The Bob Hart recording is almost the same as what Henry P posted above, but I'll post Hart's version anyhow.


BOB HART, voice: Cod Banging.
Recorded by Tony Engle in the singer's home, Snape, Suffolk, July 1972; Topic 12TS225

COD BANGING

Come, come, my lads. and listen here.
A fishermen's song you soon will hear
What l did and undergo,
When first I went a-cod banging, oh.

CHORUS
To my lal-fa-the-day, riddle all day.
This is a smackman's life at sea.

How well I remember on the fourteenth of May,
A big barque ship she came our way.
She came our way and did let fly,
And the topsail halyards they flew sky high.
CHORUS

And now we draw near Harwich pier,
The young and the old they both draw near
To see us get our ?sh on deck
And crack their skulls with a little short stick.
CHORUS

And now my song is nearly done.
And I hope I've not offended one.
I don't think I’ve got it complete
‘Cause I’ve only been in the trade about a week
CHORUS

From The Voice of the People Volume 2: My Ship Shall Sail the Ocean>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziPuanTVp5k

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Not much in the Traditional Ballad Index, but Roud has several entries.

Cod Banging

DESCRIPTION: A fisherman remembers encountering a big barque and surviving the fight. Now the crowd meets them at Harwich pier to crack cod fish skulls. He concedes he may not have "got it complete 'Cause I've only been in the trade about a week"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1972 (recording, Bob Hart)
KEYWORDS: battle fishing sea ship humorous talltale
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
Roud #1747
RECORDINGS:
Bob Hart, "Cod Banging" (on Voice02)
NOTES [10 words]: Harwich is an East Anglia port about 65 miles from London. - BS
File: RcCodBan

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