Bob McNeill's explanation of this song is as follows:
The Norway Yawl was a graceful open boat built and used by northern and northwestern Irish fishing communities from the early 19th to the mid-20th century. The design dates from the 17th century and was based on Norwegian boats. In the north of Ireland, particularly Antrim, Derry and Donegal, the boats were widely used and were called Norway yawls or Drontheims. They were also used by fishermen from inshore Scottish islands, particularly Islay and Jura, where they were usually known as 'Irish skiffs'. They were phased out abruptly in the 1950s with the advent of marine diesel. Donal MacPolin described the last generation of men who crewed them as 'the last waves on the seashore'. This description always stuck with me. For the second half of the 20th century, the only place the Norway yawl could be seen was on the coast where they lay abandoned or converted to sheep shelters. At the very end of the century, a few Irish families began building them again as pleasure boats. I wrote this song in 2003, and sing it occasionally at concerts, but have never recorded it before.