The Wellerman
Traditional, c. mid-1800s | Ballad Index Colq010
Lryics:
There once was a ship that put to sea
And the name of that ship was the Billy o’ Tea
The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down
Blow, me bully boys, blow
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguing’ is done
We’ll take our leave and go
She had 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
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguing’ is done
We’ll take our leave and go
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 below
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguing’ is done
We’ll take our leave and go
No line was cut, no whale was freed
An’ the captain’s mind was not on greed
But he belonged to the Whaleman’s creed
She took that ship in tow
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguing’ is done
We’ll take our leave and go
For forty days or even more
The line went slack then tight once more
All boats were lost, there were only four
And still that whale did go
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguing’ is done
We’ll take our leave and 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
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguing’ is done
We’ll take our leave and go
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguing’ is done
We’ll take our leave and go
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About the Song:
“The Wellerman” is a whaling ballad from New Zealand with no known author. This song dates back to the mid-1800s and was most likely first collected in 1966 by New Zealand teacher and folk song compiler Neil Colquhoun for his 1967 book Shanties By the Way: A Selection of New Zealand Popular Songs and Ballads with Rona Bailey and Bert Roth published by Whitcombe & Tombs in Christchurch.
The term “Wellerman” was used to refer to anyone working for the Weller Bros, a Sydney, Australia and Otago, NZ shore-whaling company that operated heavily off the Southern New Zealand coast from 1830-1840. According to American folklorist Gordon Bok, “They were paid in staples, not money, so many of them never made enough to return home and ended up farming or fishing on the little islands upon which they were ‘set down’.” (And So Will We Yet liner notes, 1990) Interestingly, there is no record of a ship named “The Billy o’ Tea” ever being under the employment of the Weller Bros.
A “billy” is Australian slang for a makeshift kettle used for boiling water to make tea. Tonguing refers to the tonguers, the shore-whaler responsible for butchering the whale after it had been caught and brought ashore. Tonguers got their name because they would carve everything of the whale carcass except for the tongues.