The British Columbia Folklore Society

Folksongs

Contents of this page:

Fishing Grounds [Ken Hamm]

Blow the Man Down (Victoria version)

together with LINKS to the words and background of 15 other BC folksongs.

FISHING GROUNDS
Words and Music by Ken Hamm

1. Well, light comes early, it's early in the day,
   It's four o'clock and we're on our way,
   Ah we're looking for smiley, but he can't be found,
   Bitter days, on the fishing grounds.

2. And we tacked off Hippa, in a dirty lump,
   And the pigs were bouncing, man, and you could see them jump,
   And a cold southeaster, right in your face,
   And a three day skunk on, that's some disgrace.

3. On the fishing grounds, on smiley's trail,
   Down around Hippa, in a rising gale,
   On the fishing grounds, on smiley's trail,
   Lord we ain't quitting till we got fish for sale.

4. We fished it low, and we fished it deep,
   And a medium red now, that's our only keep,
   I had a thirty pounder, with a real good fight,
   But when we gaffed him aboard, lord it was just a white.

5. And we fished it low, and we fished it down,
   At twenty fathoms-lord, that was the fishy ground,
   But there's nothing but shrimp here, there's no damn birds,
   Tell me where was smiley, lord that's all I heard.

6. as verse 3.

7. No luck on the brass spoon, no luck on the chrome,
   We were thinking of the pleasures now, the pleasures of home,
   Cause there's nothing but coho here, too early to sell,
   We're just staring at the linespring, listening for the bell.

8. And the damned old rock cod, twisting up our lines,
   Shaking these coho, man am I wasting my time,
   Gonna go hand logging, build me up a raft,*
   Take it all into Charlotte, and sell it quick for cash.

9. as verse 3, but repeat line 4 three times, the 3rd time with "Ah" replacing "Lord".

   *sung: "...build me up a cache" on the recording.

The boat was fishing off Hippa (2/1), an Island off the west coast of Graham Island, the large north island of the Queen Charlottes, in a rough sea with short, erratic, choppy waves (a dirty lump, 2/1) and, consequently, the pigs were bouncing (2/2). One might expect that a fishing boat would not remain at sea during such weather but, unfortunately for the fishers, that is apparently the best time to troll for salmon. Because of the rough weather and a lack of fish however, Ken thought that hand logging (8/3) and log salvaging on the West Coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands might have been a better way to make a living. Perhaps he could have put together a raft of logs (8/3) which could then be towed to Charlotte (Queen Charlotte City, 8/4), for quick sale (8/4) and a quick profit.

Skunk (2/4) comes from skunked, to be defeated or out-witted, and is especially used in fishing and sports.
Keep (4/2) comes from keeper or, more usually, a keeper, and here refers to a fish whose size is within legal limits. It is also commonly used when choosing things of a better standard from a pile, or when selecting finished pieces during a job where quality varies.

Ken Hamm is a singer/songwriter living on Vancouver Island, and is one of Canada's most respected blues performers. Although not all of his songs are written in the blues format, Fishing Grounds, track 2 on his C.D. "Eagle Rock Road", is one of the blues-oriented pieces.

For more information on Ken, on his CD “Eagle Rock Road,” and for his performance schedule,
dial up: http://www.kenhamm.com/index.html

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BLOW THE MAN DOWN
(Halyard Shanty)
Anonymous

Given the working title Topsail Shanty, on page 95 of Home Port: Victoria (Ursula Jupp, 1967, Victoria: the Author) the song is one of only a rare handful of sea songs from the days of sail that refers to Victoria. The title of the song is, of course, Blow the Man Down and it was used for hauling on the halyards to, in this case, raise the topsail. Hugill, in his Shanties from the Seven Seas (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979, p.199), refers to the song in its popular form as being a product of the Western Ocean Sailing Packets (ie. the Pacific Ocean), which historically puts this version of the song right where it belongs. In the following, one or two words have been adjusted or added to the version taken down by Jupp from her unknown source to help the words fit the cadence of a working shanty from this singer’s point-of-view.

Mike Ballantyne

1. As I was a-walking on down Broughton Street,
   To me, way, heigh, blow the man down,
   I went into Speedie's me shipmates to meet,
   Gi' me some time to blow the man down.
   

2. Well the crowd was all there, pretty tough-looking crew,
   To have our peasoup and salt horse for to chew,
   

3. Well the Old Man is tough and a hard-looking guy,
   To get more than your whack there is no use to try,
   

4. Well the duff is like rubber and heavy as lead,
   With roaches in plenty for raisins instead,
   

5. Well the cook is a soaker who loves a good booze,
   Twixt him and the steward there's little to choose,
   

6. And talk of the Bo'sun, he's tougher than tough,
   In handling poor sailors he's much more than rough,
   

7. Supercargo is stingy with stores he is mean,
   On robbing poor sailors he's awfully keen,
   

8. I don't like to sail in this rotten old tub,
   With no grog allowed and the poorest of grub,
   

9. When we get to port I am leaving the sea,
   I'll get work on land and a farmer I'll be,
   

10. And now I have come to the end of me lay,
    For the topsail's aloft and the Mate said, "Belay!"
    

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