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Haul on the Bowlin'

Fieldworkers
Date October 1953
Track ID 61811
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1953.242.A2

Original Tape ID

SA1953.242

Summary

A short-drag sea shanty:

Haul on the bowlin', me bully, ship's a-rollin'.

[Refrain:] Haul on the bowlin', the bowlin' haul.

Haul on the bowlin', Katie is me darlin'.

[Refrain]

Haul on the bowlin', Katie lives in Liverpool.

[Refrain]

Haul on the bowlin', it's a far-cry to pay day.

[Refrain]

Ewan MacColl learned the song from a recording of Hector Gunn, a Highlander who worked most of his life in Newcastle; he was recorded by Joan Littlewood in 1942 when he was 84.

Item Notes

4 verses consisting of 2 lines, the second of which is a refrain.

Rev. James Duncan (Greig-Duncan, p. 497) notes that this song was "used for hauling the foresheet or bowline, the haul being at the last word". W. M. Doerflinger ('Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman', 1972, pp. 9-10) observes that the term 'bowline' has been out of use for a few centuries, suggesting that this song is at least that old.

See also:
Greig-Duncan vol. 1, p. 3, no. 1

Recording Location

County - Midlothian

Parish - Edinburgh

Village/Place - Edinburgh

Language

English

Collection

SoSS

Classification

R652 GD1

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good