by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931)
Herring is king
Language: English
Let all the fish that swim the sea, Salmon and turbot, cod and ling, Bow down the head and bend the knee To herring, their king! to herring, their king! Sing, Hugamar féin an sowra lin', 'Tis we have brought the summer in. The sun sank down so round and red Upon the bay, upon the bay; The sails shook idly overhead, Becalmed we lay, becalmed we lay; Sing, Hugamar féin an sowra lin', 'Tis we have brought the summer in. Till Shawn the eagle dropped on deck, The bright-eyed boy, the bright-eyed boy; 'Tis he has spied your silver track, Herring, our joy, herring, our joy; Sing, Hugamar féin an sowra lin', 'Tis we have brought the summer in. It was in with the sails and away to shore, With the rise and swing, the rise and swing Of two stout lads at each smoking oar, After herring, our king, herring, our king; Sing, Hugamar féin an sowra lin', 'Tis we have brought the summer in. The Manx and the Cornish raised the shout, And joined the chase, and joined the chase, But their fleets they fouled as they went about, And we won the race, we won the race; Sing, Hugamar féin an sowra lin', 'Tis we have brought the summer in. For we turned and faced you full to land, Down the góleen long, the góleen long, And after you slipped from strand to strand Our nets so strong, our nets so strong; Sing, Hugamar féin an sowra lin', 'Tis we have brought the summer in. Then we called to our sweathearts and our wives, "Come welcome us home, welcome us home," Till they ran to meet us for their lives Into the foam, into the foam; Sing, Hugamar féin an sowra lin', 'Tis we have brought the summer in. O the kissing of hands and waving of caps From girl and boy, from girl and boy, While you leapt by scores in the lasses' laps, Herring, our joy, herring, our joy; Sing, Hugamar féin an sowra lin', 'Tis we have brought the summer in.
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Authorship:
- by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931), "Herring is king", appears in Father O'Flynn and other Irish Lyrics, first published 1880 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-05-16
Line count: 48
Word count: 348