Three Fishers

"The Three Fishers" is a poem and a ballad written in 1851[1] by English poet, novelist, and Anglican priest Charles Kingsley.

It was first set to music by English composer John Hullah shortly thereafter.[2] Robert Goldbeck also set it to music in a version published in 1878.[3] Some more recent recordings of the song follow a musical arrangement created by the Canadian folksinger Garnet Rogers and recorded by his brother Stan in the 1980s.[4]

The poem tells the story of three fishermen who sail out to sea, and lose their lives when overtaken by a storm.

  1. ^ "Three Fishers Went Sailing" (1857) — A Victorian parlour song sung by Derek B. Scott, from The Victorian Web (accessed April 1, 2011)
  2. ^ J.P. McCaskey (ed.), Franklin Square Song Collection: Two Hundred Favorite Songs and Hymns for Schools and Homes, Nursery and Fireside, No. 4, Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, New York, 1887, p.126
  3. ^ "The Three Fishers". Library of Congress. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  4. ^ Rogers, Garnet (1983). For the Family (Liner notes). Hamilton, Ontario: Folk Tradition Records. Stan brought this poem to rehearsal one day with the idea we could work it into an acappella tune. I perverted his fragment of melody to my own ends.