The Wellerman

AO Folksong - OCTOBER 2021

Sometimes a song doesn't WANT to be accompanied by acoustic guitar. And also, sometimes one does not have a whaling seaman's voice, so we had to get creative with this one. 😉 We had just a couple of days by the time we figured that out, and this is what we came up with! Hope you enjoy this little something different. 🙃 Background, lyrics, and links to other (more) excellent versions at https://archipelago7.blogspot.com/202...

THE WELLERMAN
New Zealand Whaling Song

There once was a ship that put to sea
The name of the ship was the Billy of Tea
The winds blew up, her bow dipped down
O blow, my bully boys, blow
 
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
 
She’d 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 low
  
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 that 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 that 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

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