Thanks to everyone who has responded to my original request, esp: Tim J., Barbara, Susan, & Ragin.

Here's my idea of the lyric with a "?" for the unknown word (words).

HERRING SONG
Trad. arr. E. Carthy, S. Rose, E. Boyd

There once was a man who came from Kinsale,
Sing ? Sing ?
And he had a herring, a herring for sale.
Sing ? Sing ?

Sing man of Kinsale, sing herring for sale
Sing ? Sing ?
And indeed I have more of my herring to sing
Sing ? Sing ?

So what do you think they made of his head?
Sing ? Sing ?
The finest oven that ever baked bread
Sing ? Sing ?

Sing herring, sing head, sing oven, sing bread.
Sing ? Sing ?
And indeed I have more of my herring to sing.
Sing ? Sing ?

So what do you think they made of his back?
Sing ? Sing ?
A nice little man and his name it was Jack.
Sing ? Sing ?

Sing herring, sing back, sing man, sing Jack.
Sing ? Sing ?
And indeed I have more of my herring to sing.
Sing ? Sing ?

So what do you think they made of his eyes?
Sing ? Sing ?
The finest dishes that ever held pies.
Sing ? Sing ?

Sing herring, sing eyes, sing dishes, sing pies.
Sing ? Sing ?
And indeed I have more of my herring to sing.
Sing ? Sing ?

So what do you think they made of his scales?
Sing ? Sing ?
The finest ships that ever set sail.
Sing ? Sing ?

Sing herring, sing scales, sing ships, sing sail.
Sing ? Sing ?
And indeed I have more of my herring to sing.
Sing ? Sing ?

So what do you think they made of his fins?
Sing ? Sing ?
The finest cases for needles and pins.
Sing ? Sing ?

Sing herring, sing fins, sing needles and pins.
Sing ? Sing ?
And indeed I have more of my herring to sing.
Sing ? Sing ?

So what do you think they made of his hair?
Sing ? Sing ?
The finest rope (rug?) for the seat of a chair.
Sing ? Sing ?

Sing herring, sing hair, sing rope, sing chair.
Sing ? Sing ?
And indeed I've no more of my herring to sing.
Sing ? Sing?

----------------------------

OK, so that's what I've got. I'm just itching to know the ?'s. As you can see Tim it's basically the same as your Herring Song, yet radically different. Does anyone have a source closer to Eliza Carthy's version?

. . . . . . . . . . thanks, Vic

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 25-Jun-02.