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The Old Polina

from Gulf of St. Lawrence by Crosscurrents Music

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about

On my first trip to Newfoundland in 1985, my new friend Ralph Jarvis from the Burin saw my guitar and grabbed a handy copy of the Gerald Doyle Old-Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland from the ferry waiting room. He sat me down on the back steps of the ferry, opened the book to The Old Polina, and said, “Now girl, can you play this one?” Within moments, we had a crowd for a singsong that lasted for most of the six-hour trip, and I had fallen in love with Newfoundland songs.

The original ship Polynia, named for an ice-free hole where the whales surface to breathe, was built in 1861 for the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company fleet, as were the other ships named in the song. Racing to pick up the most experienced Newfoundlanders as crew was a competition among the Dundee whalers. No images of the Polynia survive, so this track art shows the Terra Nova, also mentioned in the song.

lyrics

There's a noble fleet o' whalers sailin' from Dundee
Manned by British sailors to take them o'er the sea
On a western ocean passage we started on the trip
We flew along just like a song on our gallant whalin' ship

CHORUS:
For the wind was on her quarter, the engine's workin’ free
There's not another whaler that sails the arctic sea
Can beat the old Polina, ye need not try me sons
We challenged all both great and small from Dundee to St. john's

Twas the second Sunday morning just after leaving port
We met a heavy south-west gale that washed away our boat
It washed away our quarter deck our stanchions just as well
And so we sent the whole she-bang a floatin' in the gale
CHORUS

Art Jackman set his canvas and Willard got up steam
And captain Guy the daring by' came plungin' through the stream
And Mullins' in the Husky tried to beat the bloody lot
But to beat the Old Polina boys was something he could not
CHORUS

There's the noble Terra Nova, a model without doubt
The Arctic and Aurora they talk so much about
Art  Jackman's model mailboat the terror of the sea
tried to beat the old Polina on a passage from Dundee
CHORUS

Now we're back in old St. John's where rum is very cheap
we'll drink a health to captain Guy who brought us o'er the deep
a health to all our sweethearts and to our wives so fair
not another ship could make the trip, the Polina I declare!
CHORUS (repeat)

credits

from Gulf of St. Lawrence, released January 17, 2021

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Crosscurrents Music Boston, Massachusetts

Lynn Noel brings traditional song and heritage arts online to create community. Lynn has a voice of striking clarity and power, equally at home in rhythmic chanteys and flowing ballads.

Lynn is a respected song session leader on both sides of the Atlantic and the producer and host of the Mermaid's Tavern online folk club. She is currently Program Chair of the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA).
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