OH MY ROLLING RIVER
Rowing song, St. Vincent

Solid fas' I come to tell you,
Hurrah, my rolling river.
"Solid fas'," our captain cry out,
We are bound away from this world of misery.

Nobody knows about our toilin',
Hurrah, my rolling river.
Only God Almighty knows about our danger,
We are bound away from this world of misery.

"Whale ahead," my little gunman cry out,
Hurrah, my rolling river.
"Solid fas'," my little captain answer,
We are bound away from this world of misery.

And on our way she roll and shiver,
Hurrah, my rolling river.
Down in our way she sport dirty water,
We are bound away from this world of misery.

"Make her so bold," my strokeman cry out,
Hurrah, my rolling river.
"Haul an' gi' me," my centerman cry out,
We are bound away from this world of misery.

Nobody knows about our hardship,
Hurrah, my rolling river.
Our shipowner she don't know our hardship,
We are bound away from this world of misery.

"Solid fas'," my gunman cry out,
Hurrah, my rolling river.
"Solid fas'," my little second bow'e cry out,
We are bound away from this world of misery.

Misery into the ocean,
Hurrah, my rolling river.
Misery in the deep wide ocean,
We are bound away from this world of misery.

With musical score.

"You see, when you strike the fish, anyhow, the captain say "Solid fas'." Sometime the bowman in action already pullin' up the fish. He turn to the captain so the captain have better position to see....... Soon as somebody see the fish, 'e say "Spout-o!" And then we blackfish boys, we start to pull, and I say "Draw-way, boys, draw way." Then the boys start to chant dey, pulling hard....."

In the whaling days, much of the work was done on boats, often following a whale far from the ship. Some of these practices, and song lines, seem passed down from those days in these songs of Antilles fishermen.

Collected at Barouaillie, St. Vincent.
Roger D. Abrahams, 1974, Deep the Water, Shallow the Shore, American Folklore Society, published by the University of Texas Press.