Dogger Bank, The

DESCRIPTION: Grimsby fishermen spend all their money in Grimsby taverns and must go to work the fishing grounds. The disreputable looking crew is described. They "battle through every gale" and head home again for Mrs. Surgeon's beer.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1904 (OShaughnessy-Yellowbelly1)
KEYWORDS: fishing sea ship shore drink humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OShaughnessy-YellowbellyBalladsPart1 21, "The Grimsby Fishermen's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Palmer-OxfordBookOfSeaSongs 131, "The Grimsby Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #18836
RECORDINGS:
Sam Larner, "The Dogger Bank" (on SLarner02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bigler's Crew" (tune, chorus, meter) and references there
NOTES [460 words]: Palmer: "The Grimsby variant [of "Bigler" and "Knickerbocker Line" derivatives], sometimes entitled 'The Dogger Bank', seems to have been confined to the eastern seaboard, save for 'Littlehampton Collier Lads,' an adaptation dealing with the sailing colliers of the south coast."
See the entry for "The Knickerbocker Line," which refers to a New York City pre-Civil War horse-drawn stagecoach.
Larner adds a second chorus: "So watch her, twig her, the piperay she goes, / High heels, painted toes, Jinnie is all the go; / She is one of the flash girls, can't she cut a shine? / She can do the double shuffle on the Knickerbocker line." This chorus, not in either of the two US texts (Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 146A or 146B), is very close to the Australian chorus reported for "The Knickerbocker Line": "Twig her, pipe her, watch her how she goes, / Her high-heeled boots and patent leather, my Jinny she's on the go; / She is one of the fast girls, her beauty is bound to shine, / With her high-heeled boots to rattle on the knickerbocker line" (Meredith/Anderson-FolkSongsOfAustralia, p. 195). The New York State texts for "The Knickerbocker Line" are more about women -- including prostitutes -- than about the line itself but do not include this specific verse. Peggy Seeger's notes to Larner's album may refer to an independent life for this chorus: "Another song, which has for its refrain the final chorus of the song printed here, was collected by Cecil Sharp in 1911 at Shipton, Somerset." (Sharp MS 2620, possibly the Sharp 1911 MS from Gloucestershire cited by Kennedy p. 728. However, the two lines quoted by Kennedy are the same lines that begin Meredith/Anderson-FolkSongsOfAustralia, p. 195).
The two Tobar an Dualchais/Kist o Riches entries at "The Knickerbocker Line" are close relatives. Here is the chorus of Lucy Stewart's text of "Jeannie's Aa the Go": "Watch her, twig her, pipe her as she goes / High heels, paintit boots, an paintin on the toes / Jeannie's aa the go, boys, Jeannie's aa the go, / And yet she wis a dabber if she only had the nose." Here is the whole text of John MacShannon's "Knickerbocker Line": "Watch her, twig her, pipe her, how she goes, / High top heels and her patent leather toes, She is one of the prettiest that ever wore the shine, She could do the double shuttle on the Knickerbocker Line."
The Kennedy text of "The Knickerbocker Line" is close to Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 146A, except for its chorus, which fits here: "Watch her, trail her, pipe her as she goes / With her high-heeled boots and her patent leather toes / That she was one of those flash girls I soon found out in time / When her high heeled boots went clattering down the Knickerbocker Line" - BS
Last updated in version 4.4
File: OSY1021

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