The Grey Sea Strand

Well the big man he goes walking
With the little girl in his hand
With the rain in his face she takes him
Down to the grey sea strand

And the big man he is silent
With the small glass in his hand
He stares through the rainstreaked windows
Down to the grey sea strand

Well the (?) wild at this coastline
Took the lives of many a poor man
Many's the weary fisherman
Offers prayers in the grey sea strand

And so it was that terrible night
When the little boat went down
He clung to his brother that couldn't swim
So that he would not drown

Let me go, his brother he cried
And at least one might be saved
He slipped from the big man's tired arms
And vanished in the waves

It was late that night they found him
Swimming a long way from the land
His empty burden they turned him round
Brought him back to the grey sea strand

Now the big man he goes walking
With the little girl in his hand
With the rain in his face she takes him
Down to the grey sea strand

And the big man he is silent
With the small glass in his hand
He stares through the rainstreaked windows
Down to the grey sea strand

The Half Crown

I took Miss MacAnally for to see a fancy ball
For tickets I paid two and six and thought that that was all
When they shouted Supper, you might have knocked me down
For all the money I had got was only half a crown.

She had an oyster raw and a lobster taw, a turkey's leg and breast
She had mutton and beef beyond belief, she laid across her chest
There was ham and tongue for the girl so young, a cargo she laid down
But I fell on the floor when she called for more for I had only half a crown.

To me she is a tickler, I thought that I'd go mad
When she said- I'd like to have a drink, for me appetite is bad
So beneath the girl's overcoats there must have been a tank
Or second-handed brewery, for this is what she drank:

She had a bottle of Bass and a good stiff glass of brandy to begin
She'd an awful lot of whiskey hot and a dose of rum and gin.
Of Guiness's stout she poured it out, full half a hogshead down
But I fell on the floor when she called for more for I had only half a crown.

So the waiter stayed and the people gazed for to see her shift said stuff
She then said -Ashcraft, take me home, for I think I have enough
I gave the waiter my half crown and said I'd owe the rest
He gave me a kick in the small of the back and he jumped upon me chest

Now he altered the size of my two eyes and he knocked me into fits
He tore me clothes, he split me nose and he knocked me up in bits
I got thumped and licked, I got hammered and kicked, I was chased all round the town
I was all swelled up like a poisoned pup and I lost me half a crown.

The Wild Rover

I've been a wild rover for many's the year
And I spent all me money on whiskey and beer
And now I'm returning with gold in great store
And I neer shall become the wild rover no more

Refrain:
Wild rovin I'll give over, wild rovin I'll give oer
And I neer shall become the wild rover no more

I went into an alehouse I used to frequent
And I told the landlady me money twas spent
I asked her for credit, she answered me Nay
But a custom like yours I can have every day

(Refrain)

I took out from me pocket ten sovereigns bright
And the landlady's eyes opened wide with delight
She said, I have whiskies and wines of the best
And the words that I spoke they were only in jest

(Refrain)

I'll go home to me parents, confess what I've done
And I'll ask them to pardon their prodigal son
And when they caress me as ofttimes before
Then I neer shall become the wild rover no more

(Refrain)

?

I was born in the shadow of a Fairfield grave
And the blast of a freighter hum
Was the very first sound that reached my ears
On the morning I was born

I lay and listened to the shipyard noise
Coming out of the grey unknown
And was sung to sleep by the mother tongue
That was to be my home

And when I was barely one year old
I heard a siren scream
As the city watched through the blackout lights
The wandering searchlight beam

One day I awoke and rose
To my first day of peace
And I knew the battle to stay alive
Was never going to cease

For I sat and listened to my father tell
Of the plight that he once knew
Where you either sweated for a measly wage
Or joined in the parish queue

Life grew harder day by day
Along the riverside
I ofttimes heard my mother say
Twas tears that made the Clyde

I sat in the school frae nine to four
And I dreamt of the world outside
Where the (?) and the (?) watched
The ships that (?) the Clyde

I'm serving me time behind shipyard gates
And ofttimes I mourn my lot
But if ever the bad old times return
I will fight like my father fought

For I was born in the shadow of a Fairfield grave
And the blast of a freighter hum
Was the very first sound that reached my ears
On the morning I was born

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