A                     Bm   A         
With our nets and gear we're faring                     
        A          Bm     A   E
On the wild and wasteful ocean.
          A            Bm        A          Bm           A   A  A/G# F#m
It's out there on the deep we harvest and reap -  our bread
       A             D        E   A
As we hunt the bonny shoals o herrin


     A              D          A
O it was a fine and a pleasant summers day
A           A     A/G#     A/F#     E    
Out of Yarmouth harbour I was faring
E/F#  G# A      D              A     F#m
As a cabin boy on a sailing lugger
         A              D         E    A
We were up to hunt the shoals of herring

     A              D          A
Now the work was hard and the hours long
A           A     A/G#     A/F#     E    
and the treatment surely took some bearing
E/F#  A/G# A                 D                  A   A   A/G#  F#m
there was little kindness and the kicks were many
         A              D     E    A
as we hunted for the shoals o herrin

     A                    D          A
Now we fished the Swarth and the Broken Bank
A           A     A/G#     A/F#     E    
I was cook and I'd a quarter share in
E/F#  E/G# A          D              A  A   A/G#  F#m
And I used to sleep standing on me feet
         A               D        E    A
And I dreamed about the shoals o herrin

     A                   D                A
We left the home grounds in the month of June
A           A     A/G#     A/F#     E    
And for Canny Shiels we soon were bearing
E/F#  E/G# A          D              A  A   A/G#  F#m
With a hundred cran of the silver darlings
         A                D        E    A
That we'd taken from the shoals o herrin

    A               D              A
In the stormy seas and the living gales
A           A     A/G#     A/F#     E    
Just to earn your daily bread you're daring
E/F#  E/G# A          D              A  A   A/G#  F#m
From the Dover Straits to the Faroe Islands
         A                D        E    A
And you're following the shoals o herrin

   A                     D          A
Now you're up on deck, you're a fisherman
A           A     A/G#     A/F#     E    
You can swear and show a manly bearing
E/F#  E/G# A          D              A  A   A/G#  F#m
Take your turn on deck with the other fellows
         A               D        E    A
As you're following the shoals o herrin



[Tremolo]

       A            Bm  A         
Night and day we’re farin
        A    Bm     A        E
Come winter wind or winter gales.
 A        Bm            A          Bm       A      A   A/G#  F#m
Sweat or cold, growing up, growing old, or dying 
       A               D        E   A
As you hunt the bonny shoals o herrin.