one more fishing day

Marske Fishermens Choir

Title Track Playing: One More Fishing day

1. One More Fishing Day                                                         3:23

Telling the tale of a day in the life of a Marske inshore fisherman.

2. Herring Fishermen                   Soloist: Bill Palmer            3:00

A lively song. galloping along at a goodly pace. as we try to catch the ‘Silver Darlins’

3. A Song For The Mira      Soloist: Enc Porritt                    4:42
              The story is told of a man’s earliest memories of his birthplace and beginnings
              as he reterns home to the Mira
4. Hanging Johnny     Soloist: John Lattimer                        1:58
              A halyard shanty, sung by a ship’s shantyman. who was worth his pay
              in increasing productivity on the tall masted sailing ships of old.
5. Silver Sea Soloist: Colin Dickinson                                     3:43
              An old seaman ‘s reflection on his life
6. Dance The Night Away    Soloist: Bill Porritt                      4:16
              Not a drop of water in sight, as we give our rendition of the Mavericks hit single.

7.      Who Will Man The Lifeboat                                             3:31

            A tribute to the RNLI crews.

8.      The Last Shanty Soloists: Ted Vickers & John Lattimer 2:42

         An AB’s experiences of his years in the Royal Navy;

          sung by two of our many ‘rear admirals’

9.      Men Of The Sea Soloist: Colin Dickinson                        3:44

              A Hull trawlerman’s tale of his seafaring life from galley boy to Captain of his own ship.
              Even as a skipper, he still has plenty to learn from the sea.
10.     Ten Thousand Miles Away Soloist: Alan Sherwood    2:34
              Tales of convict ships and their occupants as they set sail for Botany Bay.
              No probation for these wrongdoers.
11. Scoresby Soloist: Bill Porritt                                                 4:02
              The song tells of a crewman’s life and loves while sailing from Whtby
              with Captain Scoresby to hunt the great whales

12. Marching Inland Soloist: Stan Camaish                              2:40

              One of the choirs favorites when performing in concerts giving
              (among other things!), failsafe cure to prevent the ‘mal de mer’,
13. No Matter What Soloist: Mark Durance                              3:50
              A recent chart hit
14. School Days Over                                                                 2:32
              Originally a song of young lads leaving school to earn their living In the coal mines
              adapted to suit the fishing industry.
15. Boys From Killiebegs Soloist: Alan Sherwood                  3:17
              A song from the coast of Donegal. telling the tale of the Killiebegs fleet
              as they sail out so make a living from the sea.
16.     I Have A Dream Soloist: Colin Dickinson                         3:37
              Don’t we all? - An ABBA classic
11. Night Hymn At Sea                                                                 2:52
              Describing the feelings of a mariner as night falls over the sea
18.     Go To Sea No More Soloist: Bill Palmer                         4:10
              A account of life as a seaman in days gone by. The song gives some idea
              of the hard times which seafarers had to bear And who was Rapper Brown?
19.     The Last Farewell Soloist: Eric Porritt                             3:08
              A Roger Whitaker standard
20.     The Newbiggin Lifeboat Song                                         2:32
              A Canadian composition especially written
              to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Newbiggin lifeboat station
21.     Stay Home Soloist: Bill Porritt                                          3:48
           A Skippers frustrations battling against bureaucracy
              while trying to make a living from the sea.

A Little History.......1

When I was asked to compile a foreword to the choir’s first CD. (after many records and tapes); I felt this was an opportunity to draw attention to a number of interesting facts regarding their achievements. Formed 32 years ago under the guidance of the late Jim Madden, a bunch of lads with fishing interests gathered at The Ship Inn, Marske, to sing their own brand of music, which I consider unique.

The repertoire includes a good selection of sea songs and shanties, popular pops and a few hymns. This unique three—part singing has, over the years, moved from piano accompaniment to accordion and now guitar and banjo. They learn the melodies and harmonies by sheer hard work and application and still perform without a conductor, achieving an excellent level of diction. The choir have appeared all over Britain (often at the Tall Ships), in Germany and Holland, and their work for charities, especially the RNLI, has resulted in well over a hundred thousand pounds going to very good causes. I last heard them singing in York Minster for the RNLI’s 175th celebrations. They covered themselves in glory under Bill Porritt’s leadership and the huge congregation were generous in their praise for the performance. Long may they continue.

Harry Foster

Harry Foster

A Little History.......2

Autumn 1967. and a young teacher goes house-hunting on the North East coast. He happens on Marske-by-the-Sea, and in no time the landlubber is converted into

a fisherman, eventually acquiring his own fishing boat. But, a strong musical urge also leads him to the bar of the Ship Inn, where many of the fishermen gather and sing and the rest, as they say; is history.

Sadly, the young teacher died after only twelve years as a leading member of the choir, so his widow wrote the words of the title song and arranged the music for the choir. But all she had seen was the boats going off and eventually returning, so a middle verse explaining the time at sea, was written by a choir member in order to complete One More Fishing Day.

Earlier recordings of the choir have also included ‘home grown’ items, and this generation of their own material is clearly a measure of their togetherness and commitment

Over the last 33 years, the choir has been instrumental in raising thousands of pounds annually for charity especially the RNLI and the Marske Cheshire Home and have given, and found for themselves, a great deal of pleasure. Under the leadership of the late Jim Madden, and now Bill Porritt, the repertoire has grown enormously, their own particular style of performance is now quite polished, and their popularity has never waned.

The generation gap appears not to exist, as the ages range from mid-twenties to mid-eighties, and everything in between, often with several members of the same family. Music is also a great leveller — in this choir it doesn’t matter

who or what you are — the singing is what really matters.

Jenny Bolton

Marske Fishermen’s Choir,

May 2001

SQUEAKERS

The Happy Harmonisers

Stan Camaish, Vic Harland, Andrew Hayden,

Peter Hayden, George Hide, Denis Kossick,

GRUNTERS

The Kings of Melody

John Chapman, Colin Dickinson, Mark Durance,

Ken Kirton, Bill Palmer, Eric Porritt,

Peter Russell, Alan Sherwood Gren Stubley, Bob Walker,

GROANERS

The Pace-makers

Baz Christie, Al Doody, Stuart FaIrweather,

Peter Fox, John Lattimer, Ced Parkinson,

Duncan VIckers, M.B.E., Ted Vlckers,

Well, who would have thought it, Marske Fishermen’s Choir still doing the rounds. It doesn’t seem five minutes since, under the guidance of the late Jim Madden, a bunch of lads were standing on the stage of the York Hotel, Redcar waiting to perform their first concert (December, 1968) whispering things like “Take yer time, now! If you forget the words don’t stop and say, ‘Sorry Jim’ “ and “You Bxxxxxxs in the top line — not too loud! “. But here we are and we have bounced into the 21st Century with this, our first CD.

The format over the years hasn’t changed much. We still have guitar, banjo and whisfle accompaniment. As the choir has matured the general feeling is that so has the musical performance, and especially the harmonies.

We have bad an influx of new members old and young (I’m pleased to say) and the choir’s enthusiasm is still as strong as ever.

Once again we thank friends, family and the choir members for their constant support. Good things come with hard work. It was not always plain sailing but well done lads!

Bill Porritt, May 2001

Instrumentalists:

Guitar:         Bill Pomtt

Banjo & Mandolin: Tony Durance

Whistle:         Andrew Hayden

Research:         Vic Harland, Alan Sherwood, Bill Palmer

Photographs:         Bill Palmer

Typing:         Julie from IDEC Ltd

Producer:         Bill Porritt

Thanks also to Sue Sotheran for arranging the use of the Guide Hut

where this recording was made

Engineering:         Graeme Aldous, Ralph Dagleish

Editing & Mastering:         Graeme Aldous: TEEA FIT Sound & Vision

Design & CD Production: Ralph Dagleish: Huntcliff Recording Services