Bonny Ship the Diamond

"Bonny Ship the Diamond" is a traditional folk ballad penned to commemorate a 19th century whaling ship.

The song was popularized by Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd in 1957. According to Lloyd in the liner notes for his album Leviathan in 1967, the Diamond sailed out of Peterhead, a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, beginning in 1825. It was one of many vessels in a fleet lost to the crush of ice floes in the Davis Straits in 1830. The Resolution and Eliza Swan were also among this fleet, along with the Rattler of Leigh (not the Battler of Montrose as some versions of the song suggest). Lloyd claims the song must have only been written a season or two before the tragedy, given the timeline from the ship's maiden voyage to the disaster that claimed her.

Lyrics

These lyrics are based on the version released on Cures What Ails Ya; an older version can be found here.

The Diamond is a ship, me lads, for the Davis Strait we're bound
The quay it is all garnished with bonny lasses 'round
Captain Thompson gives the orders to sail the ocean wide
Where the sun it never sets, me lads, nor darkness dims the sky

{Chorus}
For it's cheer up, me lads, let your hearts never fail
For the bonny ship the Diamond goes a-fishing for the whale
For it's cheer up, me lads, let your hearts never fail
For the bonny ship the Diamond goes a-fishing for the whale

Along the quay of Peterhead, the lasses stand around
With shawls all pulled around them and their salt tears running down
Well, don't you weep, my bonny lass, though you'll be left behind
For the rose will bloom on Greenland's ice before we change our mind

{Chorus}

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 of the white and jackets of the blue
When we get back to Peterhead, we'll have sweethearts anew

{Chorus}

It will be bright both day and night when 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"

{Chorus 2x}

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