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Shoals of Herring

from No Strangers Here by SixMileBridge

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A favorite of Sean's, Ewan MacColl created this slendid piece in the 1960s. It has since worked it's way into contemporary Celtic folk everywhere. I was delighted to sing it!

lyrics

shoals of herring
e. maccoll

it was on a fair and a pleasant day
out of yarmouth harbor I was fairing
as a cabin boy on a sailing vessel
for to go and hunt the shoals of herring

o the work was hard and the hours were long
and the treatment there it took some bearing
there was little kindness and the kicks were many
as we hunted for the shoals of herring

CH
with our nets and gear we’re fairing
on the wild and wasteful ocean
it’s there on the deep that we harvest and reap our bread
and hunt the bonnie shoals of herring

o we finished the swarth and the broken bank
i was cook and i’d a quarter sharing
and i used to sleep standing on my feet
and i’d dream about the shoals of herring

o we left the homeground in the month of june
and to canny shiels we soon were bearing
with a hundred cran of the silver darlings
that we’d taken from the shoals of herring

now you’re up on deck you’re a fisherman
you can swear and show a manly bearing
take your turn on watch with the other fellow
as you’re following the shoals of herring

in the stormy seas and the living gales
just to earn your daily bread you’re daring
from the dover straits to the faroe islands
you’re following the shoals of herring

o I earned my keep and I paid my way
and I earned the gear that I was wearing
sailed a million miles caught ten million fishes
we were sailing after shoals of herring

credits

from No Strangers Here, released July 11, 2000

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Maggie Drennon image

Maggie Drennon New York, New York

Maggie Drennon is a premiere voice in Celtic singing, a long standing influence in folk music. She was a founding member of Ceili's Muse in 1989, and SixMileBridge in 1997

Now, with a solo performance that is meaningful yet lighthearted, she is deeply devoted to sharing Celtic traditions with American audiences.

Most importantly she brings us the soaring voice that will inspire your heart! ... more

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