Threescore and Ten

©Trad.

        We still lose men and vessels from our coastal fleet (recently I heard a ballad about the loss, last winter, of the R. V. Gulf Stream), so this song is still timely to many of us. John Conolly, of Grimsby, writes of this song: "In the l880's, a series of great gales wrecked hundreds of fishing boats along the East coast of Britain, and many men were lost. William Delf was a Grimsby fisherman who tried to help the widows and orphans by writing poems' about these disasters and selling copies of them, the proceeds going to the dependents of the men lost at sea. The "Threescore and Ten" poem was one of his better efforts, but nobody seems to know how it acquired a tune and a chorus. "The song as it is now known was discovered by a Yorkshire collector, Mr. Nigel Hudlestone. He recorded it as sung by some fishermen at Filey, on the Yorkshire coast about 100 miles north of Grimsby." I learned this from quite a variety of sources over the years. (GB) Gordon Bok: 12-string & lead vocal Ed Trickett: 6-string & vocal Ann Muir: vocal

Methinks I see a host of craft
Spreading their sails alee
Down the Humber they do glide
All bound for the Northern Sea
Me thinks I see on each small craft
A crew with hearts so brave
Going out to earn their daily bread
Upon the restless wave

And it's three score and ten
Boys and men were lost from Grimsby town
From Yarmouth down to Scarboro
Many hundreds more were drowned
Our herring craft, our trawlers
Our fishing smacks, as well
They long did fight that bitter night
The battle with the swell

Methinks I see them yet again
As they leave this land behind
Casting their nets into the sea
The herring shoals to find
Me thinks I see them yet again
They're all on board all right
With their nets rolled up and their decks cleaned off
And the side lights burning bright

Me thinks I've heard the captain say
"Me lads we'll shorten sail"
With the sky to all appearances
Looks like an approaching gale
Me thinks I see them yet again
Midnight hour is past
The little craft abattling there
Against the icy blast

October's night brought such a sight
Twas never seen before
There were mast and yards and broken spars
A washing on the shore
There were many a heart in sorrow
Many a heart so brave
There were many a fine and hearty lad
That met a watery grave

Three Score and Ten is recorded on the CD Turning Toward The Morning