94 - The Shoals of Herring

Oh, it was a fine and a pleasant day,
Out of Yarmouth harbour I was faring
As a cabin boy on a sailing lugger,
For to go and hunt the shoals of herring.

Oh, the work was hard and the hours were long
And the treatment, sure it took some bearing
There was little kindness and the kicks were many
As we hunted for the shoals of herring.

Oh, we fished the Swarte and the Broken Bank;
I was cook and I’d a quarter-sharing.
And I used to sleep standing on my feet
And I’d dream about the shoals of herring.

Well, we left the homegrounds in the month of June,
And to canny Shields we soon was bearing,
With a hundred cran of the silver darlings
That we’d taken from the shoals of herring.

Now you’re up on deck, you’re a fisher too.
You can swear and show a manly bearing.
Take your turn on watch with the other fellows
While you’re following the shoals of herring.

In the stormy seas and the living gales
Just to earn your daily bread you’re daring
From the Dover Straits to the Faeroe Islands
While you’re following the shoals of herring.

Well, I earned my keep and I paid my way,
And I earned the gear that I was wearing,
Sailed a million miles, caught ten million fishes,
We was following the shoals of herring.

fishing
herring