Bonnie Ship the Diamond

Traditional
(Roger McGuinn and Judy Collins)

Dm               C                      Dm                 C
The Diamond is a ship, my lads, for the Davis Strait she's bound,
        Dm             C              Am             Dm
And the quay it is all garnished with bonnie lasses 'round;
Dm                         C        Dm             C
Captain Thompson gives the order to sail the ocean wide,
          Dm           C                 Am                Dm
Where the sun it never sets, my lads, no darkness dims the sky.


Chorus (after every verse):

             Dm    C      Dm
     So it's cheer up, my lads, let your hearts never fail,
                      C         Dm            Dm
     While the bonnie ship, the Diamond, goes 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 bonnie 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,
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.

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."



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.

On "Treasures from the Folk Den" CD, copyright (c) 2001 by
Appleseed Recordings

http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden/Diamond.html