Wi our nets and gear we're faring   On the wild and wispful ocean   It's there on the deep‚ that we harvest and reap oor bread   As we hunt the bonny shoals o' herring      Twas was a fine and a pleasant summer's day   Out of Yarmouth harbour I was faring   As a cabin boy on a sailing lugger   We were off tae hunt the shoals o' herring      Now the work was hard and the hours were long   And the treatment surely took some bearing   There was little kindness and the kicks were many   As we hunted for the shoals o' herring      Now we fished the Swarth and the Broken Bank   I was cook and I'd a quarter sharing   And I used to sleep standin' on my feet   And I'd dream about the shoals o' herring      Well‚ we left the home ground in the month o' June   And for canny Shields we soon were bearing   Wi a hundred cran of the silver darlings   That we'd taken from the shoals o' herring      Through the stormy seas and the living gale   Just tae earn your daily bread you're daring   From the Dover Straits to the Faroe Islands   As you're following the shoals o' herring      Now you're up on deck‚ you're a fisherman   You can swear and show a manly bearing   Take your turn on deck wi the other fellows   As you're following the shoals o' herring      Night and day we're faring   Come winter wind or winter gale   Sweat or cold‚ growing up‚ growing old and dying   As you hunt the bonnie shoals o' herring