The Wellerman

Context for the popular whalers' song / sea shanty*

Imagine a tiny outpost on an island 1000s of miles from your home, a few roughly built huts close to a beach, rowboats hauled up on the sand. It's winter and inside, sailors are gathered around a fire drinking rum, smoking their clay pipes, telling stories and singing. These men are whalers, accustomed to a tough life and dangerous, unpleasant work. They sing to cheer themselves in the grim conditions. Their life has few pleasures, but one high point is the appearance of the supply ship. When you sing "The Wellerman", you are one of these whalers.

The song has passed many times from person to person, each time learned by ear, resulting in several versions and a little confusion in the story. However, I'm able to, from my years of research into particularly offshore whaling, provide some background and meanings to terminology that should help the song make sense.

 - Who was the Wellerman?

In the late 18th and 19th centuries, whaling was a lucrative business. The Weller brothers, Edward, Joseph and George, were a 19th century Sydney based whaling company that operated bay whaling stations on the coast of New Zealand, at Otago Harbour. It's not clear whether "the Wellerman" refers to the company ship or the "man from Weller" who brought the supplies, but it doesn't matter, it amounts to the same thing. Historical records don't mention a ship owned by Wellers called the Wellerman, though they did have one called the Joseph Weller. Whatever its name, the supply ship was eagerly awaited by the isolated whale hunters.

The song begins:

There once was a ship that put to sea
The name of the ship was the Billy o' Tea

The story told in the song is about pelagic, or deep-sea whaling, which was conducted from a specially fitted-out ship. When a whale was sighted, whaleboats were lowered and went in pursuit.

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

 The "right" whale simply meant the right one to catch because it yielded the most or the best kind of oil. Today, we still call one species the "Southern Right Whale". A whaling ship would have hoisted the whale onto the deck for processing - cutting up and rendering down the blubber, or fat layer of the beast. Presumably the ship would tow the whale to calmer waters first. Huge pots of boiling oil would be disastrous in rough seas.

Blow, my bully boys, blow

The first sighting of a whale was often the plume of spray emitted from the blowhole on top of its head. Lookouts really did call "There she blows!" when this was sighted. Whalers earned a percentage of the sale of the oil, known as a "lay", so they were very keen for the hunt and no doubt waited impatiently for the lookout's call. It would not be surprising if the last line of the Wellerman's chorus was originally "We'll take our lay and go".**

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum 

One day, when the tonguin' is done

We'll take our leave and go

 

"Tonguing" refers to the process of cutting up the whale blubber into long sections called tongues. The tongues were cut into smaller pieces before boiling down in the try-pots. (Trying was an old term for "rendering" or melting down of ore.) Men who did this work were called "tonguers".

 

The chorus of the song is about bay whaling, the kind conducted by the Weller brothers at Otago Bay. It was seasonal work. Winter was whaling season in southern waters (Southern Australia, New Zealand and Mauritius). Around May the crew was carried to the location in one of the company's ships at the beginning of the season together with supplies of salt beef, flour, potatoes, pickles, tea, tobacco and rum as well as whaling supplies, tools and building materials. The whalers would be left at the station, the ship would depart and return at intervals to collect barrels of oil and leave further supplies. Shipping being subject to the vagaries of the weather and the captain's skill at navigation, whalers could never be quite sure when the company ship would return. 

Whalers preferred red meat, and would hunt what local fauna there was rather than eat whale. Some whaling stations had a few pigs or sheep and the crew would grow potatoes and other vegetables if the soil was suitable. But "tea, sugar and rum" could not be had locally, neither could tobacco, and when these supplies ran short the whalers would long for the return of the company ship. This lifestyle was more or less common to all off-shore whalers, so the song could have been sung by bay whalers anywhere, substituting the name of their employer, perhaps Hagen or Griffiths, for "Weller".

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

Whaleboats were fitted for both rowing and sailing, about 6-8 men to a boat. On board were the headsman (boss), the boatsteerer (usually the harpoonist) and 4-6 "pulling hands" (oarsmen). When they neared the whale, one or more harpoons with "lines" (ropes) attached would be thrown and lodge in the whale. The whale would then pull the boats behind it as it tried to escape the harpoons, a dangerous time for the sailors as they could be pulled well out to sea and their boats overturned or broken up. The biggest danger was if the while dived into the deep sea, the whaleboat could be pulled under, or a whale thrashing its tail onto the boat could cause injury and destroy the boat. Many hours later the whale would get tired and the whalers could get closer for the kill. If the danger was too great, or the sailors tired before the whale did, the lines would be cut, the whale would be freed and the sailors would return disappointed.

The verses of "The Wellerman" tell of just such a whale hunt, albeit a rather far-fetched one. 

No line was cut, no whale was freed
The Captain's mind was not of greed
But he belonged to the whaleman's creed
She took the ship in tow.

 

What happens in this verse is not quite clear. Perhaps a harpoon has been thrown from the deck of the Billy o' Tea. There seems no other way the whale could take the ship in tow as well as four whaleboats. Nor is it clear what "the whaleman's creed" was. Maybe "hang on for dear life". Though if the captain was not motivated by greed, you would think he might show concern for the lives of his sailors. Perhaps confusion reigned. Anyway, the upshot was that the boats stayed attached to whale.

Now comes the punchline. Throughout the never-ending travails of the Billy o' Tea, the Wellerman still calls to lift their spirits with sugar, tea and rum.

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.

 

Here are the complete lyrics as they appear on folksong.org.nz

 

There was a ship that put to sea, 

The name of the ship was the Billy of Tea   

The winds blew up, her bow dipped down,  

O blow, my bully boys, blow. 

 

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' 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

 

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' 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

 

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go.

 

No line was cut, no whale was freed
The Captain's mind was not of greed
But he belonged to the whaleman's creed
She took the ship in tow.

 

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' 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
But still that whale did go

 

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' 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

 

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go

 

*It's been said that The Wellerman is not strictly a sea shanty. The lively tune and beat make it a more suitable accompaniment for dancing than for hauling ropes.

** Some notes on this song say whalers employed by Wellers were paid in goods, such as clothing, rum and tobacco. It seems to me more likely, and it certainly happened elsewhere, that these items were deducted from their pay and the remainder paid in cash. I can't think such arduous and unpleasant work would be done only for such tobacco and rum as was consumed in a six month season and it's known that many ex-whalers were able to set themselves up in farms or businesses.