Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SPECTRAL FISHING FLEET (Charlie Ipcar
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Nov 10 - 10:36 AM

Last September I got to visit some music friends in Fleetwood, United Kingdom. Ross Campbell and Sean Breadin kindly took me on a walking tour of the marshes where a dozen or so rusted or rotted derelict fishing boats lie abandoned in the marshes adjacent to the sand spit known as the Tiger's Tail. It's a haunting scene and inspired the following song (copy and paste into WROD/TIMES/12 to line up the chords):

Words and tune by Charlie Ipcar, © 10/21/10
Key: Dm

THE SPECTRAL FISHING FLEET


Am---------------------------G----------Am
By the River Wyre, from years gone by,
---------------------------G
Fleetwood's boats left high an' dry;
Am------------------G---------Am
In the marshlands there they lie –
---------C-----G-------Am
They'll go to sea no more.
Dm--------------Am
Florentine and Our Jo-anne,
-----G---------------C--G-Am
Eu-reka, Clarain an' Ze-gan,
Dm--------------Am
Slowly sinking on the strand –
-----G----------------Am
We call the Tiger's Tail.


Chorus:

Am---------------------G----------Am
Here's to the lads of Fleetwood town,
-----------------------------G
Here's to their boats of high re-known;
------Am------------------G-------Am
Let's raise a glass for a-nother round,
-------C---------G-----Am
Drink to those glory days!


There they lie an' there they'll stay,
Rusting, rotting, by the Bay,
No one knows what they say
When the sun goes down.
The moon comes up, the sun goes down,
Do you hear a whispering sound?
Or just the tide as it swirls around
The spectral fishing fleet? (CHO)

Through rusted ribs an' planks awry
The windsong hums a lullaby;
Shadows dance beneath the sky –
In the pale moonlight.
The fleet's all in; there's naught to say
But yarn about their glory days,
When they sailed beyond the Bay –
In search of fishing grounds. (CHO)

From the North Sea banks to Iceland's shore,
They sailed ten thousand miles or more;
They trawled along the ocean floor,
Brought home the silver darlings.
But now the fish they are so few,
There's no work left for boats to do;
They're all laid up, an' lost their crews –
They'll cross the bar no more. (CHO)

Reprise:

Dm--------------Am
Florentine and Our Jo-anne,
-----G---------------C--G-Am
Eu-reka, Clarain an' Ze-gan,
Dm--------------Am
Slowly sinking on the strand –
-----G----------------Am
We call the Tiger's Tail;
-----G----------------Am
We call the Tiger's Tail!


Here's a link to a MP3 sample of the first verse and chorus: click here for lyrics and MP3!

Here's a link to some photographs I shot of the derelict fishing boats and posted to my Facebook page: click here for photos

I don't know if the world needs another song like this one but I had to compose it!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Nov 10 - 09:23 AM

Three times around spins our gallant thread...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 03 Nov 10 - 12:53 PM

Very nice song Charley, and lovely pictures.

Matthew

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Nov 10 - 10:49 PM

Mathew-

Thanks. I tried it out this evening with other members of Roll & Go and they liked it too, and I had the satisfaction of hearing harmonies being tried and more backing instrumentation. I think this one's a keeper!

There are also at least two other sets of photos for the Fleetwood derelicts. You can find them yourself if you do a search. Or if I'm more alert tomorrow I'll provide the links.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 04 Nov 10 - 05:31 AM

I love rotting hulks too, we have a number of them on the coast around here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Nov 10 - 09:24 AM

The question to me is whether such a song, including this one, strikes the right balance between haunting images, the once vital community which inspired them, and "nostalgia." The wrong balance can create another uninspiring dirge!

The fantasy of such ships yarning in the moonlight about "their glory days," I think, adds interest to the song, while the minor chords do reinforce the haunting element.

I do love the fact that the sandspit is named "The Tiger's Tail" and the names I selected from the dozen or so known derelicts I believe work well together.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 05 Nov 10 - 05:45 AM

Hi Charley - The Tiger's Tail is only that spit of land off by the dock channel leading to the wooden hulk where we got the nails (which I refer to as The Saint Anne of Dunkirk after the earliest named ship-loss on the River Wyre) - the rest of the fleet simply reesting on the mudflats of the estuary, though I don't suppose it matters at this remove. As I said at the time, I've been thinking about The Dialogue of the Hulks since first visiting them a couple of years ago (October 2008 - when some of them were more intact than they are now: see HERE) though I doubt we'd get many takers for an on-location performance. Nice to see it seeded here though, and if ever we do come up with anything I'll be sure to let you know!

Suibhne / Sean

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 05 Nov 10 - 06:00 AM

PS - Just had a look at your facebook pics; forgot about that one of you standing on the decking of the St. Anne - & whilst Ron will no doubt be along presently to tell us that it's not the St. Anne, I feel her presence lingers in the potent immediacy of such maritime residue & the enduring continuity thereof. Just across the river is Hackensall Hall, carrying its name from Viking times - so we might imagine not only their long ships on the Wyre too, but their beached hulks long rotted into the estuary mud. We've lately recorded a version Peter Bellamy's setting of Kipling's Harp Song of the Dane Women with this in mind - here I am singing it alone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KadKUACj_4c

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Nov 10 - 07:59 AM

Sean-

Welcome aboard!

I think your idea of "The Dialogue of the Hulks" as the theme for an on-location performance is a fine one. Totally impossible but compelling! Who could resist trekking out across the marsh some moonlite night to conjoin with the derelicts? A little theatre lighting would enhance the shadow play. Of not sure what you could do about the swarms of marsh flies but maybe some burning stink-pots would keep them at bay. Your whole concept is so bizarre that it just might happen. Do send me an invitation.

And why not make use of the traditional dance tune St. Anne's Reel.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 05 Nov 10 - 02:30 PM

Here's thing - do a Google maps search for Fleetwood & click on the satellite option and follow the river back on itself & you can look down on the hulks in startling clarity!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Nov 10 - 04:40 PM

Sean-

Good idea!

I just added some pushpin labels on the Google Earth Fleetwood map for the Tiger's Tail and adjacent derelict, the major cluster of derelicts, and a miscellaneous one.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 10:03 AM

Sean-

Could you clarify the name of the peninsular which ends in the Tiger Tail? Is it referred to as "The Arm"?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 11:42 PM

Hi, Charley
As far as I know, there is no specific name for the built-up bank (the east side of the dock channel)which you and Sean walked down to reach the Tiger's Tail. The Tiger's Tail was formerly much more mobile before the bank was built up to its present state. The tip of the mud-flats could be moved by the ebb-tide, particularly if the Wyre was in flood following heavy rain. Doesn't happen to anything like that extent now, partly because the aforesaid build-up of hard-core on the dock channel bank has effectively "pinned down" the Tiger's Tail, and partly because flood-control measures upstream divert flood-water elsewhere before it reaches the flood-plain between Garstang and Fleetwood.

Some more photos here (grounded boats on the Wyre) .

The Tiger's Tail's last victim? About ten years ago the Spanish-flagged trawler ERIMO GY191 was negotiating the dock channel with a local pilot on board. Some mis-heard instruction led the steersman to turn the trawler into the bank, jamming it fast. As the tide ebbed, their cargo of fish shifted and she turned turtle, blocking the dock channel for months. After several unsuccessful attempts to right the ship and refloat, a gap was cut in the bank of the dock channel, the ship was dragged through and she was cut up on the mudflats.

Ross

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Nov 10 - 09:05 AM

Ross-

Thanks for the additional information. The aerial view from Global Earth certainly make it clear that the embankment is pretty much stabilized by a combination of dredging and flood control work. It would take a major storm to tweak the Tiger's Tail.

The "hulks" have certainly attracted the attention of some very skilled photographers, as demonstrated by your link above.

It would be nice if someone would sing this song at The Steamer next time there is a session. I won't be back to do the job for two years or so, and by that time the song will be considered "traditional."

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Spectral Fishing Fleet
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Feb 11 - 05:35 PM

refresh!