Lloyd recorded many albums of English folk music, most notably several albums of the Child Ballads with Ewan MacColl. He also published many books on folk music and related topics, including The Singing Englishman, Come All Ye Bold Miners, and Folk Song in England. He was a founder-member of Topic Records and remained as their artistic director until his death. He died at his home in Greenwich in 1982.
While Lloyd is most widely known for his work with British folk music, he had a keen interest in the music of Spain, Latin America, Southeastern Europe and Australia (he recorded at least 6 discs of Australian Bush Ballads and folk music).
The Coast Of Peru
A.L. Lloyd Lyrics
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Come all ye young fellows that's bound after sperm
Come all ye young fellows that's rounded the Horn
Our captain has told us, and we hope it will come true
That there's plenty of sperm whales on the coast of Peru.
We have weathered the Horn, and are now on Peru,
We are all of one mind and endeavor to do,
Our boats are all rigged and our masthead all manned,
The first whale we saw, it was late in the day
The captain come up and these words he did say:
"Get into your hammocks and quiet there be
We'll see him in the morning close under our lee."
Next morning at daybreak about five o'clock,
The man at the masthead cried "Yonder she spouts!
Where away does she lay?" and the answer from aloft
"Two points on our lee bow and about three miles off."
Then it's call up all hands, and be of good cheer;
Put your tubs in your boats, boys, have your bow lines all clear.
Sway up your boats now, jump in you boat's crew
Lower away now lower away, my brave fellows, do.
Our waist boat got down and of course got the start,
Lay on, captain Bunker, I'm hell for to dart.
Now bend to your oars, boys, and make your boat fly
But one thing we dread of, be clear of his eye.
Now the chief mate he struck him, and the whale he went down
And the captain pulled up and he tried to bend on,
But the whale began to vomit and blood for to spout,
And in less than ten minutes we had him fin out.
We towed him alongside,and with many a shout
We soon cut him in, and began to try out.
Now our whale she is tried and likeways stowed down
She is better to us boys than five hundred pounds.
Here's a health to all whalemen, boys, drink it down, do
Likewise to the Bengal and our whaleship's crew.
All you that want money, I would have you to go
On the coast of Peru where the sperm whales do blow.
From Gale Huntington's book- Songs the Whalemen Sang. Collected
From logbook of Ship Bengal, journal of Ira Poland, 1832.
Recorded by A. L. Lloyd- Haul on the Bowline (sl. different,
Different tune), Warner and Davis (?)
Filename[ CSTPERU
Play.exe CSTPERU
RG
===DOCUMENT BOUNDARY===
The lyrics of A.L. Lloyd's song "Coast of Peru" tell the story of a group of young men on a whaling expedition off the coast of Peru. The captain has informed them that there are many sperm whales in the area, and the crew sets out in search of them. They spot their first whale late in the day and plan to approach it the following morning. At daybreak, they locate the whale and begin the hunt. After a successful capture, they tow the whale back to the ship, where they begin the process of cutting it up and trying out the oil.
The song provides a glimpse into the life of a whaler, describing the excitement of the hunt and the camaraderie among the crew. It also reveals the economic motivations behind the dangerous and grueling work of whaling, as the crew’s goal is to obtain the valuable oil produced by the whales. Through its vivid imagery and storytelling, "Coast of Peru" captures the thrill and peril of whaling, as well as the sense of adventure and camaraderie that accompanied it.
Line by Line Meaning
Come all ye young fellows that's bound after sperm
Listen up, young men who are headed out to hunt sperm whales
Come all ye young fellows that's rounded the Horn
And listen up, young men who have already sailed around Cape Horn
Our captain has told us, and we hope it will come true
Our captain says there are a lot of sperm whales off the coast of Peru, and we hope he's right
That there's plenty of sperm whales on the coast of Peru.
He says there are plenty of sperm whales to hunt there.
We have weathered the Horn, and are now on Peru,
We sailed around Cape Horn and now we're on the coast of Peru
We are all of one mind and endeavor to do,
We are all working together and focused on our mission
Our boats are all rigged and our masthead all manned,
Our boats are all prepared and our lookout is watching from the masthead
Our riggin' rove right and our signals all planned.
Our gear is all set up correctly and we have signals planned out
The first whale we saw, it was late in the day
We spotted our first whale late in the day
The captain come up and these words he did say:
The captain came up and said these words:
"Get into your hammocks and quiet there be
"Go to bed and be quiet
We'll see him in the morning close under our lee."
We'll see the whale in the morning, close to our position
Next morning at daybreak about five o'clock,
The next morning, at about five o'clock,
The man at the masthead cried "Yonder she spouts!
The lookout shouted "There she blows!
Where away does she lay?" and the answer from aloft
"Where is she?" and the response from the masthead was:
"Two points on our lee bow and about three miles off."
"Two points to the left and about three miles away."
Then it's call up all hands, and be of good cheer;
So we called everyone to get ready and be optimistic
Put your tubs in your boats, boys, have your bow lines all clear.
We put our harpoons in the boats and made sure our lines were ready
Sway up your boats now, jump in you boat's crew
We hoisted our boats and jumped in with our crews
Lower away now lower away, my brave fellows, do.
We lowered the boats and began the chase.
Our waist boat got down and of course got the start,
Our closest boat got a head start in chasing the whale
Lay on, captain Bunker, I'm hell for to dart.
The harpooner yelled to the captain to get him closer to the whale
Now bend to your oars, boys, and make your boat fly
We rowed hard and fast to keep up with the whale
But one thing we dread of, be clear of his eye.
But we were afraid of being seen by the whale
Now the chief mate he struck him, and the whale he went down
The first mate hit the whale with a harpoon and it went under the water
And the captain pulled up and he tried to bend on,
The captain slowed down and tried to attach a line to the whale
But the whale began to vomit and blood for to spout,
But the whale started spouting blood and vomit
And in less than ten minutes we had him fin out.
And within ten minutes we had the whale dead and floating on its side.
We towed him alongside,and with many a shout
We pulled the whale alongside and celebrated with loud cheers
We soon cut him in, and began to try out.
We began to cut up the whale and extract its oil
Now our whale she is tried and likeways stowed down
Now that we have extracted the oil, we have stored it away
She is better to us boys than five hundred pounds.
The oil is worth more to us than 500 pounds
Here's a health to all whalemen, boys, drink it down, do
Cheers to all the whale hunters, let's drink to celebrate
Likewise to the Bengal and our whaleship's crew.
Also cheers to our ship, the Bengal, and our crew
All you that want money, I would have you to go
For anyone who wants to make some money, I suggest you go
On the coast of Peru where the sperm whales do blow.
To the coast of Peru, where the sperm whales are plentiful.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JAN SCHELHAAS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind