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/2021/08/folk-songs-ao-year-2021-22.html 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 --- Thanks for watching! Support us at https://www.patreon.com/folksandhymns