Our bark was far, far from the land
When the bravest of our gallant band
Went deadly pale, an' pined away
Like the twilight5 of an autumn day.

We watched him through long hours of pain
Our hopes were great, our task in vain.
His end was near, we felt sad qualms
But he smiled and died in his shipmates' arms.

He had no costly winding sheet
We placed two round shot at his feet,
And we sewed him up, he was canvas-bound
Like a king he lay in his hammock sound.

We proudly decked his broken chest
With the "Blood 'n' Guts" across his breast
The flag we gave as a mark o' the brave
And he was ready for a sailor's grave.

Our voices broke, our hearts were weak
And wet was seen on the toughest cheek
We lowered him down o'er the ship's dark side
And he was received by the rollin' tide.

With a splash and a plunge and our task was o'er
And the billows rolled as they rolled before,
And many a wild prayer hallowed the wave
As he sank deep to a sailor's grave.

All Britons long expected good news from our fleet,
Commanded by Lord Nelson, the French for to meet,
Till at length the news come over through the country was spread,
That the French were defeated but Nelson was dead.

He was a bold commander, as sail the ocean wide,
He made the French to tremble with his terrible broadside;
One hundred fights he'd been in, and never once was beat,
Though he'd one arm and one eye no power could him defeat.

This bold undaunted hero on the quarter deck he stood,
You would admire his action with the decks awash with blood.
But aloft all in the rigging a Frenchman fired a ball,
And that was the cause of our bold Lord Nelson's fall.

Then up steps the doctor in a hurry he did say:
"My lord, indeed I'm sorry to see you bleed this way."
"No matter, and no matter, whatever about me,
It's to my gallant seamen your first duty should be."

He called unto his captain: "How does the battle go?
I hear our great guns rattle, oh death is near I know."
"Oh, it's eighteen we have captured and our men they are on board,
And we'll blow the French from the ocean, my lord."

Come all you bold seamen, let the bottle go round,
For Nelson was loyal and true to the crown.
Here's God bless all seamen that speak of his good,
And God bless our fleet and the brave Lord Collingwood.

But mourn, England, mourn, oh mourn and complain,
For the loss of Lord Nelson that died on the main.

'Twas in eighteen hundreed and fifty three,
and of June the thirteenth day,
That our gallant ship her anchor weighed,
And for Greenland bore away, brave boys,
And for Greenland bore away.

The lookout in the crosstrees stood,
With his spyglass in his hand.
"There's a whale, there's a whale, there's a whalefish," he cried,
"And she blows at every span, brave boys,
And she blows at every span."

The captain stood on the quarterdeck,
And a fine little man was he.
"Overhaul! Overhaul! Let your davit-tackles fall,
And launch your boats for sea, brave boys,
And launch your boats for sea."

Now the boats were launched and the men aboard,
And the whale was in full view;
Resolv-ed was each seaman bold
To steer where the whalefish blew, brave boys,
To steer where the whalefish blew.

We struck that whale, the line paid out,
But she gave a flourish with her tail;
The boat capsized and four men were drowned,
And we never caught that whale, brave boys,
And we never caught that whale.

"To lose the boat," our captain said,
"It grieves my heart full sore;
But oh! to lose four gallant men,
It grieves me ten times more, brave boys,
It grieves me ten times more."

"The winter star doth now appear,
So, boys, we'll anchor weigh;
It's time to leave this cold country,
And homeward bear away, brave boys,
And homeward bear away."

Oh, Greenland is a dreadful place,
A land that's never green,
Where there's ice and snow, and the whalefishes blow,
And the daylight's seldom seen, brave boys,
And the daylight's seldom seen.