14 Greenland Whale Fisheries 3'23 (trad.) - voorzang Jan Koelman

Een bekende traditionele ballade over de walvisvaart die stamt uit de achttiende eeuw. Er bestaan meerdere versies. In de meer ruwere hiervan betreurt de kapitein vooral het feit dat het niet lukt om de walvis te vangen, met het verlies van een aantal matrozen heeft hij minder moeite.

It Was in eighteen hundred and fifty-three
And of June, the thirteenth day
That our gallant ship her anchor weighed

And for Greenland bore away, brave boys
And for Greenland bore away

The lookout on the cross-tree stood
With a spyglass 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

The captain stood on the quarterdeck
A fine little man was he
Overhaul! Overhaul!
Let your davit-tackles fall

Launch your boats into the sea, brave boys
Launch your boats into the sea

The boats where launched and the men were on board
The whale was in full view
Resolved was each seaman bold

To steer where the whalefish blew, brave boys
To steer where the whalefish blew

We struck that whale, and the line paid out
She gave a flourish with her tail
The boat capsized and four men were drowned

And we never caught that whale, brave boys
And we never caught that whale

To lose that whale, the captain he cried
It grieves my heart full sore
But, oh, to lose four gallant men

Well it grieves me ten times more, brave boys
Well it grieves me ten times more

Koor: Oh, Greenland is a dreadful place
A land that's never green
Where there's ice and snow
And the whale fishes blow
And the daylight's seldom seen, brave boys
And the daylight's seldom seen