The Shoals Of Herring sung by Ewan MacColl

Photographs of the long departed herring fishing in Great Yarmouth with Ewan MacColl's The Shoals Of Herring

Category:

Music

Tags:

• folk

[jonno52]

I heard this on the radio last night for the first time, and thought he was singing "Shores of Erin" until the penny dropped. Wonderful! and favourited. I was never the greatest fan of Ewan MacColl but this is making me think again. Thank you.

[nicdavdi]

@jonno52 I think this is called a Mondegreen. I used to thik Phil Collins was singing "P****d Again" until I realised it was "Missed Again"

[dubb1995]

Great songwriter but Luke Kelly sang the ultimnate version of this song...his performance is breathtaking and everyone with any taste for music should hear it ...

[nicdavdi]

@dubb1995 I just listened to Luke Kellys version and to be sure its a great interpretation. I heard the Ewan MaColl version way back and so its version that stuck in my head. Both great performances

[zonkozonko]

Forget the song for one minute, (although I think its great) look at the photographs (good to see them on display to the world), if they are all that many boats leaving the harbour how many fish populated the north sea?

[nicdavdi]

@zonkozonko In 1966 1.2 million tonnes of herring were landed from the North Sea. Thats a lot of fish. By 1975 only 200,000 tonnes. It was estimated that 70% of the herring stock were taken each year. Not surprising that the stocks crashed. From the Unnatural History of the Sea by Callum Roberts

[lytsepieter]

just goosbumps ovehere hearing him singing this song

[dragonking134]

I just discovered Ewan MacColl...Great post...Cheers...DK

[irishgeal1]

@dubb1995 luke is my fav singer of all time but without ewans grasp of song we would never have had our luke, period.

[brigidoconnell1]

Tom Madden's version best of all. Tom was resident singer at Ewan and Peggy's club in London during the 70's and singing better than ever, based in Clonakilty, Co Cork. Hear him in De Barras every Mon night. Contact brigid.madden@gmail.com

[the2boneheads]

Nice to see this on here - As a point of interest, this song was featured on one of the original Radio Ballads, Singing the Fishing, which tells of the east coast herring fishing industry. It's nice too to see that these original MacColl/Seeger/Parker radio ballads have been re-released on CD

[golaoi]

I love McColl's voice, but Luke Kelly's is better and Liam Clancy's too. The voice I'd love to hear singing it also, but he didn't as far as I know, is the great Dick Gaughan.

[dwm1943]

Haunting & nostalgic, better than the Kelly version - and the photos enhance the experience.

[Traveler2112]

Very nice. Enjoyed the pics also. : )

[GolliwoggMusic]

Golliwogg APPROVES of this song.

[tony10396861]

@1lightheaded Sings it better than Ewan McColl? Luke Kelly for one. Liam Clancy as well. McColl was surely a great songwriter but hardly the best singer

[1lightheaded]

@tony10396861 u know anybody sings it better than he ?, let me know