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A 19th-century whaling ballad or folk song from New Zealand, not technically a sea shanty.
UK-born Weller Brothers Edward, George and Joseph emigrated to Sydney in 1829 and founded a whaling station at Otakou near modern Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand. The Weller brothers sold provisions to whalers in New Zealand from their base at Otakou. Their employees became known as "wellermen".
Recently and famously made popular on the internet by Nathan Evans
Another version here is The Hacker Sea Shanty.
UK-born Weller Brothers Edward, George and Joseph emigrated to Sydney in 1829 and founded a whaling station at Otakou near modern Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand. The Weller brothers sold provisions to whalers in New Zealand from their base at Otakou. Their employees became known as "wellermen".
Recently and famously made popular on the internet by Nathan Evans
Another version here is The Hacker Sea Shanty.
Soon May the Wellerman Come
by trad
There [Em] once was a ship that put to sea
The [Am] name of the ship was the [Em] Billy of Tea
The [Em] winds blew up, her bow dipped down
Oh [B] blow, my bully boys, [Em] blow (ho!)
(Chorus
[C] Soon may the [G] Wellerman come
[Am] To bring us sugar and [Em] tea and rum
[C] One day, when the [G] tonguing is done
We'll [B] take our leave and [Em] 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 (huh)
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 (huh)
No line was cut, no whale was freed
The captain's mind was not of greed
And he belonged to the Whaleman's creed
She took that ship in tow (huh)
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 (huh)
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 (huh)
Chorus x2
The [Am] name of the ship was the [Em] Billy of Tea
The [Em] winds blew up, her bow dipped down
Oh [B] blow, my bully boys, [Em] blow (ho!)
(Chorus
[C] Soon may the [G] Wellerman come
[Am] To bring us sugar and [Em] tea and rum
[C] One day, when the [G] tonguing is done
We'll [B] take our leave and [Em] 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 (huh)
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 (huh)
No line was cut, no whale was freed
The captain's mind was not of greed
And he belonged to the Whaleman's creed
She took that ship in tow (huh)
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 (huh)
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 (huh)
Chorus x2