Fish to Find 

Words & arrangement: © Brenda Wootton, Music: Richard Gendall © Cornwall Music. “Gwavas Lake” Album. Burlington Records; BURL008; 1980

 

Lay the needle down, my love, put away the twine,

We’ll have no need of them ‘ere long, at least for quite a time,

The ling, the hake, the murgy, the lance, the shark, the scad,

And since we’ve lost the fairmaid, there’s no more to be had,

 

Chorus

I s’pose we mustn’t grumble, perhaps we’ve been too blind,

We thought, each turning of the tide, there’d still be fish to find.

 

The people here have took their share, sometimes the catch was poor,

And yet we managed love, to keep the wolf from our front door,

We worked together all of us around the Western shelf,

Today that’s not the policy … it’s each man for himself!

 

Chorus

 

If we can’t fish, what can we do? It’s no use getting mad,

We’ve lost the murgy, ling, the hake, the lance, the shark, the scad,

Eternal father strong to save… we sang and did believe…

God grant they will return one day, like on Tom Bawcock’s Eve…

 

Chorus

Sue Ellery-Hill