Post by Administrator on Nov 3, 2020 19:05:46 GMT
DANCING CLOWN
'Twas a summer day in Gloucester town,
Where a gentle fog had settled down,
To George's bank, and fishing bound,
In a schooner named the Dancing Clown.
John Coffin was the skipper's name,
The largest catch his claim to fame,
The wild Atlantic his to tame,
A hard profession on the bounding main
Flounder, haddock, some cod as well,
Hauled into dories that rode the swell,
Fog muted the ring of a far distant bell,
Guiding home a heartwarming knell.
A hold full of fish, a wind in her sail,
An escort of dolphin and maybe a whale,
Returned to Gloucester, that salty old town,
The skipper and crew of the old Dancing Clown.
Ian Adrian Millar
Poem is just based on the hundreds of schooners that fished the Grand Banks out of Gloucester, Massachusetts and all fictitious. Coffin is a name found in New England as you know. I served with a bosun by the name of Coffin while aboard the cutter EASTWIND out of Boston. Often went fishing in the Gloucester/Cape Ann area resulting in some nice flounder fish frys. Dancing Clown the name of the schooner came from my grand daughter who happened to mention a dancing clown on TV which I overheard and used.
Added for interest: THE COFFIN FAMILY OF BOSTON: LINK
'Twas a summer day in Gloucester town,
Where a gentle fog had settled down,
To George's bank, and fishing bound,
In a schooner named the Dancing Clown.
John Coffin was the skipper's name,
The largest catch his claim to fame,
The wild Atlantic his to tame,
A hard profession on the bounding main
Flounder, haddock, some cod as well,
Hauled into dories that rode the swell,
Fog muted the ring of a far distant bell,
Guiding home a heartwarming knell.
A hold full of fish, a wind in her sail,
An escort of dolphin and maybe a whale,
Returned to Gloucester, that salty old town,
The skipper and crew of the old Dancing Clown.
Ian Adrian Millar
Poem is just based on the hundreds of schooners that fished the Grand Banks out of Gloucester, Massachusetts and all fictitious. Coffin is a name found in New England as you know. I served with a bosun by the name of Coffin while aboard the cutter EASTWIND out of Boston. Often went fishing in the Gloucester/Cape Ann area resulting in some nice flounder fish frys. Dancing Clown the name of the schooner came from my grand daughter who happened to mention a dancing clown on TV which I overheard and used.
Added for interest: THE COFFIN FAMILY OF BOSTON: LINK