Men of The Sea

At the age of fifteen I shipped out from the Humber Me very first trip for the Silver Pits bound I was galley-boy, mess-man, the lowest of callings But at last I was off to the trawl-fishing grounds "Fair Isle to Labrador Bear Isle and Norway And cold Greenland shore Learning me trade with the men of the sea" Long years as a deckie I hauled for me living And dodged on the deck through the wild Arctic gales Knew the tight grip of fear as the cold sea swept o'er me And I soon learned the truth of the old trawling tales "Fair Isle to Labrador Bear Isle and Norway And cold Greenland shore Learning me trade with the men of the sea" And in between trips, well, the town couldn't hold me A two-day tycoon with me head full of rum A girl on each arm and a pocket soon empty Live now and pay later, there's hard days to come "Fair Isle to Labrador Bear Isle and Norway And cold Greenland shore Learning me trade with the men of the sea" Now I know every hull as it tops the horizon I've learned all the tricks of the trawl-fishing trade Know the sea as provider, betrayer, and taker I've got me mate's ticket, me future is made As a skipper at last, I stand tall on the dockside From the boy to the man, to the master of men Now the ocean is mine as we slip from the harbour And back to the sea to start learning again "Fair Isle to Labrador Bear Isle and Norway And cold Greenland shore Learning me trade with the men of the sea Learning me trade with the men of the sea"