Shoals Of Herring

Words & Music:

Traditional(?)

(arr: Ewan McColl)

 

C                 Am         G  C

With our nets and gear we're faring

C                    F   C G

On the wild and wasteful ocean.

           C       F           C    G   Am

It's there that we hunt and we earn our bread

      C      F                 G   C

As we hunted for the shoals of herring

 

  C

O it was a fine and a pleasant day

                             G

Out of Yarmouth harbor I was faring

     C                     Am

As a cabinboy on a sailing lugger

              C        F         G   C

For to go and hunt the shoals of herring.

 

O the work was hard and the hours 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

 

O we fished the Swarth 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

 

O we left the homegrounds in the month of June

And to Canny Shiels we soon were bearing

With a hundred cran of silver darlings

That we'd taken from the shoals of herring

 

Now you're up on deck, you're a fisherman

You can swear and show a manly bearing

Take your turn on watch with the other fellows

While you're searching for 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 Faroe Islands

As you're following the shoals of herring

 

O 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 were sailing after shoals of herring