Greenland Whale Fisheries - Traditional
In eighteen hundred and fifty-six
On June the 13th day
Our gallant ship her anchor weighed
And for Greenland bore away, brave boys
And for Greenland bore away
Our lookout on the crosstrees stood
With a spyglass in his hand
It's a whale, It's a whale
It's a whalefish he cried
And .he blows at every span, bravp boys
And she blows at every span
Our captain stood on the quarterdeck
And a grand old man was he
Overhaul, overhaul, let your davit tackles fall
And lower your boats to the sea, brave boys
And lower your boats to the sea
We struck that whale and the I ine paid out
Then he made a flounder with his tall
And the boat capsized and four men were drowned
And we never caught that whale, brave boys
And we never caught that whale
The losing of those gallant men
It grieved our captain full sore
But the losing of that hundred-barrel whale
It grieved him ten times more, brave boys
It grieved him ten times more
Oh, Greenland is an awful place
A place that's never green
Where there's ice and snow and the whalefishes blow
And daylight's seldom seen, brave boys
And daylight's seldom seen