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The Jean of Peterhead

from Kolophonium by Dada Pogrom

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about

A sea shanty concerning the loss of the Jean
of Peterhead under Captain Minto
in April of 1826.

lyrics

This is the tale of the lost Jean of Peterhead

She wrecked in 1826 with the sum
of her gains and thirteen crew

Jean left the haven of Peterhead
on the fifteenth of March on a Northing
She sailed off light with but twenty eight men
for a whaling ship in adorning

She trimmed her course and crossed North Sea
to reach the haven of Leirvík
To finish the crew with twenty three more
of the Shetland Islands' best pick

Prevailing winds of unusual kind
tied her in harbour a fortnight
Finally fore the end of March
the ship had port in stern site

Off was She to the Greenland sea
for whale and seal to slaughter
After two weeks they started the hunt
by a frith of icy water

By Scoresby's Sund were so many seal
harpooners were not needed
At sixty eight North with bloody red clubs
were three thousand kills exceeded

The hold was starting to fill with the gold
of the ocean's wealthy harvest
Asudden the seas began a roil
with gale winds from the North-West

Captain ordered the skiffs to come in
return of the seven daughters
And pull down the sails and tie them up
then most men off to quarters

The storm grew worse, did not abate
the winds began to accelerate
Hidden in dark lurked iceworks great
the hull began to perforate

The Greenland Sea, the men of Jean
their job it was to go
To feed the hungry children
awaiting them at home

They knew the risks when they took to the skiffs
they always were in peril
Fishing the seas for oil and bone
and bringing it back in barrels

The costs were dear to ready a ship
800 pounds of Stirling
A levee against whatever the gain
before they took their earnings

But the ship was lost along with the catch
and the lives of thirteen sailors
With strength and will they saved themselves
the mighty Scottish whalers

They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses

Daylight failed in the waxing storm
they dashed upon the berg flows
The ship was tossed about the night
her hull pierced by the ice blows

Freezing water stove the ship
they tried to stop it with wadding
A Leirvíker man then fell to his death
off a mast in the violent nodding

Every man free took a place at the pumps
water rushed in ever faster
Flooding smote the galley hearth
it started to look like disaster

By midnight the low deck was full to the top
The Jean began to founder
She fell on her beams, the men rushed to the top
to wait the captain's order

Pulled to her side in the frothing sea
the masts were pulling her over
They cut them away to buy more time
regaining some composure

Minus her masts she levelled herself
fast on an icy challice
Fifty dread men on her hulking wreck
locked in a crystal palace

Soaking wet on the quarter deck
three froze dead by sun rise
Five of the skiffs were lost to the deep
the two left were a great prize

Abandoning Jean was the only choice,
she'd sink with every last hand
And so they all got into the boats
and rowed their way to Iceland

To the Greenland Sea, the men of Jean
their job it was to go
To feed the hungry children
awaiting them at home

They knew the risks when they took to the skiffs
they always were in peril
Fishing the seas for oil and bone
and bringing it back in barrels

The costs were dear to ready a ship
800 pounds of Stirling
A levee against whatever the gain
before they took their earning

But the ship was lost along with the catch
and the lives of thirteen sailors
With strength and will they saved themselves
the mighty Scottish whalers

They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses
They lost their fingers and noses and toeses

The men were weak
the cold struck deep
Nine more of them died
while in their sleep

credits

from Kolophonium, released May 17, 2015

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Dada Pogrom Reykjavík, Iceland

Dada Pogrom's founder and sole permanent member is Kenneth Walter Balys.

He is a computer scientist specializing in cinema and electronic music and has been producing and performing electronic music since 1981.

He harnesses technical knowledge garnered from years working in aerial geophysics and communications engineering to make art.
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