This is possibly the most well known of the songs relating to the New England whaling trade. It was not a worksong or shanty, but was sung when the sailors were off duty in the forecastle, on deck or ashore in a pub. The song contains an interesting description of recruiting and working as a sailor on board a whaler. Like most fo'c'sle songs, there is no call and response structure, just a normal verse and chorus. Other whaling songs in this section are: "Greenland Whale Fishery" "Bonny Ship the Diamond" "Rolling Down to Old Maui" The tune is very easy to sing and was popular with a lot of folk song revival groups in the 1950s and 60s. It was recorded by Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, The Kingston Trio and many others. I think I first learned it from the Kingston Trio recording on their At Large album of 1959 (the same album that contained "Charley on the MTA"). It was printed in Hugel's Shanties from the Seven Seas (1994).