Henry's Songbook

Fair Isle to Labrador
   Bear Isle and Norway and the cold Greenland shore
   Learning my trade with the men of the sea

At the age of fifteen I slipped out from the harbour
My very first trip for the Silver Pits bound
I was galley-boy, messman, the lowest of callings
But at last I was off to the trawl-fishing grounds

Long years as a deckie I hauled for my living
And I danced on the deck through the wild arctic gales
Knew the tight grip of fear as the cold sea swept o'er me
And I soon learned the truth of the old trawling tales

And in between trips, well the town couldn't hold me
A two-day tycoon with my head full of rum
A girl on each arm and the pockets soon empty
Live now and pay later, there's hard days to come

Now I know every hull as it tops the horizon
I've learned all the tricks of the trawl-fishing trade
Know the sea as provider, betrayer and taker
But I've got my mate's ticket, my future is made

As a skipper at last I stand tall on the dockside
From the boy to the man to the master of men
Now the ocean is mine as we slip from the harbour
And back to the sea to start learning again

(as sung by The McCalmans)

 [1982:] [Fair Isle:] die Insel zwischen den Orkney- und den Shetland-Inseln, wo die besten Stricker der Welt wohnen sollen, die diese Kunst ausgerechnet von den stolzen Spaniern ererbten - so erzählt man -, die nach der Niederlage der Armada als Schiffbrüchige auf die Insel kamen. (Frank, Nach Schottland reisen 110)

 [1986:] John Conolly and Bill Meek were part of one of our favourite groups 'The Broadside'. This is their classic song about the life of a trawlerman. (Notes McCalmans, 'Peace and Plenty')