THE GREAT JEEHOOKIBUS WHALE
May health and heartiness never fail
My friend the Whale—my friend the Whale!
There are days when the dog-fish are gnawin’
the bait,
And the mud-eels are saggin’ the trawl;
When the brim and the monk-fish and pucker-
mouthed skate
Are the yield from a three-mile haul;
—When the dory-bow ducks with the weight
that it lugs
Of the riffraff and sculch of the sea,
And sculpins come gogglin’ with wide-open
mugs,
And grinnin’ jocosely at me.
It’s h’ist and lug, and pull and tug—
Bow-pulley chuckerin’—chugity-chug!
And all that ye’re gittin’ won’t pay for the
weight
Of powder to blow ’em to Beelzebub’s
strait.
Then’s the chance to be grum if ye’re taken
that style
And are sort of inclined to the blues;
When luck is ag’in ye’tis whimper or smile,
Whichever’s your notion to choose.
Now I—I am sort of inclined to the grins,
So, after a loaf on the rail,
I whistle him up, my old friend of the fins—
The jolly Jeehookibus Whale!
—The great Jeehookibus, fan-fluke whale,
A genial chap with a swivel tail;
Ready for larks and primed for pranks,
—His jokes are the life of the whole
Grand Banks.
I’ve knowed him sence summer of’Seventy-
four,
When I “chanced” on a hand-liner trip;
I was out in my dory one day and I wore
Oiled petticuts strapped to my hip.
I was thinkin’ and smokin’ and fishin’ away,
As quiet as quiet could be,
When all of a whew there was dickens to pay
In the neighborhood handy to me.
With a whoosh like a rocket I shot in the air,
And it seemed like’twas blowin’ a gale;
As I h’isted sky-hootin’ I looked, sor, and there
Was the jolly Jeehookibus Whale.
The great Jeehookibus, fan-fluke whale
Was under me, swishin’ his swivel tail.
He stood on his head with his tail stuck
up,
And the game he was playin’ was ball-and-
cup.
I dropped, but he caught me and filliped me
quick
And juggled me neat as could be;
’Twas as pretty and clever a sleight-of-tail
trick
As ever ye saw on the sea.
At first I was skittish, as you can see why,
When I found myself up there on air,
But as soon as I noticed the quirk in his eye
I was over my bit of a scare.
’Twas a humorous look he was throwin’ to me
As there I continnered to sail,
While under me, finnin’ and grinnin’ in glee,
Was the jolly Jeehookibus Whale.
The great Jeehookibus, fan-fluke whale
He fanned and fanned with his big, broad
tail,
Till my petticuts filled and I floated there,
Like a thistle-balloon on the summer air.
’Twas the slickest performance, our doryman
swore,
That ever was seen on the Banks;
He lowered me back in my dory once more
And I giv’ him my heartiest thanks.
And I reckon he liked me and thought I was
game,
Because I wa’n’t yowlin’ in fear;
For over and over he’s done jest the same,
This many and many a year.
When dog-fish are gnawin’ and other men
swear
As they jerk at the sculch-loaded trawl,
I know I have some one to cuff away care,
If only I whistle a call.
Then up from his bed on the dulses he spins,
And I boost myself over the rail
For a sail on the tail of my friend of the fins—
The jolly Jeehookibus Whale.
—The great Jeehookibus, fan-fluke whale,
A jovial chap with a swivel tail;
Ready for larks and primed for pranks,
He drives away blues from the whole
Grand Banks.
May health and heartiness never fail
My friend the Whale—my friend the Whale!