Lexikon

Maritimes

Wellerman

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!

|: Chorus :|
(HUH!) 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.

|: Chorus :|
(HUH!) 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.

|: Chorus :|
(HUH!) 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.

|: Chorus :|
(HUH!) 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.

|: Chorus :|
(HUH!) 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!

|: Chorus :|
(HUH!) 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.

Neuseeländisches Volkslied, Autor unbekannt, Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts

Hintergrundinformationen

Die Weller Bros. war eine Walfanggesellschaft aus Sydney, Australien, die von 1830 bis 1840 hauptsächlich an der Südküste Neuseelands tätig war. Obwohl sie zahlreiche Schiffe besaß, scheint keines den Namen Billy o 'Tea getragen zu haben. Jeder, der bei den Weller Bros. angestellt war, wurde als Wellerman bezeichnet, aber im spezifischen Kontext des Liedes nimmt der Wellerman die Bedeutung eines von der Firma gesendeten Versorgungsschiffs an. Billy ist Slang für einen provisorischen Wasserkocher, mit dem Wasser gekocht wird, um Tee zuzubereiten.