Bonny Ship the Diamond, The

Diamond.jpg

This is another fine example of a joyous departure
song. The whalers would bolster their spirits before departing on an
ocean voyage that might take years. The thought of young women waiting
for them, and of new conquests, gave them the courage to continue.
Lyrics:
[Dm] The Diamond is a [C] ship, my lads, for the [Dm] Davis Strait she’s [C] bound,
And the [Dm] quay it is all [C] garnished with [Am] bonny lasses [Dm] ’round;
[Dm] Captain Thompson gives the [C] order to [Dm] sail the ocean [C] wide,
Where the [Dm] sun it never [C] sets, my lads, no [Am] darkness dims the [Dm] sky,

cho: So it’s [Dm] cheer [C] up my [Dm] lads, let your hearts never fail,
While the bonny [C] ship, the [Dm] Diamond, [C] goes [Dm] a-fishing for the whale.

Along the quay at Peterhead, the lasses stand aroon,
Wi’ their shawls all pulled around them and the saut tears runnin’ doon;
Don’t you weep, my bonny lass, though you be left behind,
For the rose will grow on Greenland’s ice before we change our mind.

cho:

Here’s a health to the Resolution, likewise the Eliza Swan,
Here’s a health to the Battler of Montrose and the Diamond, ship of fame;
We wear the trouser o’ the white and the jackets o’ the blue,
When we return to Peterhead, we’ll hae sweethearts anoo,

cho:

It’ll be bricht both day and nicht when the Greenland lads come hame,
Wi’ a ship that’s fu’ of oil, my lads, and money to our name;
We’ll make the cradles for to rock and the blankets for to tear,
And every lass in Peterhead sing ‘Hushabye, my dear’

cho:

� 1998 McGuinn Music – Roger McGuinn