Folk and Traditional Song Lyrics:
Salmon Fishers

Salmon Fishers

Salmon Fishers

     1.
     Cam' ye by the salmon fishers,
     Cam' ye by the roperee?
     Saw ye a sailor laddie
     Sailing on the raging sea?
     Oh, dear ----, are ye going to marry?
     Yes, indeed, and that I am.

     Tell to me your own true lover,
     Tell to me your lover's name?
     He's a bonnie lad, he's a bonnie fellow,
     Oh, he's a bonnie lad,
     Wi' ribbons blue and yellow,
     Stockings of blue silk;
     Shoes of patent leather,
     Points to tie them up.
     A gold ring on his finger.

     Did you see the ship he came in?
     Did you see it comin' in?
     Every lassie wi' her laddie,
     Every widow wi' her son.
     Mother, struck eight o'clock,
     Mother, may I get out?

     For my love is waiting
     For to get me out.
     First he gave me apples,
     Then he gave me pears,
     Then he gave me sixpence
     To kiss him on the stairs.

     Oh, dear me, I wish I had my tea,
     To write a letter to my love
     To come back and marry me.

     2.
     Cam' ye by the salmon fishers?
     Cam' ye by the roperee?
     Saw ye a sailor laddie
     Waiting on the coast for me?
     I ken fahr I'm gyain,
     I ken fahs gyain wi' me;
     I ha'e a lad o' my ain,
     Ye daurna tack 'im fae me.

     Stockings of blue silk,
     Shoes of patent leather,
     Kid to tie them up,
     And gold rings on his finger.
     Oh for six o'clock!
     Oh for seven I weary!
     Oh for eight o'clock!
     And then I'll see my dearie.

     3.
     Come ye by the salmon fishers?
     Come ye by the roperee?
     Saw ye my dear sailor laddie
     Sailing on the raging sea?
     Tip for gold and tip for silver,
     Tip for the bonnie laddie I do adore;
     My delight's for a sailor laddie,
     And shall be for evermore.

     Sit you down, my lovely Elsie,
     Take your baby on your knee;
     Drink your health for a jolly sailor,
     He will come back and marry you.
     He will give you beads and ear-rings,
     He will give you diamonds free;

     Sailors they are bonnie laddies,
     Oh, but they are neat and clean!
     They can kiss a bonnie lassie
     In the dark, and A, B, C;
     When the sailors come home at evening
     They take off their tarry clothes,
     They put on their light blue jackets,
     That is the way the sailors go.
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     (1) Gomme II.179, from Rosehearty; (2) ibid. 180, from
     Fochabers. (3) ibid., via Gregor; locality unspecified.
     "A circle is formed, and the children dance round
     singing.  Before beginning they agree which of the
     players is to be named in the fifth line of the
     Rosehearty version."  Cf. "Eight o'clock bells are
     ringing", which is probably a fragment of this; as is
     perhaps "Oh for six a'clock".
     In (3), line 18's "A B C" is a mishearing of the
original "no be seen"; see Opies Singing Game (1985), 333
(no. 82). Cf. Buchan Observer 16 Ap 1929, 2; Aberdeen Press &
Journal, Dec 1959. With lines 5 ff. cf. "Dig For Silver";
the above lines echo the "Johnny Johnson" sequence.

MS