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The Bonnie Ship the Diamond


This song tells of the whaling ship "The Diamond",
which sailed for the Davis Straits in 1812.
She was lost in the ice in 1819. This tune
was not a working shanty, but a song of the sea.

Music by - Noel McLoughlin


Lyrics

The Diamond is a ship, my lads,
for the Davis Strait she's bound,
And the Quay it is all garnished
with bonny lasses round;
Captain Thompson gives the order
to sail the ocean wide,
Where the sun it never sets, my lads,
nor darkness dims the sky.
So it's cheer up, my lads,
Let your hearts never fail,
For the bonny ship, The Diamond,
goes a-fishing for the whale.

Along the quay at Peterhead,
the lasses stand around,
Wi' their shawls all pulled about them
and the salt tears running down;
Don't you weep, my bonny lass,
though you be left behind,
For the rose will grow on Greenland's ice
before we change our mind.
So it's cheer up, my lads,
Let your hearts never fail,
For the bonny ship, The Diamond,
goes a-fishing for the whale.

Here's health to The Resolution,
likewise The Eliza Swan,
Here's health to The Battler of Montrose
and The Diamond, ship of fame;
We wear the trousers of the white
and the jackets of the blue,
When we return to Peterhead
we'll ha'e sweethearts enoo.
So it's cheer up, my lads,
Let your hearts never fail,
For the bonny ship, The Diamond,
goes a-fishing for the whale.

It'll be bright both day and night
when the Greenland lads come hame,
With a ship thats fu' o' oil, my lads,
and money to our name;
We'll make the cradles for to rock
and the blankets for to tear,
And every lass in Peterhead sing,
"Hushabye, my dear".
So it's cheer up, my lads,
Let your hearts never fail,
For the bonny ship, The Diamond,
goes a-fishing for the whale.



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