Colcord, in Roll and Go, explains that this song arose in the British whaling trade, probably in the latter part of the eighteenth century. In earlier British versions, such as that presented by Masefield, the Lion is captained by Speedicutt. Captain Whall borrowed the name from Masefield, having forgotten the name as he'd heard it, but the rest of his lyrics differ considerably.
"Whalefish" was the jargon preferred over "whale" by Scottish whalers. In this they followed the Dutch and German fishermen, whose term was "walfisch."
"Span" was the technical word for the duration from one rise of the whale to the next, and hence the whale "blew" every time it came to the surface.
Frank Shay gives a short disccusion of American sailor attitude towards European superstition. In general, the American was rather impatient, but he evidently accepted the belief that beginning a voyage on a Friday was temping Fate. Tales of mermaids, a traditional omen of good luck, were generally rejected. Curiously, the two omens were combined in a verse Shay gives:
On Friday morning we set sail,
And our ship was not far from land,
When there we saw a pretty maid,
With a comb and glass in her hand, brave boys,
With a comb and glass in her hand.
'Twas in eighteen hundreed 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 in the crosstrees stood,
With his 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,
And a fine little man was he.
"Overhaul! Overhaul! Let your davit-tackles fall,
And launch your boats for sea, brave boys,
And launch your boats for sea."
Now the boats were launched and the men aboard,
And the whale was in full view;
Resolv-ed was each seaman bold
To steer where the whalefish blew, brave boys,
To steer where the whalefish blew.
We struck that whale, the line paid out,
But 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 the boat," our captain said,
"It grieves my heart full sore;
But oh! to lose four gallant men,
It grieves me ten times more, brave boys,
It grieves me ten times more."
"The winter star doth now appear,
So, boys, we'll anchor weigh;
It's time to leave this cold country,
And homeward bear away, brave boys,
And homeward bear away."
Oh, Greenland is a dreadful place,
A land that's never green,
Where there's ice and snow, and the whalefishes blow,
And the daylight's seldom seen, brave boys,
And the daylight's seldom seen.
O, 'twas in the year of ninety-four,
and of June the second day,
That our gallant ship her anchor weighed,
and from Stromnees bore away, brave boys!
And from Stromnees bore away!
Now Speedicut was our captain's name,
And our ship the Lion bold,
And we were bound to far Greenland,
To the land of ice and cold - brave boys
To the land of ice and cold.
And when we came to far Greenland,
And to Greenland cold came we,
Where there's ice, and there's snow, and the whalefishes blow,
We found all open sea - brave boys
We found all open sea.
Then the mate he climbed to the crow's nest high,
With his spy-glass 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,
She blows at every span.
Our captain stood on his quarter-deck,
And a fine little man was he.
"Overhaul, overhaul, on your davit tackle fall,
And launch your boats to sea" - brave boys
And launch your boats to the sea.
Now the boats were launched and the men a-board,
With the whalefish full in view;
Resol-ved were the whole boat's crews
To steer where the whalefish blew - brave boys,
To steer where the whalefish blew.
And when we reached that whale, my boys,
He lashed out with his tail,
And we lost a boat, and seven good men,
And we never caught that whale - brave boys,
And we never caught that whale.
Bad news, bad news, to our captain came,
That grieved him very sore,
But when he found that his cabin-boy was gone,
Why it grieved him ten times more - brave boys,
It grieved him ten times more.
O, Greenland is an awful place,
Where the daylight's seldom seen,
Where there's ice, and there's snow, and the whalefishes blow,
Then adieu to cold Greenland - brave boys,
Adieu to cold Greenland.