Song to Captain S. D. Oliver

DESCRIPTION: "Far, far to the Arctic Ocean, There the bow heads blow, There's where my heart is turning ever, There's where I want to go." The singer declares the whales "wild and ugly," and begs the captain to let them leave the ocean for someplace better
AUTHOR: Words: George E. Mills / Music: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST DATE: 1856 (Journal from the Leonidas)
KEYWORDS: whaler hardtimes
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Huntington-TheGam-MoreSongsWhalemenSang, pp. 67-68, "Song to Captain S.D. Oliver" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Pamela A. Miller, _And the Whale Is Ours: Creative Writing of American Whalemen_, David R. Godine/Kendall Whaling Museum, 1979, pp. 133-134, "Song... to Captain S. D. Miller" (1 text)
Roud #27527
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)" (tune)
cf. "We Come, We Come" (another George E. Mills song)
cf. "Under Way" (another George E. Mills song)
NOTES [26 words]: George E. Mills, who copied and probably wrote this, wrote quite a bit of poetry in whaling journals in the 1850s; see the songs in the cross-references. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: HGam067

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