Bonnie Ship the Diamond

"Bonnie Ship the Diamond" lyrics and music traditional

Performed by Marc Gunn
from Irish Drinking Songs: A Cat Lover's Companion

 

The Diamond is a ship, my lads
For the Davis Strait we're bound
The quay it is all garnished
With bonnie lasses 'round
Captain Thompson gives the order
To sail the ocean wide
Where the sun it never sets, my lads
Nor darkness dims the sky

* For it's cheer up my lads
Let your hearts never fail
For the bonnie ship the Diamond
Goes a-hunting 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 bonnie wee lass
Though you be left behind
For the rose will grow on Greenland's ice
Before we change our mind

Here's a health to the Resolution
Likewise the Eliza Swan
Three cheers for the Battler of Montrose
And the Diamond, ship of fame
We wear the trousers o' the white
The jackets o' the blue
When we get back to Peterhead
We'll hae sweethearts enou'

It will be bright both day and night
When the Greenland lads come hame
Our ship full up with 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"

Chords: Key Dm

[Dm]The Diamond is a [Am]ship, my lads
For the [Dm]Davis Strait we're [Am]bound
The [Dm]quay it is all [Am]garnished
With [C]bonnie lasses [Dm]'round
Captain Thompson gives the [Am]order
To [Dm]sail the ocean [Am]wide
Where the [Dm]sun it never [Am]sets, my lads
Nor [C]darkness dims the [Dm]sky

[Dm]For it's cheer [C]up my [Dm]lads
Let your hearts never [Am]fail
For the [Dm]bonnie ship the [Am]Diamond
Goes [C]a-hunting for the [Dm]whale

 

Background

An old Scottish song popularized by The Corries. Over-fishing in the Greenland sea during the early 19th century had a devastating toll on the whale stocks. A new hunting ground, the South-West Fishery, was discovered in the region of the Davis Straits and it was mostly here that The Diamond fished. In 1830 The Diamond, Eliza Swan and The Resolution along with seventeen other whaling ships were caught in the ice of Melville Bay. The ships were lost and many sailors lost their lives.

 

Bonnie Ship the Diamond Video

from Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion CD

parody from Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers CD