Whaling Songs

The rise and fall of whaling expeditions in the mid-1800s saw a unique class of songs emerge. The large crews aboard a whaling ship obviated the need for hauling shanties. Windlass songs were used for hauling blubber and other daily chores, and whalers were the originators of many forebitters and ballads. Of all sailing, whaling may be the hardest and most hazardous, and the tone of many whaling songs was set by this fact.