Anyone have any ideas who wrote it? I heard it on a live recording of the Staithes Fishermans Choir circa 1992.

FAIR STOOD THE WIND
By Alan Bell

Now that the fishing has ended, now that the boats have all gone,
And now that the quay is deserted, there is talk as to what can be done;
For once we had fishing a-plenty; once we had cod by the stone.
Once we had fish landings daily, just as in the fisherman's song:

CHORUS: Fair stood the wind for the old fishing ground
As we hoisted our sails once more outward bound
To hunt for the herrin’ wherever they’d be,
And take all we could from the plentiful sea,
Then home once again on the swift flowing tide,
The harbour lights shining way on the port side,
Our catch in the hold, our day’s labour through,
A share for the skipper, the boat and the crew.

Gone are those shoals of herring; gone are those long busy days.
Gone are the men who remember how to fish in the old-fashioned ways;
For fishermen now of all nations forgather to fish the seas dry.
For they don't care about conservation, as they did in the days long gone by. CHORUS.

Farewell to those far distant waters; farewell to the ice and the storms.
Farewell to the nights in the minches; we’re ashore and we'll never return;
For now that the fishing has ended, and now that the boats have all gone,
And now that the quay is deserted, there is only an echoing song: CHORUS.


[Title and author added.--JoeClone]