MEN OF THE SEA
(John Conolly/Bill Meek)

At the age of fifteen I shipped out from the Humber
Me very first trip for the Silver Pits bound
I was galley-boy, mess-man, the lowest of callings
But at last I was off to the trawl-fishing grounds

Chorus:
Fair Isle to Labrador
Bear Isle and Norway
And cold Greenland shore
Learning me trade with the men of the sea

Long years as a deckie I hauled for me living
And dodged on the deck through the wild Arctic gales
Knew the tight grip of fear as the cold sea swept o'er me
And I soon learned the truth of the old trawling tales

And in between trips, well, the town couldn't hold me
A two-day tycoon with me head full of rum
A girl on each arm and a pocket soon empty
Live now and pay later, there's hard days to come

Now I know every hull as it tops the horizon
I've learned all the tricks of the trawlerman's trade
Know the sea as provider, betrayer, and taker
I've got me mate's ticket, me future is made

As a skipper at last, I stand tall on the dockside
From the boy to the man to the master of men
Now the ocean is mine as we slip from the harbour
And back to the sea to start learning again

For those interested there is a double CD available entitled "By Humber's Brown
Water", the songs of John Conolly and Bill Meek, with 44 of their own compositio
ns sung by themselves.

@sailor @ship @sea
filename[ MENOFSEA
RA WH JH
Oct01
mudcat.org

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