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Title
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Whale fishers
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Singer
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Haydon, Shadrach [Shepherd]
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Song Lyrics
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Verse 1
In eighteen hundred and twenty one,
On the twenty third of May,
We hoisted our colours to our topmast head,
And for Greenland bore away.
Verse 2
When we came unto Greenland,
Our ship we were forced to mend,
For the heavy waves fell on her side,
And stripped it from end to end.
Verse 3
Our captain stood on the quarterdeck -
A very good man was he:
'Overhaul, overhaul. Let your heavy tackle fall,
And launch your boats for sea.'
Verse 4
The boat was launched and the hands jumped in,
The whale fish appeared in view,
And it was resolved by the whole of us,
To steer where the whale fish blew.
Verse 5
The spear being launched, and the line paid out,
She gave a lash with her tail,
She capsized the boat and we lost five men,
And we did not catch that whale.
Verse 6
Now Greenland is a barren place,
Neither night nor day to be seen,
But cold ice and snow, and the whale fish to blow,
And daylight seldom seen.
