Shoals O' Herring Lyrics

Wi our nets and gear we're faring
On the wild and wispful ocean
It's there on the deep‚ that we harvest and reap oor bread
As we hunt the bonny shoals o' herring

Twas was a fine and a pleasant summer's day
Out of Yarmouth harbour I was faring
As a cabin boy on a sailing lugger
We were off tae hunt the shoals o' herring

Now the work was hard and the hours were long
And the treatment surely took some bearing
There was little kindness and the kicks were many
As we hunted for the shoals o' herring

Now we fished the Swarth and the Broken Bank
I was cook and I'd a quarter sharing
And I used to sleep standin' on my feet
And I'd dream about the shoals o' herring

Well‚ we left the home ground in the month o' June
And for canny Shields we soon were bearing
Wi a hundred cran of the silver darlings
That we'd taken from the shoals o' herring

Through the stormy seas and the living gale
Just tae earn your daily bread you're daring
From the Dover Straits to the Faroe Islands
As you're following the shoals o' herring

Now you're up on deck‚ you're a fisherman
You can swear and show a manly bearing
Take your turn on deck wi the other fellows
As you're following the shoals o' herring

Night and day we're faring
Come winter wind or winter gale
Sweat or cold‚ growing up‚ growing old and dying
As you hunt the bonnie shoals o' herring