The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #26470   Message #4213328
Posted By: Tattie Bogle
10-Dec-24 - 02:15 PM
Thread Name: Origins: The Fairfield Crane/Shipyard Apprentice
Subject: RE: Origins: The Fairfield Crane/Shipyard Apprentice
Er, not exactly - see below, especially the sentence "None of Norman's verses.....":

The Shipyard Apprentice/Yonder Banks is in fact a sort of a prelude to The Fairfield Crane.
Battlefield Band did a version including the introductory bit, and this is what is said about it on their YouTube description.

"A great song about Glasgow's shipbuilding heritage and the fierce loyalty and pride of the men who built the ships of an empire.
The Shipyard Apprentice, also known as Fairfield Crane, is the most enduring of Archie Fisher's songs. It was written for a BBC radio series called 'Landmarks', the lyrics as a joint production with Norman Buchan, with a tune by Glasgow fiddler and Broomhill Bum Bobby Campbell. None of Norman's verses for the programme have been kept in Archie's sung version. As the fortunes of the Clyde shipyards have changed over the years other hands have wanted to change the song. Alasdair Robertson and John McCreadie have both made amended versions."

And here are the lyrics that precede The Fairfield Crane section:

[Part I: Yonder Banks]

1.We lived over yonder banks
Where those tall cranes touch the sky
Down beside the dockyard wall
Where those terraced houses lie
And I think we lived at number four
Or was it number six?
It was such a long, long time ago
I can't remember which

We lived over yonder banks
Over there

2)We played tag on yonder tip
When the watchman was away
Up and down we used to run
A hundred times a day
When the shipyard's sirens blew
We'd chase each other home
But that was quite some time ago
Some thirty years or so

We lived over yonder banks
Over there

3)Well I'm at the station now
Waiting for the evening train
Wondering if by some small chance
I might pass this way again
Though I left the town where I was born
Deep inside I know
A little will remain with me
No matter where I go

For we lived over yonder banks
Over there

It then goes on to "The Fairfield Crane" which is marked as Part 2