A traditional song appearing in print as early as 1820,[1] although Sabine Baring-Gould, writing in 1895,[2] suggests an antecedent in "The Greenland Voyage", published in an anonymous 1725 volume titled A Collection of Old Ballads.[3]
Like Bonny Ship the Diamond, this song focuses on the whaling industry around Greenland, but takes a much less cheery tone, telling the story of an unsuccessful hunt that results in the deaths of several sailors. The song has been performed by countless folk artists over the years, perhaps most famously by Ewan MacColl and A. L. Lloyd.
The Longest Johns released their version as track 8 on Voyage.
Factoids[]
The date mentioned in the first verse does not appear to correspond to any specific historical event, and often changes between versions.
Crosstrees are a pair of horizontal spars (wooden bars) attached to an upper portion of a sailing ship's mast; they serve as anchors for the rigging that supports the higher up part(s) of the mast.[4]
Overhaul in this context means to slacken a rope by pulling in the opposite direction of hoisting.[5] Davits are cranes mounted in pairs on a ship, used to suspend or lower small boats,[6] and tackle here refers to the ropes and pulleys used to operate them.[7] So all together, the captain is ordering the sailors to loosen the ropes on the davits and thus lower the boats to go after the whale.
Lyrics[]
As performed on Voyage.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-six
On June the thirteenth day
We hoisted our colours to the top of the mast
And for Greenland bore away
(Brave boys, for Greenland bore away)
Well, the lookout on the crosstrees stood
A spy-glass in his hand
"There's a whale, there's a whale, there's a whalefish!" he cried,
"And she blows at every span!"
(Brave boys, and she blows at every span!)
{Chorus}
For Greenland is a hell of a place
It's a place that's never green
Where there's ice and there's snow and the whalefishes blow
And the daylight's seldom seen, brave boys
The daylight's seldom seen
Our Captain stood on the quarterdeck
A gallant man was he
"Overhaul, overhaul, let your davit tackles fall,
And we launch our boats to sea."
(Brave boys, we launch our boats to sea)
Well, the harpoon struck and the line paid out
But she gave a flourish with her tail
And the boat capsized and we lost seven men
And we ne'er did catch that whale
(Brave boys, and we ne'er did catch that whale)
{Chorus}
Now the losing of those seven brave men
It grieved the captain sore
But the losing of that bloody great whale
It grieved him ten times more
(Brave boys, it grieved him ten times more)
{Chorus 2x}
Recordings[]
Stream/Purchase[]
YouTube Videos[]
Full Band Streams[]
- The Longest Johns and Friends, April. w/Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith (30 Apr 2019)
- Welcome to a New Decade with The Longest Johns (22 Jan 2020)
- Stream America (15 Mar 2022)
- Davestream Beleaver (30 May 2023)
Gaming Streams[]
- ↑ https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/LK21.html
- ↑ http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/186.html
- ↑ https://books.google.com.gh/books?id=hVEJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA172#v=onepage&q&f=false
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosstrees
- ↑ "Overhaul, V., Sense 1." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/4260035723.
- ↑ "Davit, N." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, September 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1161123390.
- ↑ "Tackle, N., Sense 2.a." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, September 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3175277146.