THE OLD POLINA
Listen:
“The Old Polina”
Lomond Sound
From the album Lomond Sound Live, 2012, orderable from Soundbone.
Person list
Words and tune:
- Traditional
Locations associated with this song:
Background Info:
Gerald S. Doyle collected The Old Polina in the 1940s from Captain Peter Carter and Harry R. Burton of Greenspond, Bonavista Bay. It tells the story of the Dundee whaling ships that, in the 19th century, came to Newfoundland each spring for the seal hunt, after which they headed to Greenland for the whale fishery. The Polynia was a 472 ton vessel launched in 1861. Owned by the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company, it was commanded by Captain William Guy from 1883 until its loss in the summer of 1891 when it was crushed in the ice in Davis Strait. The song refers to the passage from Dundee to St. John's early in 1891 when the ship was damaged in a gale.
Lyrics:
THE OLD POLINA – Traditional
There's a noble fleet of whalers, ‘a sailing from Dundee,
Manned by British sailors to take them o'er the sea.
On a western ocean passage, we started on the trip,
And we flew along just like a song in our gallant whaling ship
Chorus:
For the wind was on her quarter, the engines working free,
There's not another whaler that sails the Arctic Sea
Can beat the old Polina, you need not try my sons,
For we challenged all, both great and small, from Dundee to St John's.
‘Twas the second Sunday morning, just after leaving port,
We met a heavy sou'west gale that washed away our boat;
It washed away our quarterdeck, our stanchions just as well,
And so we set the whole she-bang a-floating in the gale.
Art Jackman set his canvas, “Fairweather” got up steam,
And Captain Guy, the daring boy, came plunging through the stream.
And Mullins in the “Husky” tried to beat the blooming lot;
But to beat the “Old Polina” was something he could not.
There's the noble “Terra Nova:, a model without doubt,
The “Arctic” and “Aurora” they talk so much about;
Art Jackman's model mail boat, the terror of the sea,
Tried to beat the “Old Polina” on a passage from Dundee.
And now we're back in old St. John's where rum is very cheap,
We'll drink a health to Captain Guy who brought us o'er the deep.
A health to all our sweethearts, and to our wives so fair,
Not another ship could make the trip with the “Polina” I declare.
There's a noble fleet of whalers, ‘a sailing from Dundee,
Manned by British sailors to take them o'er the sea.
On a western ocean passage, we started on the trip,
And we flew along just like a song in our gallant whaling ship
Chorus:
For the wind was on her quarter, the engines working free,
There's not another whaler that sails the Arctic Sea
Can beat the old Polina, you need not try my sons,
For we challenged all, both great and small, from Dundee to St John's.
‘Twas the second Sunday morning, just after leaving port,
We met a heavy sou'west gale that washed away our boat;
It washed away our quarterdeck, our stanchions just as well,
And so we set the whole she-bang a-floating in the gale.
Art Jackman set his canvas, “Fairweather” got up steam,
And Captain Guy, the daring boy, came plunging through the stream.
And Mullins in the “Husky” tried to beat the blooming lot;
But to beat the “Old Polina” was something he could not.
There's the noble “Terra Nova:, a model without doubt,
The “Arctic” and “Aurora” they talk so much about;
Art Jackman's model mail boat, the terror of the sea,
Tried to beat the “Old Polina” on a passage from Dundee.
And now we're back in old St. John's where rum is very cheap,
We'll drink a health to Captain Guy who brought us o'er the deep.
A health to all our sweethearts, and to our wives so fair,
Not another ship could make the trip with the “Polina” I declare.