A hundred whales a year at the peak of his career And in between ten hundred thousand fish Twice a week she would appear at the Straight Street pier Where every able seaman got his wish
There was plenty half again, Captain Cathcart loved his gin He gave a daily ration to the crew He danced a blinding jig every time they hit it big When the lookout lubber sounded thar she blew Then the skipper would give chase / as they heaved into the race In the eye of the beast every sailor saw his face
Chorus: The Ghost of Ontario sailed into the night All the way from Nantucket to Cape John How he ever found the way into St. George’s Bay Harpoon and a live one hangin’ on … And she dragged ‘em all the way to Cape Breton
In the town there was a rumor of a whale that dragged a schooner Halfway back to Ireland in a tick It was Halloween night but Cathcart wouldn’t bite He could tell-she-weren’t-no-Moby Dick But when they gaffed her in the side they were in for a ride Straight off the Bay-of-Rocks with no place to hide
Bridge: I was clingin’ to the wreckage with a few survivors left The lucky ones among us left for dead I could swear I heard her creakin’ in the wind from the west But we never saw it comin’ up ahead
They say he roams the oceans just lookin’ for a fight Though his ship went down a thousand miles from land He haunts the Coffin House for liquor every night A telescope and a pistol in hand No tide that came his way could ever drown that thirst No hurricanes or icebergs (Act of God) could lift that mighty curse