Greenland Whale Fisheries

{{Short description|International musical composition}}

{{about|the folk song|whaling in Greenland|Whaling#Greenland}}

{{Listen|filename=Greenland Fisheries.ogg|title=Greenland Fisheries|description=Tune for Greenland Fisheries}}

"Greenland Whale Fisheries" (also called "The Greenland Whale Fishery", "Sperm Whale Fishery", or "The Ballad of the Greenland Whalers") is a traditional sea song, originating in the West Indies but known all over the Atlantic ocean.{{Cite web |title=The Greenland Whale Fishery (Roud 347; Laws K21; G/D 1:9) |url=https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/thegreenlandwhalefishery.html |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=mainlynorfolk.info}} In most of the versions collected from oral sources, the song opens up giving a date for the events that it describes (usually between 1823 and 1853). However, the song is actually older than this and a form of it was published as a ballad before 1725.R. Vaughan Williams & A.L. Lloyd (editors): The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, Penguin Books, 1959. p.115 It has been given a Roud number of 347.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vwml.org/roudnumber/347|title=Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Roud 347 entry|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}

The song tells of a whaling expedition that leaves for Greenland. The lookout spots a "whalefish", and harpoon boats are launched. However, the whale strikes the boat with its tail, capsizing it, and several men are killed. The captain grieves over losing his men, but especially for having lost his prey. He then orders the ship to sail for home, calling Greenland a "dreadful place".

Like most traditional songs, "Greenland Whale Fisheries" exists in different versions.e.g. Vaughan Williams & Lloyd p.50. Version collected by Anne G. Gilchrist from the singing of W. Bolton, Southport, Lancashire, 1906 Some change details (such as the date of the expedition), and others add or remove verses. Some modern versions, including the ones recorded by Judy Collins and Theodore Bikel, The Chad Mitchell Trio, and later by The Pogues, flip the captain's expression of grief to make him regret losing his catch even more than losing his crew.

In the version popularized by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and Mary, a shanty recorded by Alan Lomax from a Bahamian fisherman{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bahamas-1935-chanteys-anthems-from-andros-cat-mw0000602802|title = Bahamas 1935: Chanteys & Anthems from Andros & Cat - Alan Lomax | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|website = AllMusic}} is appended, which begins, "When the whale gets strike, and the line run down, and the whale makes a flounder with her tail, and the boat capsized, and we lost our darling man, No more, no more Greenland for you you, Pray Boys, No more, no more Greenland for you."...."Check-list of Recorded Songs in the English Language in the Archive of Folk Song, United States Work Projects Administration. District of Columbia - 1942,Page 435

Folk singer Paul Kaplan recorded a song with the same tune under the title "Call Me the Whale". Following a similar chronology, it tells the story from the whale's perspective.[http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiCALLWALE.html Call Me the Whale Lyrics]

In the Futurama episode "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz", Bender, in an ironic state of soberness, sings a snippet of the song.

The Greenland Whalefishers, a Celtic punk band from Norway, is named after the song.