Have followed this thread with great interest Bob. Good luck with your research. Here are a couple of songs inspired by the life of fishermen in Hull, both are relatively contemporary. Hope they inspire you!


THE LUCKIEST SAILOR
(c)Linda Kelly, Oct 1999, Whitby

I've been fishing the seas since a lad of fifteen
There's not a stretch of the ocean where I haven't been
And I've seen northern lights and the whale fish at play
And I've slept through the dog watch, been fined half me pay
And I've prayed long and hard in a westerly storm
And I've dreamed of the young girls who had helped keep me warm
And I've sat with the old jacks and listened in glee
To the tales of the women, the drink and the sea

CHORUS:
I'm the luckiest sailor that I ever knew
When the Kingston ship sank with the loss of her crew
And I prayed for their lives and their sons and their wives
On the day that the Peridot perished

I was a young sailor with settle in hand
From trawling in Iceland with white fish to land
And I'm dressed to the nines in me "Ruckerback" tails
And I'm off down the "Stricky" to sink a few ales
Well I'll tell you a tale of the tax man and me
He's been robbing me blind since I first went to sea
And I says to the skipper I'll spend time ashore
'Cos I'm damned if the tax man will have anymore

Then a whisper was heard that a Hull ship was down
With no chance of a rescue her men had all drowned
And I supped up me ale and I knew in me head
That the Hull ship was my ship and me mates were all dead
And the coins in me pocket weighed heavy that day
And it took little courage to give them away
And me mind took me back to me long days at sea
And I asked the good lord, why me mates and not me?


Three day Millionaire

Mike Waterson 1975

Why, I left school Friday
And I started work on Saturday
To catch the early tide
And be a galley boy's me plan
On the fishin' grounds to roam
Eighteen hundred mile from home
I couldn't give a bugger, I'm a man

I shall get to deck a-learnin'
It's the bonus I'll be earnin'
And the money comes in handy
For the old ran tan
Brylcreme in me hair
Three day millionaire
I couldn't give a bugger, I'm a man

I sh'll get meself a suit made
To show I'm in the fishin' trade
I'll put me brothel-creepers* on
And swagger when I can
All me pots are pint-sized
Watch me gettin paralysed
To show the younger buggers who's a man

And when I get to skipper
I'll get married, have a nipper
I s'll take the lad to sea wi' me
And teach him all I can
I'll be a different sort of fella
Have a house out in Kirk Ella**
And I'll show the bleedin' neighbours who's a man

I'll be a different sort of fellow
Have a house out in Kirk Ellow
And I'll show the bleedin' neighbours who's a man

Greer Gilman's notes:
*suede shoes with crepe soles--Fifties swagger!
**posh suburb of Hull