FLOWERS OF THE SEA
Ron Baxter
Tune: Flowers o' the Forest

I've seen them sailing, with sirens a-wailing,
Down through the channel and out to the bay;
But now they're all rotting, on the Dockside propping,
The flowers of the seas now doomed to decay.

Hunting the fishes, from Iceland to the Minches;
North Cape to Greenland and out to Rockall.
They've fought in peace and war, all around the hostile shore;
Now they've been sold out and down they must fall.

I've seen men so full of pride, now with sadness in their eyes
Look to the sea, where they cannot go.
The Rose Garden's empty, where once there was plenty;
They've been defeated by friends and not foes.

In fog and in black ice, I have seen men fight for life;
I've seen men die in the wild, living gales.
But I've seen their sons sign on, following their fathers gone;
Now the boats they are tied up and can no longer sail.

Their life it has been sold, bartered for Brussels' gold,
While Frenchmen and Spaniards fish right to our shore.
Will no-one heed the pleading, for a life that lies a-bleeding?
The Flowers of the Sea will bloom never more.

Sung by Liz Gillingham, Sue Bousfield, Ged Higson and Ross Campbell

As more and more fishing grounds were closed, fishing limits extended and annual quotas imposed in British waters, many of Fleetwood's trawlers were sold or tied up and left to rot at the quayside.