“Jaysus. No clouds. No rollers. No worries.”

“No fish…”

“That’s your worry. Your good lady wife’s name’s on the boat, neh mine.”

“I’ll make you oar back in the peapod if we don’t put the gunnels down by the foam soon.”

” You’re prayin’ in the wrong church or sittin’ in the wrong pew, Davey.”

“The fish will come if you sing. They always come. “

“OK then.”

As I roved by the dockside an evening so fair
To see the salt water and take in the sea air
I heard an old fisherman singin’ a song
Hey, take me away boys me time is not long

“Depressin’ the fish now, are we?

” It gets worse.”

Wrap me up in me oilskins and blankets
No more on the docks I’ll be seen
Just tell me old shipmates I’m takin’ a trip mates
And I’ll see you some day on Fiddlers Green

“The fish are dumb beasts, but they’re not likely to answer a call to your wake.”

Now, Fiddlers Green is a place I heard tell
There fishermen go if they don’t go to hell

“I fold. But please, continue as if I was all in…”

There the weather is fair and the dolphins do play
And the cold coast of Greenland is far, far away

“We bring the ice with us, you codger.”

Wrap me up in me oilskin and blankets
No more on the docks I’ll be seen
Just tell me old shipmates I’m takin’ a trip mates
I’ll see you some day on Fiddlers Green

“Oh jeez, he’s back to claimin’ he’s bait now. There’s no hope.”

Now, when you’re in dock and the the long trip is through
There’s pubs and there’s clubs and there’s lassies there too
The girls is all pretty and the beer is for free
And there’s bottles of rum growing on every tree

“Standin’ the fish to a pint is unlikely to help here either. I hear tell they’re all Presbyterians. Neither Presbyterians nor fish have pockets, so they stay out of the grog shops, generally”

Where the skies are all clear and there’s niver a gale
And the fish jump on board with one swish of their scales
You lie at your leisure, there’s no work to do
And the skipper’s below making tea for the crew

“Now we’re getting somewhere. Look at the gulls over there. They stoop.”

“You get the kettle goin’. I’ll have the fish here shortly.”