Fiddler's Green

Written in 1966 by John Conolly, member of The Broadside from Grimsby. John appeared at Topsham Folk Club in 2009 and gave us permission to record it. Part of the lyrics and tune seem to be borrowed from a 19th century sailor's song 'Wrap me up in my Tarpaulin Jacket', collected around the time of World War I.

Fiddler's Green

As I walked by the dockside one evening fair
To view the salt waters and take the sea air
I heard an old fisherman singing a song
Won't you take me away boys, my time isn’t long
 
Dress me up in my oilskin and jumper
No more on the docks I’ll be seen
Just tell me old shipmates I’m taking a trip mates
And I’ll see you someday on Fiddler’s Green
 
Now Fiddler’s Green is a place I heard tell
Where fishermen go if they don't go to hell
Where the weather is fine and the dolphins do play
And the cold coast of Greenland is far, far away
 
The skies always clear and there’s never a gale
And the fish jump on board with one flip of their tail
You can lie at your leisure there’s no work to do
And the skipper’s below making tea for the crew
 
When you get to the docks and the long trip is through
There’s pubs and there’s clubs and there’s lassies there too
Where the girls are all pretty and the beer is all free
And there’s bottles of rum growing from each tree
 
Now I don't want a harp or a halo, not me
Just give me a breeze and a good rolling sea
I’ll play me old squeezebox as we sail along
With the wind in the rigging to sing me a song