SUMMARY: whaling songs
Gary Martin
Here's the long-delayed summary I promised. I hope I finished it,
but if not, it'll probably have to wait until Christmas :-(
In article <MARTIN.92A...@lyra.cis.umassd.edu>
mar...@lyra.cis.umassd.edu (Gary Martin) writes:
>For the last two weeks, I've been reading Moby Dick. [...] Of
>course it got me to thinking about traditional whaling songs, and it
>struck me that I know far fewer than I would have expected.
>The titles (with a key line or two) that came to mind quickly were:
>The Greenland Whale Fishery
> In 18 hundred 53, on June the 13th day
>The Diamond
> The bonnie ship the Diamond she goes fishing for the whale
>The Coast of Peru
> There are plenty of whales on the coast of Peru
>Wings of a Gull
> I would leave old Greenland's icy ground
> for the right whale here is none
>Rolling Down to Old Maui
> Our main mast sprung, our whaling done & we ain't got far to roam
>Blow Ye Winds in the Morning
> They take you to New Bedford that famous whaling port
>A glance at the seven albums of sea songs I found in my
>collection and at the books I have (Doerflinger's
>_Songs_of_the_Sailor_and_Lumberman_, Shay's _An_American_
>_Sailor's_Treasury_, Lomax's _Folk_Songs_of_North_
>_America_, and _Rise_Up_Singing_) didn't increase this
>list much. They reminded me of:
>Blood Red Roses
> And it's all for the sake of them sperm-whales
>This list seems awfully short, considering the size and
>importance of the whaling industry, the complexity and
>danger of the process, and the particular sources I consulted.
>Of course there are plenty of generic shanties and ballads
>that must have been sung aboard whaling ships just as they
>were sung on merchant ships and navy vessels, on all sorts of
>topics, from the task at hand, to shipwrecks, pirates, naval
>battles, slave trade, drinking, womanizing, being the victim
>of drink and women, cruel treatment at sea, bad food, bad
>weather, etc., but where are the songs about the specifics
>of whaling?
>Anybody care to name some others? (I'm not looking for
>contemporary songs like Last Leviathan, Baby Beluga,
>Rubber Blubber Whale, Call Me the Whale, etc.)
[...]
>Gary A. Martin, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, UMass Dartmouth
>Mar...@cis.umassd.edu
Here are the responses I saw - cleaned up a little, with my
comments in brackets
EMAIL RESPONSES
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Date: Mon, 24 Aug 92 11:01:18 EDT
From: "Peter Rayner" <p...@splash.Princeton.EDU>
Let's see, I have a copy of "Leviathan" by Lloyd and Co. which
should increase the list a bit. How about the memory teaser
"when he heard of the loss of the men
his heart was grieved fullsore
but when we told of the loss of the whale
it was half-mast colours all brave boys
it was half mast colours all".
[That's the Greenland Whale Fisheries, probably the best-known
whaling song of all.]
Two more contemporary songs, both on Nick Jones's incomparable
"Penguin eggs" one I think just called "ballina" andthe other the
better known "Little Iron stove".
Let's see now, [Martyn] Wyndham_Read sings a song called,I
think "Bob Mahoney" to the same tune as "Lord Franklin"
is usually performed which I seem to remember as being
about the loss of a Tasmanian whaler, ask him
about it when he comes over. [I will - he's an English emigre
to Australia who will be performing at Eisteddfod, here at
UMass Dartmouth on September 26.]
"the cold coast of Greenland is barren and bare
no seed-time nor harvest is ever known there"
probably isn't as specific as you were wanting.
[It probably is - such a line probably came from
whalers, after all, who else would go to Greenland? :-)]
Anyway, compile a list, I'll be interested as will others I'm sure.
[unrelated paragraph deleted]
--
Peter Rayner Program in Oceanic | "All right, I retract, the
and Atmospheric Sciences Princeton | Honourable Member does *not* have
University | the brains of a monkey." F.Daly
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Date: Mon, 24 Aug 92 08:47:23 -0700
From: dar...@eecs.ucdavis.edu (Richard Darsie)
Some additions to your list:
Farewell to Tarwathie [Suzanne and Rob mentioned this one also.]
Go To Sea No More
[Sometimes we're catching whales, my lads,
and sometimes we're catching none - I should
have thought of that one; I can hear Louis
Killen's and A.L. Lloyd's recordings in my
mind.]
The Whalecatchers (sung by Barrand and Roberts)
[I don't know this one. They haven't recorded it,
have they? I thought I owned all of their recordings.]
Soon May The Wellerman Come
[I don't know this one, nor do I have a source for it,
but see Rob Derrick's response below.]
Richard
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 92 16:05:11 EDT
From: bra...@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (Brandon Brylawski)
One I have enjoyed, which may or may not be titled "John Cook", was
done by Schooner Fare on Closer to the Wind (I think). It starts:
Oh, John Cook
You have taken us to hell
wrapped up in the ice of Baffin Island;
We've been here for a year,
Now the water's coming clear;
Won't you set for home, John Cook without the oil?
[Good - I can't find that in any of the books I've
got, and it feels authentic. I figured that Schooner
Fare would have some, but somehow I haven't been
able to bring myself to buy their recordings.They
leave me kind of cold. For that style of singing, I
much prefer The Boarding Party. Oh well.]
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Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 08:51:59 EDT
From: "Derry, Tony P." <U2...@WVNVM.WVNET.EDU>
could you tell me where i can get a copy of last leviathon?
[leviathan]
[I referred him to recordings by Louis Killen and Kallet,
Epstein, & Cicone. I think Patty Larkin might have recorded
it, but her Newport rendition got a bad review here, and I
vaguely recall not caring for her performance of it either.
I'm sure I've heard several others sing it, too, but I don't
recall who.]
I think thats the name of the song on sheena wellington's album
kerelaw, but i'm not certain. I heard this song performed by
an american folk artist, but i can't remember who it was.
any ideas? thanks tony
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Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 17:49:49 -0300
From: pgwf...@atlas.cs.upei.ca (Wayne Francis)
Ode To Big Blue by Gordon Lightfoot 1972
Wayne F.
pgwf...@atlas.cs.upei.ca
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POSTED RESPONSES
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Date: Mon, 24 Aug 92 14:48:32 GMT
From: suz...@mailhub.scf.lmsc.lockheed.com (Suzanne Barrett)
There's one called "Tarwaithie" or "The Shores of Tarwaithie" about
whaling. I have it on an LP by Liam Clancy. If you're interested,
I can get the lyrics.
[If it's no trouble, and public domain, sure. I can't find it
in the sources I have.]
Suzanne in CA
-----
suz...@mailhub.scf.lmsc.lockheed.com
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Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 03:23:41 GMT
From: j...@world.std.com (Joseph C Fineman)
I can't answer your question, but I can lengthen it a little. Several
whaling songs are mentioned, and quoted from, in another well-known
novel, _Captains Courageous_ by Kipling. One of them, "Wheat in the
Ear", is pretty impressive in the fragments given, and I have always
wished to know it, but I can't find it anywhere, despite much trying.
I wonder if Kipling's notes are extant.
[I think there are fragments given in Moby Dick, as well, but I
didn't recognize them. It's possible that Kipling and/or Melville
made them up. I loaned my copy of M.D. to a friend, so I can't
post the fragments for the net to identify. "Wheat in the Ear"
isn't in the indices of my sources, but see below.]
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Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 12:37:43 GMT
From: jw...@galen.med.Virginia.EDU (Sara J. Wagner)
There's a song called "Wheat in the Ear" on an album called National
Geographic Songs & Sounds of the Sea (which also has a lot of whaling
songs on it, come to think). I don't know anything about the date,
artists, etc. because I just have a tape that a friend gave me.
--
Jane Wagner, Computer Systems and Publications Assistant
The Claude Moore Health Sciences Lib.| INTERNET: jw...@virginia.edu
Box 234, UVA Health Sciences Cente | PHONE: 804-924-0188
Charlottesville, VA 22908 | BITNET: jw...@virginia.bitnet
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Date: 31 Aug 92 13:31:41 GMT
From: ja...@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin)
One people who have some very good whaling songs are the Basques;
polyphonic pieces somewhere between Welsh and Georgian singing
in effect. Their whaling was traditionally done in open boats
rowed out into the Bay of Biscay; that was doing it the hard way.
I don't know where you can get recordings of them; I haven't heard
any for about 15 years.
There are Inuit songs about whaling as well; I haven't heard these.
Now can we have some traditional Canadian worksongs to accompany
clubbing baby seals to death?
[On the off chance that this last remark wasn't tounge-in-cheek,
I should point out that 19th century (and earlier) whaling is
hardly analogous to clubbing baby seals. Back then, unlike today,
it was more-or-less an even fight, whales were plentiful,
little was known about them, and their oil was a daily necessity.
Today, whaling is very much like clubbing baby seals. They
are overmatched, endangered, they are known to be quite high on
the evolutionary scale, and their products are luxury items.
Of course that's not to say that there's nothing worth examining
in clubbing-baby-seals-to-death songs. One can learn from the
songs even though the subject is abhorent. After all, we still
listen to ballads about infanticide, patricide, fratricide, other
murders, war, etc.]
--
-- Jack Campin room G092, Computing Science Department,
Glasgow University,17 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ, Scotland
TEL: 041 339 8855 x6854 (work) FAX: 041 330 4913
INTERNET: ja...@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk or via nsfnet-relay.ac.uk
BANG!net: via mcsun and uknet BITNET: via UKACRL
UUCP: ja...@glasgow.uucp
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Date: Mon, 31 Aug 92 15:32:51 GMT
From: gr...@netcom.com (Greg Bullough)
[replying to Jack Campin's article, preceding]
"Shore Whaling" was quite a common, though relatvely un-remembered,
form of whaling. It took place in virtually all areas where
"whale watching" expeditions now ply their trade.
>Now can we have some traditional Canadian worksongs to accompany
>clubbing baby seals to death?
'Take This Hammer' or any other labor song connected with hammering
should do :-)
Sorry. That was really sick.
Greg
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Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 02:20:46 GMT
From: dal...@epoch.Geop.UBC.CA (David Dalton)
Jim Payne, a well known Newfoundland singer/songwriter, has released
two recordings that may be of interest:
1. The Southern Cross, which contains many songs about sealing
and about sealing disasters which killed hundreds of men.
2. Empty Nets, a recent release with songs about the catastrophe
in the Newfoundland fishery.
They may contain some songs about whaling as well.
They may be ordered from:
SingSong Productions
Station "C"
St. John's NF
A1C 6J9
CANADA
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Date: 3 Sep 92 16:47:11 GMT
From: robd@cherry09 (Robert Derrick)
Since the response to the request for whaling songs has been
so underwhelming, I decided to try and have a look for myself.
Here is what I came up with. The references are as complete
as I know; there may be more info for some of the songs. If
you know it, let me know. If anybody wants any more info
or lyrics of a particular song, let me know. If the response
is low enough, you may actually get it (I already have a couple
on disk already).
rob derrick
---
by The Morgans - this is an album from many years ago, which
was given to me as a tape. I don't know the title of the album,
if there was one, or anything else about these guys.
[We decided a few months back that they are based in
Connecticut and often appear at the Mystic Sea Music Festival.
I don't know their recordings, but have an address if anyone
wants it.]
The Bowhead
I sailed out of Frisco town,
Hi, Ho, the bowhead blow,
To the Artic seas, where the whales abound,
In the land of frost and snow
Paddy O'Brien
a fanciful tale of a landlubber Irishman Jonah'd on a whaler,
swallowed for "six months and five days"
Windy Old Weather
the great fish song adapted for whales -- this is the
modern ecological view
So the leaders of Russia and old Japan
The killing of whales, stop, fast as you can
In this windy old weather, stormy old weather
When the wind blows, we'll all go together
title unknown
a paean to the lure of the whaler
Of a love of adventure, a promise of gold
Or an ardent desire to roam far away
Ever tempted you far o'er the watery world
Away from your kindred and home
---
Mister Eneos - by Gordon Bok (from Peter Kagan)
["Practically verbatim" from a smooth-log of the last whaler
to go out of New Bedford -- this is a smacked by the tail
song - "We saw the flukes comes crashing down where Mister
Eneos had been"]
It was March 29, 1910, the little brig Daisy did sail
The morning was clear and the sea was down,
And we raised a great pod of whale
---
John Cook - by Schooner Fare (from Classic Schooner Fare)
Oh, John Cook, you have taken us to hell
Locked up in the ice off Baffin Island
We've been here for a year, now the water's running clear
Won't you set for home, John Cook, without the oil
---
Rolling Down To Old Maui
two versions - 1. Ian Robb (Hang The Piper), Stan Rodgers (don't
remember which album), et. al.; this is the one
that everybody I meet knows, and 2. a two verse-no chorus
version by A.L. Lloyd (from Leviathan), with a more mournful
tune than the first (if such a thing is possible)
[this was in my original list - two more recordings are:
1. Killen, Warner, Warner, Benson (Steady As She Goes)
2. Dan Roberts (Victory Sings At Sea) (from Stan Hugill's version)]
---
The Wounded Whale - by Archie Fisher (from The Man With The Rhyme)
("Collated from two versions in Gale Huntington's "Songs The
Whalermen Sang... detailed and compassionate description of
the kill..." - this one is my favorite)
Lo, as the sun from her ocean bed was rising
Broad on the water her glittering light throws
Hark, from the masthead our lookouts are crying
Hard on your lee beam, a whale, there she blows
---
The Wellerman - by The Woods Tea Co. (from Alive At The Inn)
these guy's pronunciation is rather muddy so there are many
words that I can only guess at -- the story is strange; anybody
out there can elucidate?
There was a ship that put to sea
And the name of ship was the Billyatee
The winds blew up, her bow did (?)
So blow, me bully boys, blow
Soon may the wellerman come, bring us sugar and tea and rum
Someday, when the (tugging) in done, we'll take our leave and go
---
also:
Two albums dedicated to whaler songs:
---
Whaler Out Of New Bedford - Ewan Macoll, Peggy Seeger, A.L.Lloyd
which includes The Boston Come All Ye, Come All You Tarry New
England Sailors, Tommy's Gone To Hilo, Homeward Bound, The
Bark "Gay Head", Tis Advertised In Boston, The Coast of Peru,
Desolation. Side one is a montage of Whaler songs which is the
soundtrack for a short film about a "panorama", a 1300 foot 'moving
picture' by Benjamin Russel and Caleb Purrington, from the mid 1800's.
The Panorama is currently in the New Bedford Whaling Museum.
---
Leviathan - A.L.Lloyd
which includes The Diamond, Rant and Roar, Farewell To
Tarwathie (another of my favorites), The Trying Out,
The Balena of Dundee, Bound For Greenland
And
Paddy Malony (Caterwauling, Tarpaulin, Harpoonin' and All)
this is the same story as Paddy O'Brien above, in a minor key
with a chorus -- in this one he's in the whale for "six months and
a day", and is spit out a "mile in the air"
Greenland Fishers (this is a more grim but probably
more accurate version)
When the captain heard of the loss of his men
It grieved his heart full sore
But when he heard of the loss of the whale
It was half mast colors all, brave boys
It was half mast colors all
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END OF SUMMARY - REMARKS
________________________________________________________________
Until Rob's response, it was looking like my impression was
right, that there weren't all that many whaling songs around.
I went to the library and got the Oxford Book of Sea Songs,
in which six of the 159 songs were obviously whaling songs,
and perhaps a few others escaped my notice, and Stan Hugill's
Songs Of The Sea, which gives six whaling songs among 120.
Oxford gives one called Cordial Advice, from between 1696 and
1703, with a tune that's been lost. It's mainly about cruel
treatment of sailors. The first two verses are:
You merchant men of Billingsgate, I wonder how you can thrive;
You bargain with men for six months and pay them but for five;
But so long as the water runs under the bridge and the tide doth
ebb and flow,
I'll no more to Greenland sail, no, no, no.
Our drink it is fair water that floweth from the rocks,
And as for other dainties, we eat both bear and fox,
Then boil our biscuits in whale oil all to increase our woe,
But I'll no more to Greenland sail, no, no, no.
Then there's The Greenland Voyage, or The Whale Fisher's Delight.
It was described as old in a publication from the 1720s. The
tune is taken from a song called Hey to the Temple (printed in
the Oxford book, but I don't recognize it). This one is so
graphic [and look at those 7th lines!] that I think I'll type it in:
Why stay we at home now the season is come?
Jolly lads, let us liquor our throats;
Our interest we wrong if we tarry too long.
Then all hands, let us fit out our boats.
Let each man prepare of the tackling his share;
By neglect a good voyage may be lost.
Come, I say, let's away; make no stay or delay,
For the winter brings whales on the coast.
Harry, Will, Robin, Ned, with bold Tom in the head,
And Sam in the stern bravely stands,
As rugged a crew if we give them their due
As ever did take oars in their hands.
Such heroes as these will with blood stain the seas
When they join with their resolute mates,
Who with might void of fright with delight boldly fight
Mighty whales as if they were but sprats.
Come coil in the warp, see the hatchets be sharp,
And make ready the irons and lance;
Each man ship his oar and leave nothing on shore
That is needful the voyage to advance.
See the buoy be made right and the drug fitted right
So that nothing be wanting anon.
Never doubt, but look out round about. There's a spout.
Come away, boys, let's launch if we can.
The suff runs too high, 'twill be down by and by.
Take a slatch to go off, now 'twill do.
Huzza, launch amain, for the sea grows again;
Pull up briskly a stroke, boys, or two.
Ha, well rowed. 'Tis enough. We are clear of the suff.
A yare hand heave out water apace.
There's the whale. That's her back; that looks black. There's
her wake.
Pull away, boys, let's give her a chase.
Ha, well rowed, jolly trouts. Pull away: there she spouts,
And we gain of her briskly, I find.
We're much about her ground, let's take a dram round,
And her rising be sure let us mind.
She's here, just ahead. Stand up, Tom. Pull up, Ned.
We are fast; back astern what ye may.
Hold on lad. I'm afraid she's a jade. She's so mad,
She's a scrag. For your lives, cut away.
Though we have met with misfortune already,
'Tis courage must do, for the proverb you know:
A faint heart never won a fair lady.
Come, this is no disgrace. pull up, lads, another chase.
Our mates will be fast without doubt.
So, what cheer? We are near. She is there. No, she's here,
Just astern. Jolly hearts, pull about.
Pull briskly there, she's risen very fair.
Back astern, it is up to the strap.
Well done, Tom. Bravely throwed. Cheerly, lads, bravely rowed.
'Tis not always we meet with mishap.
Veer out warp; let her run. She will quickly have done.
Well done, mates. 'Twas a brave second stroke.
Now she jerks. Who can work? Veer our warp. She tows sharp.
Hang the blacksmith; our lance is broke.
Pull ahead, haul in warp, for she tows not so sharp,
But's beginning to flounce and to strike.
Fit a lance, let us try if we can by and by,
Give her one gently touch to the quick.
Bravely throwed, jolly lad. She's nothing nigh so mad
As she was. T'other lance may do good.
Well done, Tom. That was home to her womb; makes her foam.
She's sick at the heart; she spouts blood.
The business is done. Lance no more, let's alone.
'Tis her flurry, she is dead as a herring.
Let's take her in tow and all hands stoutly row;
And, mate Sam, prithee mind well thy steering.
And wind begins to blow and the seas bigger grow.
Every man put his strength to his oar.
Leave to prate now 'tis late. Well rowed, mate. Hey for Kate.
She's aground. Cut away. Let's ashore.
Come turn up the boats, let's put on our coats,
And to Ben's: there's a chirruping cup.
Let's comfort our hearts, every man his two quarts,
And tomorrow, all hands to cut up.
Betimes leave your wives, bring your hooks and your knives,
And let none lie abed like a lubber;
But begin with the sun to have done before noon,
That the carts may come down for the blubber.
Oxford also gives Greenland Whale Fisheries, Blow Ye Winds,
Off To Sea Once More, and The Balena.
Hugill gives Rolling Down to Old Maui, Dundee Whalers,
Ruben Ranzo, Et Nous Irons A Valparaiso, Pique La Baleine,
and Eight Bells.
Thanks to all the contributors.
--
Gary A. Martin, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, UMass Dartmouth
Mar...@cis.umassd.edu