Shoals of Herring - Bob Fox
O it was a fine and a pleasant day
Out of Yarmouth harbour I was faring
As a cabin boy on a sailing lugger
I was following the shoals of herring
O 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 after shoals of herring
O we fished the Swarth and the broken bank
I was a cook and I'd a quarter-sharing
And I used to sleep standing on me feet
I'd dream about 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 we hunted the bonny shoals of herring
Well we left the home grounds
In the month of June
And to canny Shiels we soon was bearing
With a hundred cran of the silver darlings
That we'd taken from the shoals of herring
O I earned me keep and I paid me way
And I earned the gear that I was wearing
Sailed a million miles caught ten-million fishes
I was following the shoals of herring
O with our nets and gear we're faring
On the wild and wasteful ocean
For it's there on the deep we'll
Harvest and reap our bread
And we'll hunt the bonny shoals of herring
Though the stormy seas and the living gales
Just to earn our daily bread we're daring
From the dover straits to the faroe islands
We've been following the shoals of herring
And it was a fine and a pleasant day
Out of Yarmouth harbour I was faring
As a cabin boy on a sailing lugger
I was following the shoals of herring
I was following the shoals of herring
