged to the whaleman's creed;
She took the ship in tow.

For forty days, or even more,
The line went slack, then tight once more.
All boats were lost (there were only four)
But still the whale did go.

As far as I've heard, the fight's still on;
The line's not cut and the whale's not gone.
The Wellerman makes his regular call
To encourage the Captain, crew, and all.

Recorded by Tommy Wood on "Song of a Young Country: New
Zealand Folksongs."

Weller Bros, of Sydney, Australia, were the major shore-whaling company in
southern New Zealand in the 1830s and 40s. They had stations at Otakau
(Dunedin), Tautuku, Bluff (and others). Over the years they had several
ships, which serviced these stations - most notable, being the "Magnet"
(Capt Bruce - good poem about her) and "Joseph Weller" (built here on
Stewart Island).

The "Wellerman" referred to is the boat/skipper bringing supplies to the
stations, and taking away the oil accumulated since the last visit. BB

@magic @ship @whaling
filename[ WELLRMAN
TUNE FILE: WELLRMAN
CLICK TO PLAY
RW

Popup Midi Player

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From:
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 09:58 AM

Since they were paid in staples, at least they could keep their song books together

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: bigJ
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 12:16 PM

From 'Songs of New Zealand - Songs of a Young Country' edited by Neil Colquhoun p10, notes to the song 'Soon May the Wellerman Come' 'Shore whalers, unlike the whalers on ships, could not return to their native land. Even if there were a ship, they couldn't afford the passage; for they saw no money. Whaling companies such as Wellers' of Sydney, sent agents across the Tasman to collect the bone and oil; and to pay the men in sugar and rum.'

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: David Coffin
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 10:00 PM

Thanks for the input. That's pretty much what I had but the route I had to take was very different. Email me your address and I'll send you a cd if you'd like. (bigJ and Joe Offer) I appreciate it. David.

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 10:15 PM

So, David, now that we've posted what we know, how 'bout telling us what you learned in your research?
BigJ, tell us more about this New Zealand songbook. Is it one we shouldn't be without?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: BK
Date: 15 Sep 99 - 12:29 AM

here's thread creep - sort of; Joe's link song has a note mentioning an american cowboy analog called "High-Chin Bob" it's about a cowboy roping a mountain lion, taken from a poem, "The Glory Trail," by the same poet who wrote "A Border Affair," the source of "Spanish Is A Loving Tongue," Charles Badger Clark, Jr, (who, as it turns out, called himself just "Badger Clark").

Does any body know where to hear a recording of High-Chin Bob? I've got a compilation of Badger Clark's first 2 books, & am nosing abt w/the idea of finding out more abt his other poems reportedly set to music, & maybe setting a few to a tune myself (already got a couple started).

Cheers, BK

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Stewie
Date: 15 Sep 99 - 01:54 AM

BK

Glenn Ohrlin records 'High Chin Bob' on his album 'Cowboy Songs' Philo 1017.

Subject: Charles Badger Clark
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Sep 99 - 02:05 AM

Click here for lyrics to "HIGH CHIN BOB" and here for "SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE."
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: bigJ
Date: 15 Sep 99 - 03:17 PM

Joe, the songbook by Neil Colquhoun is certainly worth keeping an eye out for. I don't know how many New Zealand songbooks have been published, but this is the only one that I have. It was published by Bailey Brothers And Swinfen Ltd of Folkstone, England in 1972 price £1.35 ($2.10). The layout is very like the Oak Publications of the time, and it contains pertinent illustrations from photographs and engravings. It contains 52 songs with melody lines and it's the first book that I saw with the words of the song Davy Lowston in. SBN 561 00189 8. It's long out of print, of course, but the New Zealand Folklore Society in Auckland might be able to help. Regards

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: David Coffin
Date: 16 Sep 99 - 08:21 PM

I would love to get my grubby little hands on that book. If anyone has info please let me know. [e-mail] Sorry I haven't posted my research. It really isn't any different than what has been written here. What was inspiring to me was how I discovered it. Not wanting to go look at someone elses recording of the song and steal their research I went search engining (new word) for Wellerman. Somehow I ended up in New Zealand and happened to see an archeological page and niticed Wellers Rock. Wellers Rock was named and inscribed to commerate the whaling outpost in Otakou NZ by the three Weller brothers, Goerge, Edward, and Joseph. They arrived from Australia on the Lucy Ann in Sept. of 1831. The family enterprise included whaling, flax and timber. The plaque was laid by the then Governor Lord Bledisloe. Thanks for your input and interest. The cd release date looks like mid November.

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Sep 99 - 03:48 AM

There are several copies of the book available through www.bookfinder.com, but all through Australian booksellers. I still haven't gotten up the gumption to send credit card numbers overseas (or to pay overseas shipping).
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: harpgirl
Date: 17 Mar 00 - 10:23 AM

...when sung "Wellerman" is only considered a hit if the Halifax mariners cry in their beer...

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Billy the Bus
Date: 04 Aug 03 - 03:14 AM

G'day from NZ,

A lot's happened since this thread thread started. Music, lyrics, comments and sound-clips for Wellerman are on the NZ Folk Song website. There's a link to the Weller Family website, with more information on Weller's Whaling Station.

To locate the main Weller Brother's base, go to Expedia and type Otakou in the Placename box. They had another station at Tautuku, where I worked from 1976-80. More to come...

Cheers - Sam - Stewart Island (NZ)

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Billy the Bus
Date: 05 Aug 03 - 05:04 AM

Whewww....

If you want a good yarn about a black American who was involved in NZ shore-whaling in the early days, check out Kenneth Gardner's book Rich Man's Coffin. It's the best part of 400 pages, and in PDF format, so 'open in new window' - it may take time to arrive. - Sam

Subject: RE: Help: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From:
Date: 02 Oct 03 - 10:17 AM

I'm a performing chantey-singer, and fell in love with this chantey when I heard David Coffin's recording of it. Some chanteys talk of killing whales, some of the whale killing the sailors, but this is the only one I've seen that talks of a stalemate!
Can anyone tell me what "tounging" refers to? I'm experienced on tall ships and I pride myself in knowing the meaning of everything I'm singing about. Thanks!

Subject: Lyr Add: COME ALL YOU TONGUERS
From: Little Robyn
Date: 03 Oct 03 - 03:09 AM

The tonguers were part of the shore whaling team that would cut up and boil down the whale. This song, known as "Come all you tonguers" tells some of the story.

"Come all you tonguers and land-loving lubbers,
There's a job cutting in and boiling down blubbers,
A job for the youngster, the old and the ailing,
The Agent will take any man for shore whaling.
Chorus:
I am paid in soap and sugar and rum,
For cutting in whale and boiling down tongue,
The agent's fee makes my blood so to boil,
I'll push him in a hot pot of oil.

Go hang the Agent, the Company too!
They are making a fortune off me and you.
No chance for a passage from out of this place,
And the price of living's a b***** disgrace!"

Some of the rusty old boiling pots can still be seen lying around the beaches where the whaling stations used to be.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: GUEST,Jamie Marshall
Date: 13 May 10 - 07:44 PM

It's nice to know that there are still people singing about my ancestors the Wellers. I am the 5th G-Grandson of William Weller, brother of Joseph Weller who's sons established the whaling company in New Zealand. I am also a musician, and have performed this song at festivals.

Thank you one and all! Please don't let this song fade into the history books.

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 May 10 - 08:20 PM

Jamie-

Thanks for checking in.

Was Robyn correct about who the "tonguers" were?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 May 10 - 08:02 PM

refresh for more nibbles!

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Little Robyn
Date: 15 May 10 - 07:00 AM

Charley, if you don't believe me, go to the link Sam gave 7 years back and look for the song, or click here.

Robyn

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 May 10 - 09:49 AM

Robyn-

I certainly do believe you. It's just that the word "tonguing" had seemed so like an enduring mystery ever since I first herd Gordon Bok et al sing the song.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: GUEST,Juan Zanela
Date: 13 Jan 21 - 10:00 AM

Just wow...

Read the tread and came across with this gem

"I went search engining (new word)"

Now makes me wonder, when did the term "googlin'" became common use?

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 05:59 PM

Becoming a trend on TiTok at the moment according to Radio 4 this morning and ITV news tonight.

Robin

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: EBarnacle
Date: 15 Jan 21 - 12:45 AM

Everybody's getting into the act. Lady Hillary found this about an hour ago.


https://variety.com/2021/music/news/tiktok-sea-shanties-trend-1234884030/

My niece, who a heavy metal buff, told us about this this morning and now it's all over the place.

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: rich-joy
Date: 15 Jan 21 - 03:34 AM

And there's this :

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/15/shantytok-how-a-19th-century-seafaring-epic-inspired-a-covid-generation


Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: vectis
Date: 15 Jan 21 - 07:32 PM

Neil Colquhoun (Auckland, NZ) collected "Soon May the Wellerman Come" in about 1966 from someone called F. R. Woods.
Mr. Woods, who was then in his 80s, told Colquhoun he had learnt this song and also the song "John Smith A.B.," from his uncle.

"John Smith AB" was printed in The Bulletin Sydney in 1904, where it was attributed to D. H. Rogers (and contributed by F. R. Woods?)

It is possible that D. H. Rogers was the uncle of F. R. Woods' and that it was he who composed "Soon may the Wellerman Come" and "John Smith A.B."

If Rogers had been born around about 1820, then he could have been a teenaged sailor and/or shore whaler around NZ in the late 1830s, settled in Australia, written the shanties in his later years as his composing skills developed, and then taught them to his nephew in his 70s-early 80s, some time between 1890 and 1904.

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: vectis
Date: 15 Jan 21 - 07:34 PM

This is considered to be the only English language New Zealand song to be Traditional because its source cannot be confirmed.

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 07:47 AM

@vectis

Nice copy and paste.

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Mar 21 - 01:32 PM

Yes, this one is coming around again, and dragging a whole bunch of wantebee shanty singers in its wake.

There's an interesting parody titled "Soon May the Kibbleman Come" sung by three robust fellas, on behalf of their favorite felines.

There's another parody with a labor organizing theme.

Cheerily,
Charlie Ipcar

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 07 Mar 21 - 04:51 AM

The song crops up almost daily on the local pop channels on the radio here in Germany!

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 09 Mar 21 - 03:36 AM

The 'Wellermen' were obviously luckier that Davy Lowston's mates with the sealing on the west coast of the island!

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 09 Mar 21 - 07:45 AM

Probably not that relevant, but re 'tonguing' another source might have been something to do with shore whaling in South Australia. I have read that the local orca population had an interesting relationship with the whalers. The orca would drive the whales (can't remember which species) onto shore and their reward was their favoured delicacy, the tongue of the whale, which the whalers cut out and threw to the orca.

Also somebody said earlier that this was the only NZ song to catch on in tradition. I remember 'Davy Lowston' being sung a lot in the 60s, miserable bloody thing that it is, but it came from the same book by Colquhoun.

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: GUEST,#
Date: 09 Mar 21 - 12:41 PM

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/the-legend-of-old-tom-and-the-gruesome-law-of-the-tongue/

Perhaps Old Tom is the orca you're referring to, Steve ??

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: GUEST,phillip
Date: 09 Mar 21 - 12:45 PM

hey i think i saw it on tiktok

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 09 Mar 21 - 01:29 PM

Don't remember any of the orca having names. I seem to remember it was an old book, possibly 19th century. 'Gruesome'? More gruesome things going on today! At least every bit of the whale was used, whereas today there is no justification because all of those products have been replaced.

Top predator the orca of course. Even great whites afraid of 'em and justifiably so.

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 16 Mar 21 - 08:41 PM

I created a different "take" based on "The Wellerman," to explore what might make it sound more "typically" in the the musical style of most chanties (i.e. in light of the recent trend that has presented the song under the rubric of chanties).

Singing "The Wellerman" as a CHANTY

The singing on the solos is poor because the pitch is too low for my voice to project, but I had to go low so as also to sing high parts, in the same key, in the harmony - ha!

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: RTim
Date: 16 Mar 21 - 10:16 PM

Gibb...Back to your Roots.....what do you think the TikTok community with think!! Let alone the real Chanty community.......:-)

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 17 Mar 21 - 03:15 AM

Tim,
I think it's too low-fidelity / unpolished to attract attention from the TikTok crowd!

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: rich-joy
Date: 01 Apr 21 - 02:54 AM

My YT Algo's just brought up this version, featuring those hard-working herrin' lassies!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4lJbTBvSsY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4lJbTBvSsY
"A Fishwife's Response to The Wellerman Sea Shanty"

**A few of you have taken an interest in the history of the fishwives in the comments below, so here's a link to a National Library of Scotland page which gives a bit more info (and which provided us with inspiration for the lyrics!):
https://scotlands-sounds.nls.uk/index...?    
The 5th paragraph describes how the whole community - men and women - relied upon each other for income. Hyped that this video is making people curious to learn more!**


When you were sleepin' on your pillows,
Dream'd you aught of our poor fellows,
Darkling as they faced the billows,
To fill the willows wove?

Who'll buy our hard-won stock?
We walked on river and hill and rock,
To the market from the dock,
We haul'd through wind and snow.

Who'll buy our hard-won stock?
We walked on river and hill and rock,
To the market from the dock,
We haul'd through wind and snow.

I was not but six stone four,
And on my back was eight stone more,
My hands were numb, my feet were sore,
It never made us slow.

Who'll buy our hard-won stock?
We walked on river and hill and rock,
To the market from the dock,
We haul'd through wind and snow.

On the street with creels and cases,
Ladies, clad in silks and laces,
Gather in their braw pelisses,
Cast their heads and go.

Who'll buy our hard-won stock?
We walked on river and hill and rock,
To the market from the dock,
We haul'd through wind and snow.


Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: rich-joy
Date: 03 Apr 21 - 11:29 PM

Western Australian Shanty News :

"Albany Shantymen credited as inspiration for Nathan Evans's TikTok hit, The Wellerman"

ABC Great Southern By Tom Edwards   Posted April 4th 2021

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-04/the-wellerman-hit-singer-nathan-evans-credits-albany-shantymen/13286592

"Fairbridge [Folk Festival]'s artistic director, Rod Vervest .... hopes the extra attention brings more people to the International Folk'n Shanty Festival in Albany [WA] in July.


Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Long Firm Freddie
Date: 04 Apr 21 - 06:27 AM

I think this might be one of the parodies Charlie Noble referred to:

Trailer Park Boys - The Kittyman Sea Shanty

LFF

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: GUEST,Ant'N'Dec
Date: 06 Apr 21 - 03:30 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_IOf19GY-s

Subject: Index: Shanties by the Way: a selection of NZ song
From: GUEST,Tongers
Date: 06 Apr 21 - 03:44 PM

Another rare book of NZ songs is "Shanties by the way: a selection of New Zealand popular songs and ballads"

Author:         Rona Bailey; Bert Roth; Neil Colquhoun
Publisher:         Christchurch [N.Z.] : Whitcombe & Tombs, 1967.

https://www.worldcat.org/title/shanties-by-the-way-a-selection-of-new-zealand-popular-songs-and-ballads/oclc/41715619

Contents: Sealers, whalers and traders. David Lowston --
Come all you tonguers --
New Zealand whales --
Whalers' rhymes --
The voyage of the Buffalo --
The settlers. Taranaki song / John Hursthouse --
The lay of the disappointed / Walter Mantell --
Cheer, boys, cheer! --
The steel mill / John Blair --
The new chum / Charles John Martin --
A tract for the hard times / music, Neil Colquhoun --
The abolition of the Provinces --
The New Zealand wars. He Ngeri --
A jeering song --
The fall of Rangiriri / E.J.F. --
The escaped prisoners ; The surrender of the natives / Charles Robert Thatcher --
The inimitable thatcher. The old identity ; The shipping agents ; The bazaar ; Presented at court / Charles Robert Thatcher --
Gold. The rush to Coromandel ; The Southland gold escort / Charles Robert Thatcher --
The Wakamarina / Charles Robert Thatcher ; music, Neil Colquhoun --
The shanty by the way / E.J. Overbury ; Anon. --
The unlucky digger --
The digger's farewell : on the wharf, 1874 / music, Neil Colquhoun --
Waitekauri everytime! / Edwin Edwards ; music, Neil Colquhoun --
The volunteers. Kumara volunteers' song --
The Russian scare / 'Puzzlehead' --
The long depression. The sweater / N.A.A. --
The scab / John Brooks Hulbert --
The exiles of New Zealand / A.D. --
God's own country --
I struck for better wages --
Arthur Desmond. The song of Te Kooti ; Death song for the Huntly miners ; Barr of the Western Chain / Arthur Desmond --
Arthur Desmond / 'An Australian exile'. Prohibition. A Prohibition jingle of 1893 --
Strike out the top line --
Don't strike out the top line --
The young teetotaller --
A lay of the trade --
Members of Parliament. The liberal march / James Adams --
Ma¯ori Joe --
Sir Joseph Ward --
The rival candidate / 'Casual chronicler' --
Vote for Tommy Seddon, boys / Ned McCormack --
An M.P.'s life for me / Ronald L. Meek --
War and conscription. We'll set the children free : the song of the anti-conscripts --
Kidd from Timaru / Barrie Marschel --
The bloke that puts the acid on / Henry Kirk ('The Mixer') --
Work and wages. Cook and shearer : a 'Bulletin' pastoral idyll --
A long time ago --
I've traded with the Ma¯oris --
The windy hills o' Wellington / 'The Exile' --
A meeting / 'Taiwai' --
Song of the gumfield / William Satchell ('Saml. Cliall White') --
Amelia Jane / David McKee Wright --
Shearing's coming / David McKee Wright --
In the morning / Marshall Nalder --
The Ma¯ori's wool / Andrew Barton Paterson --
The embryo cockatoo / 'The Wanderer' --
The gay muttonbirder --
Goodbye to the old pick and shovel / Dennis Hogan --
Old Billy Kirk / 'Cazna Gyp' --
The magpies / Dennis Glover ; music, Neil Colquhoun --
Cargo workers. Out with the jokers. Double-bunking ; A fast pair of skis / Harold William Gretton --
The old gumdiggers' bar / Dennis Hogan --
The passing of the Helvetia : a lament / Louis Magee --
Down the hall on Saturday night / Peter Cape --
Black billy tea / Joe Charles ; music, Les Cleveland --
Lament for Barney Flanagan : licensee of The Covenant Hotel / James K. Baxter ; music, Neil Colquhoun --
By the dry Cardrona / James K. Baxter ; music, James McNeish --
The hunted. The hero of the coast / Jim S. Case --
Down on my luck / A.R.D. Fairburn ; music, Neil Colquhoun --
On the swag / R.A.K. Mason ; music, Neil Colquhoun.

Responsibility:         collected and edited by Rona Bailey and Herbert Roth ; with musical arrangements by Neil Colquhoun.

===

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 17 May 21 - 09:30 PM

As to the history of this song, I've started to go down the rabbit hole a bit more especially due to a note added recently by Robert Waltz of The Ballad Index.

When this song became an odd internet hit at the end of 2020, a number of commentators observed a similarity to a 1971 recording, "The Lightning Tree," by the Settlers. This is only a year and a bit after Neil Colquhoun reported collecting the song, and a year before he published it. The Tommy Wood recording is from about the same time. Colquhoun usually admitted to making up tunes when he did so, but could his source [...] Frank Woods have heard the song? - RBW

"The Lighting Tree" by The Settlers is performed HERE . Give it a listen, and recall the folk-pop atmosphere of 1971. This was the theme song for the U.K. TV Series _Follyfoot_, which first aired in June 1971. A commenter on this video notes (unconfirmed by me) that The Settlers' song reached #36 in the popular music chart that year. You might agree that the group, and their song, accorded with a "folk" aesthetic.

The idea that "Soon May the Welleman Come" may have been influenced by the _Follyfoot_ theme is not so far-fetched as it might first appear. Commence the rabbit hole dive...

"The Wellerman" bears the hand of NZ musician / songwriter / folkie "song collector" Neil Colquhoun, along, perhaps, with his collaborators in NZ's folkie scene. I can't speak to that scene. I wasn't there. However, a musicologist from Wellington, Michael Brown, who interviewed Colquhoun, provides history and context of Colquhoun's cohort. In a 2015 article in Journal of New Zealand studies, for instance, Brown writes (132-3):

//By the time _Shanties by the Way_ [a NZ song anthology] was published in 1967, “The Sailor’s Way” [a sea song] had already been “reconstructed” for live performance by school music educator Neil Colquhoun (1929-2014) and recorded by his group, the Song Spinners. This adaptation remains a popular item in the local folk revival under the title “Across the Line.”
The reconstruction of “The Sailor’s Way” as “Across the Line” included the creation of a new melody, which was apparently devised by Colquhoun for a schoolroom exercise using “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” ... New lyrics loaded with New Zealand place-names were also written by Delahunty and Colquhoun. Cowan’s fragment [referring here to a 1912 source] was thus transformed into a “New Zealand folk song.”
The degree of reconstruction required of “Across the Line” before it could be taken into the New Zealand revival repertoire was not atypical. As it happened, only a small proportion of the raw collected material satisfied both the collectors’ nationalistic expectations and orthodox criteria for folkloric authenticity.//

Michael Brown's piece on Mustrad in 2006 provides this information:

//Neil Colquhoun, an educationalist and school teacher (now retired), first began collecting local folksongs and verse in the 1950s. None of this material was recorded in the field, but rather learnt by ear or transcribed by hand. Cover picture - New Zealand FolksongsIn the late 1950s he formed The Songspinners, a revival folk group which played the songs he'd found, reconstructed or composed himself.

In 1965 Colquhoun published the collection New Zealand Folksongs (23 pieces) and in 1972 a much expanded 2nd edition New Zealand Folksongs - Song of a Young Country (51 pieces)... It is a populist collection and was principally concerned with presenting singable, 'complete' versions of songs. Many pieces had been assembled from fragments, amended or supplemented, both lyrically and musically, or were poems set to music. This approach did spread a positive message about the existence of a New Zealand folk tradition, but also aroused criticism in some quarters for its supposed inaccuracies. Perhaps most crucially, the collecting notes were extremely brief, which meant it was often difficult to know the nature of the original sources and the extent of reconstruction.//

So we get a sense of how Colquhoun may have worked with sources construct items of NZ folksong, including a liberal and practical approach of setting tunes and editing texts.

Let's take the example of an item "John Smith, A.B." A Twitter user from NZ has posted a 1904 Sydney _Bulletin_ printing of the item HERE

"John Smith" is supposed to have been a second item, in addition to "Wellerman," given to Colquhoun by his mysterious informant, Frank Woods. To me, "John Smith" looks like a piece of poetry; I'm skeptical that any performance of it as a song would have been part of tradition. I'd suspect rather that if anyone had sung it as a song, it would be their idiosyncratic rendering (however, I admit ignorance of the history of "John Smith"). Might the mysterious informant, Frank Woods, have presented this (sung it) as a song to Colquhoun? Or did he offer it in some other fashion and Colquhoun turned it into his own song? Here is Colquhoun's performance of "John Smith"— it may be compared to the 1904 newspaper text at the Twitter link above:
https://youtu.be/MBEH1-MuIp0

This performance by Colquhoun appeared on the 1971 album _Song of a Young Country_. That was the album that first (as far as we know) introduced "The Wellerman" to the wider world.

Not knowing more of the history of "John Smith", yet suspecting it was not a well-known item of folk tradition, only converted idiosyncratically into a song by either the informant Frank Woods or the collector-performer Colquhoun, we can become more suspicious of what either gentleman may have done in creating (*in a sense - more must be said) "the Wellerman."

More on this key moment of the first documented rendition of "The Wellerman" in a following post.

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 18 May 21 - 02:09 AM

(continued)

Narratives of "The Wellerman" circulating in recent media appear to often make the assumption that the subject matter of a song spells its origin. (Extrapolated farther, that's why the unfamiliar audience is wont to take a song that is about the sea [or makes them feel like "sea" somehow!] and connect it with "sea shanty" without much regard for form, time period, etc.) "The Wellerman" being about the Weller Bros. whaling enterprise in the 1830s, narrators want to make it a song sung *by* people engaged in that enterprise, or, something a close as possible to it.

I interpret this tendency in the précis at the folksong.org.nz website, which classifies "Wellerman" under "Shanties; Songs handed down from old times" and dates it as "1860s".

https://folksong.org.nz/shanties.html

How do they get 1860s?

It starts with the (unstated) assumption that the song *must* have been much older than the 1960s folk revival. After all, who would ever write a new song about an historical topic? (*sarcasm*)

They say Colquhoun "collected" the song from Frank Woods. Woods was in his 80s at the time. Implies that Woods was born about 1880-1889. Woods learned "Wellerman" and "John Smith, AB" from his "uncle."

And so, they try to see how old can they make the "uncle" be, so as to (hopefully) make it possible for the uncle to have been an actual whalerman in the 1830s. Working from the other direction, they reason that the "uncle" could have been born in 1820 and still have been a teenager, conceivably working, when the Weller company was around.

(I don't know whose uncle is 60-70 years older than them, especially in the 19th century??? But OK.)

They previously* tried to flesh out details as such: Noting that the 1904 Sydney Bulletin publication of "John Smith, AB" was attributed to "D.H. Rogers," and that Frank Woods learned both Wellerman and John Smith from the same uncle, maybe DH Rogers was the uncle? (This seems an admission of unilinear transmission!)

Thus, DH Rogers, hypothetically born in 1820, working as a whaleman in the 1830s, and at 84 years old singing "John Smith" (and secretly knowing "The Wellerman") in 1904 creates what seems like a solid rationale for dating "The Wellerman" to "old times."

To be fair, the people at folksong.org.nz do not say this, at least not explicitly—their puzzling dating of "1860s" however, I don't understand. Rather, Google'ers (including news article writers) in early 2021 found their site and comfortably concluded it was cool to say "Wellerman" went back to those old times. Wikipedia authors did the same -- this time citing the news article writers who did the "research" of finding the folksongs.org.nz website.

*Am I imagining things, however, or did folksongs.org.nz update their site in the last few months? In January, they included the précis I've been discussing, which was reproduced by user vectis earlier in this thread. Now, however, they have added the find that "D.H. Rogers" (of Sydney Bulletin fame) lived 1865-1933 -- making it impossible for him to have been an original whaleman. I personally don't see how this rules him out as a source for "Wellerman" or as the uncle of Frank Woods. But for a reason I don't understand, they rule out the possibility that he could have composed "Wellerman."
https://folksong.org.nz/soon_may_the_wellerman/index.html

to be continued...

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 18 May 21 - 02:28 AM

The bottom line at this point is we still only have Frank Woods -- of whom we seem to know nothing about -- as the only source to which at least part of "Wellerman" can be attributed.

When was Frank Woods interviewed by Colquhoun? folksongs.org.nz says 1966. The Ballad Index says 1969. I don't know where either gets that information, and can only guess that some NZ folkies got it through personal communication with Colquhoun.

Maybe that info is in the front or rear notes of Colquhoun's anthology? I don't have the book. I do have the specific page for "Wellerman," which sea music performer John Roberts and others have shared, but that page says nothing of the source.

The timeline becomes important here. Colquhoun published his first anthology of NZ folksongs, _New Zealand Folksongs_, in 1965. It does not contain "Wellerman." Then, Colquhoun evidently contributes to the anthology _Shanties by the Way_ in 1967—the details of which are given by GUEST.Tongers above. It also does not contain "Wellerman." I'd suppose that if Colquhoun got "Wellerman" in 1966, it would have been in _Shanties by the Way_, lending support for 1969 as the year of collection.

Colquhoun adds "Wellerman" to the second edition of his anthology, re-titled _New Zealand Folksongs: Song of a Young Country_, in 1972.

But before that, "Wellerman" appears on the stage on the album created by Colquhoun and his folkie collaborators, _Song of a Young Country_, in 1971.

to be continued...

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 18 May 21 - 03:26 AM

On the album _Song of a Young Country_ (1971), Tommy Wood is assigned the duty of singing "Wellerman," making his the first recorded performance.

https://youtu.be/aqFMmKXOxE4

Notice that while Tommy Wood follows rough contours of melody, his is significantly different from the one we are now familiar with. It's in a major rather than a minor key.

Where did Tommy Wood get this melody? Colquhoun did not record Frank Woods. We understand from Michael Brown's work that Colquhoun either 1) took down the melody (if Frank Woods indeed sang it as a song) from Frank Woods by hand or else 2) remembered the melody. Colquhoun would either have to have taught the melody to Tommy Wood orally or wrote it down. We'll see in a moment that if Colquhoun wrote it down to be read by Tommy, then Tommy did a terrible job of reading it! That's possible, though it sounds a bit silly to me. It's unlikely, too, that Colquhoun taught the melody to Tommy orally because...

Once the second edition of _New Zealand Folksongs_ is published in the following year (1972), as a sort of companion to the record album, the melody noted by Colquhoun is different.

This suggests to me a third possibility: Colquhoun originally had no melody for "Wellerman." Tommy Wood made up the melody, for the album, and Colquhoun made his own melody for the book. This idea will not sound satisfying, but according to my reasoning it is the *most* likely.

As an aside: The melody in Colquhoun's 1972 book, often republished, would of course be the melody adopted by later singers who engaged the book. So, as earlier noted in this thread, when Gordon Bok chose to perform "Wellerman" in the 1990s, he obtained the book and Bok's melody accords with the book melody.
https://youtu.be/Yzhlu1Dr4KA

It would seem to be only recently -- perhaps through the performance of The Longest Johns, which I believe was the source of Nathan Evans? -- that Colquhoun's book melody morphed into what we're hearing on the airwaves now.

Returning to the earlier melodies: Given the facts I have presented (I may have made a mistake), does anyone think Frank Woods sang a melody for "Wellerman"? If so, how can you explain how Tommy Wood sang one melody in 1971 and Colquhoun noted another in 1972? To be fair, both melodies have a similar contour. If I heard a performance just once and later tried to recall it very imperfectly, I might end up inadvertently creating a "different" melody. Yet Colquhoun had oversight on the album on which Tommy Wood sang; he signed off on it.

I conclude that some kind of hanky-panky was going on. The 1971 album, I believe was in the works prior to that year, perhaps making it unlikely or impossible that Tommy Wood was under the influence of "The Lightning Tree" (TV theme)—though I'd like to know what month in 1971 the album was recorded (before or after June?). That said, Colquhoun's book melody is more similar to "The Lightning Tree" (being at least in minor) and came after its existence on the pop charts. Subjectively, Colquhoun's book melody sounds like a hybrid of Tommy Wood's version and "The Lightning Tree."

I hope I've demonstrated that
1) an influence of "The Lightning Tree" is not far-fetched
2) the possibility that Colquhoun, or an associate, made up or re-invented the melody for "Wellerman" is a real possibility
3) it's possible that Frank Woods did not give "Wellerman" as a song, but rather as a poem -- or even part of a poem that Colquhoun fleshed out with more verses

Is "The Wellerman" a "fakesong"? Maybe, maybe not. If by fakesong we mean largely (not totally) contrived by a folkie, then there's a good possibility. If the song existed prior to the folkie treatment, then not, but still be can much better imagine a limited, unilinear practice of the song (i.e. by only one or a few individuals) that makes it hard to honesty imagine it was a "folk" song (i.e. part of a diffuse tradition in the hands of many people over an extended time).

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 18 May 21 - 04:29 AM

Additional info / clarifications / corrections:

I now see that "John Smith, AB" was included in Colquhoun's 1965 anthology. If, as it's reported (from where?) he got "John Smith" and "Wellerman" from Frank Woods, and the meeting with Frank Woods was in 1966 or 1969, this would mean someone else was around to offer "John Smith" OR the reportage about Frank Woods is incorrect.

Michael Brown says that Phil Garland (a Colquhoun collaborator) had recorded "John Smith" in 1967. Yet he also notes that the 1972 anthology *says* it was collected from Frank Woods. That would necessitate the Woods interview being in 1966, while Brown's writing elsewhere implies to me that he subscribes to the 1969 date (?). Brown attributes authorship of "John Smith" jointly to DH Rogers and Colquhoun. It also appears as a poem in a 1906 collection. Brown confirms that "John Smith" was collected as an "oral recitation" by Colquhoun, not as a song, and that Colquhoun supplied a melody and turned it to a song. This all suggests that the attribution to Frank Woods is incorrect (unless Colquhoun interviewed him twice?) -- I still don't know who said Frank Woods learned both this song AND "Wellerman" from his uncle. If that was a mistake, then the attempt to trace "Wellerman" back as a partner of "John Smith" has no leg to stand on.

_Song of a Young Country_, the album, was released in December of 1971. "The Lightening Tree" charted at #36 in October 1971. The second/revised edition of Colquhoun's anthology was published in mid-1972.

Much more on Colquhoun's philosophy and practice are in Dr. Michael Brown's M.A. thesis of 2006, "‘There’s a Sound of Many Voices in the Camp and on the Track’: A Descriptive Analysis of Folk Music Collecting in New Zealand, 1955-1975"

Subject: RE: Origin: Soon May the Wellerman Come
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 May 21 - 10:44 AM

Great piece of research, Gibb. You've got me convinced. Basically Colquhoun was the New Zealand Bert Lloyd.