Good Whale Hunting

"'TWAS in the month of December, and in the year 1883,
That a monster whale came to Dundee,
Resolved for a few days to sport and play,
And devour the small fishes in the silvery Tay.

So the monster whale did sport and play
Among the innocent little fishes in the beautiful Tay,
Until he was seen by some men one day,
And they resolved to catch him without delay."

View the full poem...


I took this photo at the newly-refurbished McManus Galleries here in Dundee, The Tay Whale has been a pretty well known feature of Dundee's museums for a long time. It looks pretty cool.

It was a bummer for the whale though, of all the ports in the UK that a whale could swim into it ended up in Dundee which was pretty much the centre of the UK's whaling industry at the time. It put up a good fight but it died after a few days of being chased and harpooned.