'The Balaena' -A Whaling Song with old photos from Dundee, Scotland.

[alderneyfred]

A lot of good illustrations I haven't seen before. The American whalers were very dismissive of the British whalers, calling them "Plum pudding whalers" as they'd be home for Christmas each year, whereas the American whalers often took three years or more sailing round the world on a whaling cruise. On the other hand the Scottish vessels had engines fitted so they didn't get stuck in the Arctic ice by bad winds, whereas the American fleet lost a number of vessels one bad year.

[1967TheBoy]

did you know that Paul Watson is at the pier this weekend 20th nov 2011 ( Cameron Lings restaurant )Long sail the sea shepherds

[karmudgeon]

Great video! Where did you find all the period photos of Dundee docks and the whalers?

Nostalgic for me too - the song "Balaena" was very popular on the Scottish folk scene back in the 'sixties when I first got interested and this is one of the better versions.

[jbite1]

im proud 2 b a dundonian and a hilltown boy

[uviclad]

msbrown...........say hi to your folks from me...hope mum has mastered that recorder..and the auld man still has enough wind to blaw the pipes....

God bless......GD

[ccdg1066]

Super! Also check out the version done by The Irish Rovers (5*) if you can find it :)

[msbrown3333]

Thought you would like to know that my parents (Lowland Folk) stumbled across their song and it brought back some good memories for them.

[MrWhanlon]

This is a great version of the song The Balaena by the Lowland Folk Four, a Dundee folk group who were very popular during the sixties in the folk clubs in the north east of Scotland,If you have any more of their music please post it as there are still a few old Scottish folk music lovers who would really enjoy it.

Regards BillH

[gruntlesnoot]

@MrWhanlon Dear Mr. Whanlon, thank you so much for watching this video. Once I get over the traumas (see elsewhere on Gruntlesnoot!) of the end of the 2010 Aussie Rules season, I promise you, I'll get on to it! (But then there's the Ashes series coming up, isn't there?) I tried to match the images to the lyrics as much as I could but sometimes it gets impossible.

Thanks again!

Gruntlesnoot.

[TravisTricky]

Right on! Thanks for sharing this version with me, I've never heard a version like this before.

[paronomeister]

Aye, you've done it again! Some quite beautiful stills there. The man in the barrel and the multimast ship alone reflected in the water are especially noteworthy.

I was last in Dundee around 1985 I think, and think those dock building were all gone by then, probably well before that.. You may be interested to know that the Salford Docks buildings in Greater Manchester, now preserved and renovated, look remarkablt similar.... only ye cannae see then for a muckle great Fatty Arbuckle's!