Produced by the Literature Panel of the Lincolnshire Association;
Recorded by Philip Towell at Studio 92, Boston;
Notes and cover design by Patrick O’Shaughnessy

Musicians

John Conolly: vocals [1-4, 9-10], guitar, melodeon, English concertina;
Brian Dawson: fiddle, accordion;
Mike Lee: guitar;
Bill Meek: vocals [5, 7, 11];
Pete Mundey: vocals [6, 8], flageolet;
Tom Smith: tenor banjo, mandola

Tracks

Side 1

1. An Acre o’ Land (Roud 21093; TYG 23)
2. Oats and Beans (Roud 1380)
3. The Sprig of Thyme (Roud 3; G/D 6:1180)
4. The Bold Grenadier (Roud 140; Laws P14; TYG 34)
5. Lisbon (Roud 551; Laws N8; G/D 1:63; Henry H561)
6. John Barleycorn (Roud 164; G/D 3:559)

Side 2

7. The Gipsy’s Wedding Day (Roud 229; Laws O4)
8. Betsy Walton (Roud 1493; TYG 74; G/D 6:1160)
9. A Fair Maid Walking (Roud 264; Laws N42; G/D 5:1038, 6:1201; Henry H471, H818)
10. Lord Lovell (Roud 48; Child 75; G/D 6:1232)
11. We’re All Jolly Fellows (Roud 346; G/D 3:418)

Tracks 3, 5, 8-9 trad. from Patrick O’Shaughnessy: Twenty-One Lincolnshire Folk Songs;
Tracks 1, 4, 6 trad., from Patrick O’Shaughnessy: More Folk Songs From Lincolnshire

Nine of the songs on this album were collected by Percy Grainger in Lincolnshire in 1905 and 1906. Other collectors have been active in Lincolnshire in more recent times, albeit on a smaller scale. In 1957, Ethel Rudkin assembled several singers at her home at Willoughton where they were tape-recorded by Stanley Ellis of the School of English, Leeds University. The Broadside sing five of the songs obtained on that occasion.

Recorded by Tony Engle in Grimsby;
Notes by Patrick O’Shaughnessy;
Sleeve design by Ken Lees;
Photography by Aaro Films and Sid Burton

Musicians

John Conolly, Tom Smith, Bill Meek, Brian Dawson, Mike Lee (vocals, guitars, accordion, melodeon, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, mandolin, whistle)

Tracks

Side 1

1. Seventeen Come Sunday (Roud 277; Laws O17; G/D 4:791; Henry H152) (2.28)
2. Lincolnshire Wedding Song (Don’t Forget the Cradle) (Roud 1155) (3.55)
3. The Bold Grenadier (Roud 140; Laws P14; TYG 34) (2.12)
4. The Gardener and the Ploughman (Roud 355; G/D 3:448) (3.25)
5. Free and Easy (Roud 1084) (2.38)
6. Outlandish Knight (Roud 21; Child 4; G/D 2:225; Henry H163) (5.01)
7. Caistor Fair (Old John Wallace) (Roud 294; TYG 15) (2.02)

Side 2

8. Dicky Turpin (Roud 621) (2.08)
9. Lisbon (Roud 551; Laws N8; G/D 1:63; Henry H561) (2.41)
10. The American Stranger (Roud 1081; G/D 7:1469) (2.37)
11. Maria Marten (Roud 215) (3.07)
12. The Poacher (Roud 793; Laws L14) (2.05)
13. Creeping Jane (Roud 1012; Laws Q23) (3.27)
14. The Banks of Sweet Dundee (Roud 148; Laws M25; G/D 2:224) (3.13)

Produced by Humberside Leisure Services Central Library in association with BBC Radio Humberside;
Recorded at Fairview Studios, Willerby, Hull;
Front cover design by James Deighton;
Back cover design by Humberside Leisure Services:
CD reissue with bonus tracks from John Conolly and Bill Meek’s back catalogue;
Digital remastering and graphic design by Robin Garside;
Photographs by courtesy of Welholme Galleries, Grimsby

Musicians

Bill Meek: vocals;
John Conolly: vocals, guitar, melodeon;
Will Meek: synthesisers, rhythm;
Paul Bellamy: fiddle, mandolin, vocals;
Jane Clark: vocals;
Pete Sumner: mandolin

with
Ray Forsberg, John Scarah, Fred Blackburn, Harry Buckingham, Jack Butterick, John Carlill, Frank Gladding, Alice Harrison and Stan Platten: vocals

Tracks

LP Tracks

Side 1

1. The Northern Trawl
2. Hessle Road
3. Fiddlers’ Green (Roud 26370)
4. Trawlerman’s Shanty
5. Freeman Street Frolics / Blue Suit and Brylcreem / The Pierhead Jump / ’Essle Road ’Ornpipe

Side 2

6. A Lumper’s Life
7. Another Morning Meek
8. Harry Eddom
9. Pete’s Tune
10. Trawlerman’s Requiem
11. The Trawling Trade

Tracks 1, 7-8 Bill Meek;
Track 2 Keith Marsden;
Tracks 3-4, 5ac, 10-11 John Conolly;
Track 5b Will Meek;
Track 5d Paul Bellamy, John Conolly;
Track 6 Bill Meek, Haxby, John Conolly;
Track 9 Pete Sumner

CD Tracks

1. The Northern Trawl (4.51)
2. Trawlerman’s Shanty (2.04)
3. Freeman Street Frolics / Blue Suit and Brylcreem / The Pierhead Jump / ’Essle Road ‘Ornpipe (4.29)
4. Harry Eddom (5.41)
5. The Trawlerman’s Alphabet (3.43)
6. Willie Leonard (3.55)
7. Fiddlers’ Green (Roud 26370) (4.32)
8. Pete’s Tune (3.01)
9. Trawlerman’s Requiem (2.30)
10. Tough Old Town (3.39)
11. A Lumper’s Life (3.19)
12. Another Morning (3.14)
13. The Trawling Trade (3.15)
14. North Sea Rollers (4.04)

Tracks 1, 3b, 4, 12, 14 Bill Meek;
Track 2 trad., new lyrics John Conolly;
Tracks 3ac, 6-7, 9-10, 13 John Conolly;
Track 3b Will Meek;
Track 3d Paul Bellamy, John Conolly;
Tracks 5, 10 Bill Meek, John Conolly;
Track 8 Pete Sumner;
Track 11 Bill Meek, Haxby, John Conolly

LP Sleeve Notes

In the summer of 1984, a unique community theatre project was conceived, when Remould Theatre Company of Hull decided to produce a dramatic portrayal of the lives and work of Humberside’s deep sea trawlermen, with the active involvement of the local community in the creation of the play. With financial backing from Humberside Leisure Services and Lincolnshire and Humberside Arts, and with technical advice and assistance from BBC Radio Humberside, work commenced on the project in May 1985. Over a period of three months, Remould Theatre Company, with help from a team of volunteers, tape-recorded the stories and reminiscences of more than 40 Hull and Grimsby trawlermen and their families. The writers, Rupert Creed and Jim Hawkins, then set to work to produce, from the mass of collected material, a play which would in essence be the trawlermen’s own story, told in their own words.

It was decided at an early stage to include the music in the play, and Grimsby songwriters John Conolly and Bill Meek, well-known on the folk music scene for their ballads of the fishing industry, were commissioned to provide the songs, which are here performed by Bill Meek (vocals), John Conolly (vocals, guitar, melodeon), Will Meek (synthesisers, rhythm) and Paul Bellamy (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), collectively known as Rational Anthem. The fifth member of Rational Anthem, Pete Sumner, could not appear on this album because of educational commitments, but the band are indebted to him for his help with musical arrangements, and for the plaintive “Pete’s Tune which you will hear on this album and in the play.

Most of the music on this album is featured in The Northern Trawl; the song Trawlerman’s Requiem, however, was written shortly after the play was commenced its first, highly-successful tour, and was inspired by the writer’s involvement with the project, and by the trawlerman’s own comments on the decline of the fishing industry.

Hessle Road was written by Keith Marsden of that splendid Yorkshire based folk group “Cockersdale”, and is a fine piece of songwriting lamenting the fragmentation and decline of Hull’s famous community of fisherfolk.

The instrumental medley of Tunes for Two-Day Tycoons was composed for this album by Rational Anthem.

A special acknowledgement must go to the trawlermen and their families whose voices you will hear on this album—to Ray Forsberg, John Scarah, Fred Blackburn, Harry Buckingham, Jack Butterick, John Carlill, Frank Gladding, Alice Harrison and Stan Platten; and to the many other members of the fishing fraternity who contributed so much to the story of their lives and labours told in The Northern Trawl.

CD 1 tracks originally recorded by Philip Towell at Guildhall Studios, Boston, in 1971, 1973, and 1975;
CD 2 tracks 23, 25, 27, 32-34, 36-38, 42 recorded by John Marshall and Chris Lazenby at Pete’s Pad Music, Cleethorpes, in 1985;
All other tracks recorded by John Spence at Fairview Studios, Willerby, Hull, in 1986 and 1993

Musicians

John Conolly: vocals, guitar, melodeon, whistle;
Brian Dawson: accordion, fiddle [1-23];
Tom Smith: banjo, mandolin [1-23];
Mike Lee: vocals, guitar, psaltery [1-23];
Sue Heron: flute, piccolo [2-7, 12-15, 22-23];
Paul Bellamy: fiddle [20, 24, 28, 35, 39-40];
Pete Sumner: guitar, mandolin, cittern [25, 27, 27, 32-34, 38-38, 42];
Bill Meek: synthesiser [24-44], vocals [26, 30-31, 41, 43-44];
Jane Ludlam: vocals [26, 30-31, 41, 43-44];

Tracks

CD 1: The Broadside

1. Fiddlers’ Green (Roud 26370) (5.00)
2. Tomorrow Never Comes (3.14)
3. Men of the Sea (4.10)
4. The Bellman’s Song (3.28)
5. Out of Season (2.30)
6. Coldbath Fields (3.07)
7. Farewell to the Fields (3.14)
8. Sally on the Corner (2.58)
9. Charlie in the Meadow (3.26)
10. Wymondham Fight (3.24)
11. Punch and Judy Man (3.30)
12. The Leper’s Squint (2.33)
13. Dancing Days (2.47)
14. Sailortown (3.17)
15. Bayard’s Leap (2.54)
16. Traveller (3.22)
17. Bonny Carter Lads (2.34)
18. The Broadside Man (2.12)
19. Draw Back the Curtain (3.21)
20. Towersey Fair (2.35)
21. Ballad of Jack White (3.33)
22. Trawlerman’s Shanty (3.08)
23. Estuary (3.54)

CD 2: Rational Anthem

24. Northern Trawl (4.16)
25. My Old Man (3.21)
26. Here’s to the Grimsby Lads (3.33)
27. Angels of Lincoln (3.58)
28. Harry Eddom (3.35)
29. The Jester (3.51)
30. Loss of the “"Laforey” (2.59)
31. Willie Leonard (3.52)
32. Farewell to the “Lincoln Castle” (3.41)
33. A Lumper’s Life (3.23)
34. The Coast Road (3.58)
35. Trawlerman’s Requiem (2.30)
36. Tough Old Town (3.36)
37. Ranter’s Wharf (3.22)
38. Close Your Eyes and Look (4.05)
39. Another Morning (3.11)
40. The Trawling Trade (1.44)
41. Harry Tate’s Navy (3.56)
42. Ballad of the Humber Bridge (2.15)
43. North Sea Rollers (4.02)
44. Trawlerman’s Alphabet (3.43)

Tracks 1, 5, 9, 11, 13, 20, 22, 27, 31, 35, 37-38, 40 John Conolly;
Tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 24-25, 28, 30, 32, 34, 39, 41, 43 Bill Meek;
Tracks 3, 7, 15, 18, 26, 29, 33, 36, 42, 44 Bill Meek, John Conolly;
Tracks 17 Bill Meek, Mike Lee;
Tracks 23 Bill Meek, John Conolly, Mike Lee;

Recorded by Paul Adams and Richard Adams;
Produced by Paul Adams;
Front cover by Dave Tarttelin;
Artwork by Mary Blood

Musicians

John Conolly: guitar, melodeon, vocals;
Pete Sumner: cittern, mandolins, guitar, banjo, piano;
Maggie Boyle: flute, whistle, bodhrán, backing vocals;
Keith Kendrick: concertina, backing vocals;
Paul Bellamy: fiddle, backing vocals;
Richard Adams: percussion;
Susan & Linda Adams: backing vocals

Tracks

1. Fiddlers’ Green (Roud 26370) (4.05)
2. A Lumper’s Life / Steamboat March (2.36)
3. Braider’s Song (2.49)
4. The Grimsby Lads (2.55)
5. Trawlersman’s Requiem (2.12)
6. Three Day Millionaire / Fisherman’s Frolic (2.33)
7. Hessle Road (3.48)
8. Betsy Walton (Roud 1493; TYG 74; G/D 6:1160) (1.49)
9. The Taxi Driver and the Trawlerman’s Wife (3.00)
10. Time Ashore Is Over / Once I Loved a Maiden Fair (3.31)
11. The Cook and the Deckies (1.27)
12. The Dublin Fireman / South Wind (3.55)
13. Bonnie Fisher Lad (Roud 3150) (2.13)
14. Married to a Trawlerman (2.55)
15. Sailortown (1.48)
16. The North Wall (3.30)
17. The Trawling Trade (1.49)

Tracks 1, 5, 9, 14, 17 John Conolly;
Track 2a Bill Meek, John Conolly, Haxby;
Track 2b, 6b, 8, 10b, 12b, 13 trad. arr. Pete Sumner;
Track 3 Pete Addison;
Track 4 John Conolly, Bill Meek;
Track 6a Mike Waterson;
Track 7 Keith Marsden;
Tracks 10a, 15 Bill Meek;
Track 11 Ron Baxter, Ross Campbell;
Track 12a Ron Baxter, John Conolly;
Track 16 Dave Evardson

Produced by John Conolly and Robin Garside;
Recorded live at the Crag Rats’ Theatre, Holmfirth on 8 May 1999;
Front cover and graphic design by Robin Garside

Musicians

John Conolly: guitar, melodeon, vocals;
Robin Garside: fiddle, ukulele, guitar;
Pete Sumner: cittern, mandolin, acoustic guitar

Tracks

1. Send Us a Postcard (2.45)
2. The Librarian’s Lament (3.20)
3. The Fastest Mobile Library in the West (3.59)
4. Punch and Judy Man (2.49)
5. Albert Goes to Cleethorpes (4.05)
6. Lady Morris-Dancer (2.45)
7. The Bucket and Shovel Brigade (3.49)
8. The Millennium Bug (3.14)
9. Boxing Day Blues (2.13)
10. Scarlet Rayguns (3.20)
11. Little Old Log Cabin on the Fitties (2.58)
12. Out Of Season (2.14)
13. My Vi (Queen of the Music Hall) (3.03)
14. Smartarse (3.21)
15. The Bionic Fisherman (3.46)

All tracks written by John Conolly except
…

Recorded by Robin Garside;
Produced by John Conolly and Robin Garside;
Front cover and graphic design by Robin Garside

Musicians

John Conolly: guitar, melodeon, vocals;
Robin Garside: fiddle, viola, mandolin, bouzouki, backing vocals;
Maggie Boyle: flute, whistle, bodhrán, backing vocals;
Bill Whaley: concertina, backing vocals;
Dave Fletcher: backing vocals;
Thomas Conolly: violin

Tracks

1. Men of the Sea (2.49)
2. Ranter’s Wharf (2.48)
3. Tom of Holmfirth (2.55)
4. Weary Winter (3.48)
5. Brave English Brew (2.33)
6. The Last Ploughshare (2.38)
7. Camping Nights and Roving Days (3.48)
8. Roundabouts and Swings (3.02)
9. Old Men Sing Love Songs (3.11)
10. Sweet Thyme (2.57)
11. The Emigrant (3.21)
12. Joke and Push About the Pitcher (Roud 1253) (2.44)
13. Close Your Eyes and Look (3.33)
14. Landless Paddy (3.54)
15. The Widowmaker (2.43)
16. Calling-On Song for the Ghosts of Miners Past (2.28)
17. Never Weatherbeaten Sail (Roud V70240) (3.03)
18. Fiddlers’ Green (Roud 26370) (3.45)
19. One More Before We Go (3.48)

All tracks written by John Conolly except
Tracks 1, 19 Bill Meek, John Conolly;
Track 7 Dave Evardson;
Track 8 poem by Patrick Chalmers, music John Conolly;
Track 9 John Conolly / trad.;
Track 10 Pete Mundey, John Conolly;
Track 11 poem by John Masefield, music John Conolly;
Track 12 words trad., music Paul Bellamy;
Track 16 Jim Hancock;
Track 17 trad. arr. John Conolly

Recorded by Robin Garside;
Live sessions at the “Not the White Horse Folk Club” Beverley;
Front photograph by En Vue Studio, Brigg;
Produced by John Conollya and Robin Garside;
Artwork by Robin Garside

Musicians

John Conolly: guitar, melodeon, whistle, vocals;
Keith Kendrick: concertina, backing vocals;
Robin Garside: mandolin, fiddle, banjo, backing vocals;
Hissyfit (Linda Kelly and Hazel Richings): backing vocals

Tracks

1. The Grumpy Old Men of Old England (3.34)
2. Out With the Tide (2.11)
3. Kiskadee (2.37)
4. Smiling Stravros (2.59)
5. Boar’s Head and Bells / Market Rasen Quickstep (4.02)
6. Lincoln Castle (2.36)
7. Coldbath Fields (2.37)
8. Stone Walls and Cells (3.12)
9. The Jolly Tar (3.18)
10. Sally Brown (Roud 2628) (3.04)
11. Down Dock (2.12)
12. Sam the Squeeze Box (3.03)
13. The Crystal Stream (2.53)
14. The Nobleman and the Serving-Maid / A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go (4.45)
15. Brave Admiral Storey (3.01)
16. Charlie in the Meadow (3.01)
17. Fiddlers’ Green According to Les Barker (5.16)
18. I Am Christmas (4.25)
19. Return of the Grumpy Old Men of Old England: The Adventure Continues … (3.07)

All tracks written by John Conolly except
Tracks 1, 19 words John Conolly, Bill Meek; music trad. arr. John Conolly;
Tracks 5b, 9-10, 13-14 trad. arr. John Conolly;
Tracks 6-7 Bill Meek;
Track 8 words John Conolly; music Handel arr. John Conolly;
Track 15 words John Conolly; music trad. arr. John Conolly;
Track 17 John Conolly, Les Barker;
Track 18 Bill Meek, John Conolly

Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Rob van Sante at RVS Music Productions, Leeds, UK;
Piano on track 5 performed and recorded by Alan Reid, Torrance, Scotland;
Artwork and sleeve design by Rob van Sante

Musicians

John Conolly: vocals, guitar, melodeon, whistle;
Rob van Sante: harmony vocals, guitars, electric guitars, percussion, drums, double bass, synthesisers;
Alan Reid: accordion, piano;
Keith Kendrick: concertina, backing vocals;
Hissyfit (Linda Kelly and Hazel Richings): harmony vocals;
Alan Dawson: banjo

Tracks

1. Passing Places (3.21)
2. Joe Pearson (4.28)
3. Le Mariage De La Mer Et Du Vent (2.40)
4. Lincolnshire Wedding Song (Don’t Forget the Cradle) (Roud 1155) (3.04)
5. Willie Leonard (3.40)
6. Ring Down Shanty (1.15)
7. Brigg Fair (Roud 1083) / Caistor Fair (Roud 294; TYG 15) (3.31)
8. Keep On Trying (3.27)
9. The Angels of Lincoln (3.16)
10. Born Again Atheist (2.44)
11. By Torridon (2.52)
12. Beards and Sandals (3.59)
13. Big Society Blues (2.56)
14. The Wymondham Fight (3.16)
15. Havelock the Dane (4.42)
16. Big Bucks for Bullshit (6.02)
17. With Flags Half-Mast (4.02)
18. The Three Fiddlers (Roud 20347?) (2.05)
19. Fiddlers’ Green (Roud 26370) (4.13)

All tracks written by John Conolly except
Track 3 Yves Simon;
Tracks 4, 6-7, 18 trad. arr. John Conolly;
Track 11 Bill Meek, John Conolly;
Tracks 12 John Conolly / trad. arr. John Conolly;
Track 14 Bill Meek;
Track 17 William Delf, John Conolly