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The Emily Anna ( A Greenhand's Tale )

from So Ends This Day by éilís kennedy

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about

Young men were enticed to the adventure of whaling for many reasons , and often returned from a few years at sea to find their earnings were little or nothing . The greenhand’s “lay “ of the profits was pitifully low .The ambitious lads would hope to rise up the ranks eventually to achieve the prized Captain’s position - if they survived .
The Mariners’ Home in New Bedford was widely known as a safe haven for transient mariners from arriving ships, offering a safe berth, restorative sustenance, and a much-needed rest before the next ocean voyage. The waterfront ,however, teemed with marine industries of every sort , and an infamous bordello known as The Ark was built from the hulk of a retired whaling ship . This area was called The Hard Dig , home to many shady characters and nefarious acts .

Reading Martha Smith’s observations of life aboard a whale ship , her October 28th 1847 journal entry reads thus “two months today since we left home and it would be useless for me to attempt to remember what the Capt. has found to occupy the men on deck everyday since we sailed : such a round of Coopering, Carpentering, Blacksmithing, Corking , Pitching and Taring, Spliceing Stearing oars , making Scotchman , picking oakum and the like I never seed in all my life “

Land sharks = unscrupulous shore agents who procured greenhand whalemen and outfitted them
Scotchman = material placed overt a rope to prevent it from chafing
Picking oakum = loose fibre obtained from untwisting and picking old rope - used for caulking
The oldest form of caulk consisted of fibrous materials driven into the wedge-shaped seams between boards on ships.
Hardtack = unleavened biscuit
Lobscouse = hard bread and salt meat with pepper. Chopped into pieces and boiled. Yummy !

lyrics

5. The Emily Anna (A Greenhand’s Tale)

Words and Music : Eilís Kennedy

I left my old farm in Vermont one fall morning
And made my own way to the Atlantic shore
A seeking employment the world I would travel
The call of the whaler I could not ignore

Down on the harbour the streets were a teeming
With grogshops and parlours and vices galore
I thought of my parents and surely my promise
And wisely took refuge in the Mariners Home

Chorus:
Coopering , carpentry, corking and mending
Blacksmithing , pitching and grinding the wheel
Making the Scotchman, picking the oakum
up for adventure abroad on the seas

With a young man named Hammond I soon made acquaintance
Late home after two years a -hunting the whale
He quickly appraised me of what I was facing
Saying the sharks they will bite before e’er you set sail.

We boarded the bark called Emily Anna
Her Captain and crew numbered sixteen and more
Bound for the Cape and the fabled Marquesas
They called “Greasy Voyage!” as we hauled off from shore

Chorus
Weeks turned to months on our watery prison
With triumphs and trials follow terror and glee
Twenty weeks out we had two hundred barrels
We lost poor young Jackson in fearful high seas

Four years have passed and our bark she hies homeward
Adieu to the hardtack the lobscouse and crew
To the ocean’s glass -calm to her mountainous fury
No man is her master , above or below
Chorus

credits

from So Ends This Day, released June 18, 2020
Words & Music : Eilis kennedy
Performed by Eilis kennedy

Gerry O ‘Beirne : 6 string and 12 string guitars ,Tiple and Shonky tricone 4 string guitar
Eamon Mc Elholm : Harmonium
Caroline Keane : Concertina
Trevor Hutchinson : Bass

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about

éilís kennedy image

éilís kennedy Dingle, Ireland

Singing , writing , composing ,learning, teaching.
,Amhráin , Béarla & Gaelainn from the South-West of Ireland.

New Album 'So Ends this day' out now

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