| Author | Topic: Add: The Greenland Fishery | |
| dmcg | Posted - 13 Feb 03 - 01:37 pm | |
Greenland Fishery In seventeen hundred and ninety-four, On March the twentieth day; We hoist our colours to the mast, And for Greenland bore away, brave boys! And for Greenland bore away. We were twelve gallant men aboard And to the North did steer. Old England left we in our wake, We sailors knew no fear, brave boys! We sailors knew no fear. Our boatswain to the mast-head went, Wi' a spy glass in his had, he cries, A whale! A whale doth blow, She blows at every span, brave boys! he blows at every span. Our captain of the master deck, (A very good man was he), Overhaul! Overhaul! and let the boat-tackle fall, And launch your boat to sea, brave boys! And launch your boat to sea. Our boat being launched, and all hands in, The whale was full in view, Resolved was then each seaman bold To steer where the whale-fish blew, brave boys! To steer where the whale-fish blew. The whale was struck, and the line paid out, She gave a flash of her tail; The boat capsized, and we lost four men, And never caught the whale, brave boys! And never caught the whale. Bad news we to the Captain brought, The loss of four men true. A sorrowful man was our Captain then, And the colours down he drew, brave boys! And the colours down he drew. The losing of this whale said he, Doth grieve my heart full sore; But the losing of four gallant men Doth hurt me ten times more, brave boys! Doth hurt me ten times more. The winter star doth now appear, So, boys, the anchor weigh; 'Tis time to leave the cold country, And for England bear away, brave boys! And for England bear away. For Greenland is a barren place, A land where grows no green; But ice and snow, and the whale-fish blow, And the daylight's seldom seen, brave boys! And the daylight's seldom seen! Database entry is here. | ||
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 13 Feb 03 - 01:57 pm | |
Thanks for that one Dave. I like the song but for total drift, it reminds me of when I was one of the "Rambling Boys" - the resident group and organisers of the Llandudno Folk Club. Arthur used to miss one full beat out after "brave boys", a feat I never could manage, and Aurthur was quite oblivios to the fact he was doing it! Used to be quite fun for Mike and I to try to get back in... Mike Hand (sadly RIP) and I used to be bad at not paying attention to Arthur who normally did the singing - I can't count the number of times on this and a couple of other songs that we would look at one another, relaise that we were in perfect time together but Arthur was elsewhere in the song - those were the days! Jon | ||
| Mr Happy | Posted - 14 Feb 03 - 11:42 am | |
here's another version: THE LOSING OF THE WHALE (D. Nudds & C. Sugden: Kipper Family) In eighteen hundred and forty six On March the fourteenth day I bought myself a calendar Oh! For we were bound away, Brave boys Oh! For we were bound away We sailed from Tacky Guano And followed the seabirds flight For we were hunting whales me boys Oh! At least we thought we might, Brave boys Oh! At least we thought we might We sailed for three long days and nights But saw no whales at all Then the mate went up the mast to look While our captain went up the wall We sailed for four more days and nights And still we had no luck Till a whale came up for air me boys And the mate cried there she sucks The whale she lashed her tail me boys One man on deck took a glancing blow But not so bad as our captain For he was wounded down below Now the first to throw his harpoon out Was Valparaiso Luke He hit her in the tail me boys But they said that was a fluke Now we went in with our blubber hooks And the whale sank down below We caused her for to vomit boys And the mate cried there she throws Now we hauled that whale on deck me boys Midst many hearty cries But that fish it was so huge me boys That our vessel did capsize Our captain with remorse was filled Likewise with water too I?ll no more hunt the whale he cried If that?s the last thing I don?t do I?ll ne?er more hunt the whale he cried And what?s more he was right For the heavy seas bore down on him And they took him from our sight And soon likewise we all were drowned None lived to tell the tale Not one of us survived to tell How it was we lost that whale | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 14 Feb 03 - 02:53 pm | |
Roud 347 Laws K21 This version appeared in Baring Gould's A Garland of Country Song, 1895; the editor commented: "The Greenland Fishery is a very old song, and exists in several variants. It has been adapted to several captains with their unsuccessful fishings. The earliest Greenland Fishery is the black-letter ballad reprinted in A Collection of Old Ballads, 1725, vol. iii, p. 172, which is in a different metre, and was set to the tune of Hey to the Temple. It is not in ballad metre at all, nor are the incidents the same. Our Greenland Fishery appears as a Catnach ballad, and in The Mavis, Glasgow, circa 1820. It is still reprinted by Mr. Such among his broadsides. The number in his collection is 292. Sometimes the ballad begins: We may no longer stay on shore, Since deep we are in debt, So off to Greenland let us steer, Some money, boys, to get. There are more verses than we give, thirteen or fourteen. In The Mavis only nine; in Catnach's broadside the year of the voyage is 1824, and there are twelve verses. So also Such's, which is a mere reproduction of Catnach's. In some versions taken down orally the names of the captain and vessel have been brought in, as:- John Pagent was the Captain's name, Our ship the Lion bold; We weighed our anchor at the stern, To face the storm and cold; And the port from which she sails is also mentioned:- Now when we lay at Liverpool, Our good-like ship to man, Then all our names were written down, And we were bound for cold Greenlan'. The misadventure of the men in the boat is also varied. The melody is not very original, but pleasant; and it is known throughout England, especially on the sea-coast, and wherever seamen are engaged on the Greenland fishery. The air is always the same. We have taken down half-a-dozen variants, but the variations are very slight. It is singular that this well-known song should not have found a place in Mr. Kidson's collection from Yorkshire, nor in Mr. Stokoe's from Northumberland, as The Greenland Fishery is certainly well-known in the ports of Hull and Newcastle." -A Garland of Country Song, 1895; reprinted Llanerch Press, 1998. Copies of the Catnach broadside referred to can be seen at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads: Whale Fishery Editions by other printers: Greenland [Whale] Fishery Whale Fishing In The Everlasting Circle (1960) James Reeves quotes a much longer text from Baring Gould's MS collection. It was noted from R. Gregory at Two Bridges, January 1890. Reeves notes: "In his Garland Baring Gould prints an emended and abridged text. At least two quite different songs with this title appeared on broadsides. No conclusions can be drawn from the date given in stanza 2, which appears to be entirely arbitrary. B-G's printed text, for example, gives "March 20, 1794". A version given by Sharp in Folk Songs from Somerset, III, 1906, gives "March 18, 1861"." On the subject of date and location, Roy Palmer (Boxing the Compass, 2001, p.171) comments: "The song may well have existed before 1794 but the earliest extant versions begin: It was in the year of 'ninety four In March the twentieth day Our gallant tars their anchor weighed And for sea they bore away. It was updated as it continued to be sung, and dates between 1801 and 1901 occur in later texts. Even though Greenland whaling was in steady decline after 1830, largely because of over-fishing, the song continued to be popular, both ashore and afloat... The mention of Liverpool is interesting, for although this was the most important whaling port on the west coast in the late eighteenth century, with twenty-one ships, it declined to only two by the early nineteenth." The song has been found quite widely in England, the USA, Canada and Scotland (where it is frequently sung to a different tune). | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 14 Feb 03 - 04:00 pm | |
Thanks for entering all the A Garland of Country Song notes, Malcolm - I got distracted! | ||
| Abby Sale | Posted - 15 Feb 03 - 03:24 pm | |
I like this song among other reasons, for being the Most Dated song we have. June 13, 1853 (Botkin & DigTrad) March 17, 1849 (Lomax) March 2, 1844 (Ives) 1824 (Lloyd) March 20, 1801 (Eckstorm & Greig) August 14, 1864 (Watersons) May 5, 1873 (Eckstorm- latest date I personally have. I'd be interested in that 1901 ref.) March 17, 1784 (in DT, from Bob Pfeffer, source's source: Journal, Bengal, 1833) AND March 14, 1846 (Kippers) (We can see that March is a preferred month. I know nothing of actual seasons for whale fishing, though.) Per the notewriter (Tony Engle?) on _Blow the Man Down_ CD, Greenland whales were fished out by 1830. Further, the song existed as a broadside 1725. Eckstorm suggests that the reason for this flexibility in dating is a custom of changing the date in this song to the one on which the ship sailed on which the song was being sung in the instance. (I'm having a grammer, senior moment here.) | ||
| nutty | Posted - 26 Nov 05 - 09:12 pm | |
I have found another Bodleian Broadside of a related song here A new song in praise of the Greenland Fishery Unfortunately it lacks a date. Edited By nutty - 26 Nov 05 - 09:16 pm | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 27 Nov 05 - 12:18 am | |
Related in terms of subject matter, of course, rather than being related as a song. The tune specified, Alley Croaker (various other spellings are known), has its name from a song ascribed to Larry Grogan, an Irish piper and stage performer of the first half of the 18th century. Unusually for claims made (or repeated) by Wm Grattan Flood, it appears that this is probably true. See the late Bruce Olsen's comments at http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/Olson/SONGTXT1.HTM#ALYCRKR. The tune seems to have been in print by 1730 (it has been reported, though only anecdotally, to have been written c.1725), which would date the broadside at no earlier than the late 1720s; it may, of course, be later than that. I should have mentioned that Roy Palmer (Boxing the Compass, 2001, pp 98-100) prints the older Collection of Old Ballads text; it is not related to those quoted here. | ||
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