> Cyril Tawney > Songs > The Candlelight Fisherman

The Candlelight Fisherman

[ Roud 1852 ; Ballad Index K219 ; Folkinfo 730 ; DT CANDLBLO ; Mudcat 125040 ; trad.]

Phil Hammond of Morston, Norfolk, sang The Candlelight Fisherman, accompanying himself on melodeon, to Peter Kennedy on 3 November 1952 (BBC recording 18703). This recording was included on the anthology Jack of All Trades (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 3; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968). The album’s booklet noted:

The Hammonds came over with the Danish invasion in the Middle Ages and have dwelt in Norfolk ever since, equally at home on land or at sea. Phil Hammond, a jack-of-all-trades out-of-doors, rumbles out the ironic song of the fisherman who works when it suits him. “In the morning he put the candle out the window. If the flame blow out, there’s too much wind for him to go fishing, and if it don’t blow out, there ain’t wind enough, so he go back to bed again.” This fisherman’s quip is also popular among Cornishmen.

John Goodluck sang Candlelight Fisherman in 1976 on his Sweet Folk and Country album Speed the Plough. He noted:

Suffolk’s national anthem, sung more than anything else in the pub sessions and yet never recorded on ‘Pub session’ records (amazing). It always seems that there’s either no wind to push up or it’s blowing like hell. Funny thing is it’s never blown that candle out.
The tune at the end is Speed up the Plough.

Thames barge skipper Bob Roberts sang The Candlelight Fisherman on his 1978 Topic album Songs From the Sailing Barges. This track was also included in 1984 on the Le Chasse-Marée compilation of English sea songs from the Topic catalogue, Chants de Marins IV, and in 1996 on the Topic anthology Hidden English. A.L. Lloyd noted on the original album:

Among the songs coming from the repertory of fishermen are the sly Candlelight Fisherman (put a candle out of the window; if the flame blows out there’s too much wind for fishing; if it doesn’t there isn’t breeze enough; in either case, go back to bed) and Windy Old Weather, a favourite song of the old Norfolk fisherman Sam Larner, though Bob Roberts’s words are somewhat different from Sam’s.

Cyril Tawney sang The Candlelight Fisherman in 1992 on his Neptune cassette of sea songs for children, Little Boy Billee.

Jim Eldon sang The Candlelight Fisherman on the 1997 album Jim & Lynette Eldon.

Ian Giles, John Spiers, Jon Boden, and Graham Metcalfe sang The Candlelight fisherman in 2002 on the Gift of Music CD Sea Shanties.

John Roberts sang Candlelight Fisherman on his 2007 CD Sea Fever. He noted:

Candlelight Fisherman comes from Bob Roberts, master of the Cambria, the last of the Thames sailing barges. He had a great repertoire of sea songs, many of them humorous, and a lot of them have become staples of the folk clubs.

Danny Spooner sang The Candlelight Fisherman on his 2014 CD Sailor’s Consolation. He noted:

I got this from the singing of my old skipper Bob Roberts and I think he might have written it but while he had a great sense of humour, he knew the reality to be very different.

Banter sang The Candlelight Fisherman in 2019 on their Mrs Casey CD Dare.

Lyrics

Phil Hammond sings The Candlelight Fisherman

O my dad was a fisherman bold
And he lived till he grew old.
For he opens the pane and he pops out the flame,
Just to see how the wind do blow.

And often he say to me,
You’d be wise before you go.
Do you open the pane and pop out the flame,
Just to see how the wind do blow.

When the north wind roughly blow
Then I lay right snug below.
But I open the pane and I pop out the flame,
Just to see how the wind do blow.

When the wind come out of the east
You’ll be looking for sleet and snow.
But I open the pane and pops out the flame,
Just to see howthe wind do blow.

When the wind back into the west
That’ll come a rough in at best.
But I open the pane and pops out the flame,
Just to see how the wind do blow.

When the south wind softly blow
It’s then I love to go.
And I open the pane and pop out the flame,
Just to see how the wind do blow.

And my poor wife say to me,
We shall starve if you don’t go.
So I open the pane and I pops out the flame,
Just to see how the wind do blow.

Ah, now all you fishermen bold
If you’d live till you grow old.
Do you open the pane and pop out the flame,
Just to see how the wind do blow.

John Goodluck sings Candlelight Fisherman

Come all you fishermen bold,
If you live till you grow old.
You’ll push out the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the winds do blow.

My dad was a fisherman bold,
And he lived till he grew old.
For he’d push out the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the winds do blow.

When the north winds they do blow
We lay right snug below,
Cos we push out the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the winds do blow.

When the wind comes from the East,
It aint fit for man or beast,
But we’d push out the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the winds do blow.

When the wind comes from the West,
It’ll blow a rough’n at the best.
When we push out the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the winds do blow.

When the south soft winds do blow,
There ain’t enough wind to go,
And we push out the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the winds do blow.

My wife says to me, Joem
We shall starve if you don’t go.
Go and push out the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the winds do blow.

Come all you fishermen bold
If you live till you grow old.
You’ll push out the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the winds do blow.

John Roberts sings Candlelight Fisherman

Now my dad was a fisherman bold
And he lived till he grew old
For he’d open the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the wind do blow.

And he’d oftentimes tell to me
You be sure before you go
Do you open the pane and pop out the flame.
Just to see how the wind do blow.

When the north wind roughly blow
Then I lie snug below
But I open the pane and pop out the flame.
Just to see how the wind do blow.

When the wind comes in from the east
It’s no good for man nor beast
But I open the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the wind do blow.

When the wind back into the west
It’ll blow in hard at best,
But I open the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the wind do blow.

But when the south wind softly blow
It’s then I love to go
But I open the pane and pop out the flame
And there’s not enough wind to go.

Now my wife she says to me
We shall starve if you don’t go
So I open the pane and I pops out the flame
Just to see how the wind do blow.

So come all you fishermen bold
If you’d live till you grow old
Do you open the pane and pop out the flame
Just to see how the wind do blow.