Fiddlers' Green

So ubiquitous in current folk circles that it is often thought to be traditional, this song was actually written in 1966 by John Conolly, English folk singer and songwriter and founding member of the Grimsby Folk Club. It has been covered by numerous artists, including the Dubliners, the Clancy Brothers, and Schooner Fare.

The Longest Johns released their version of the song as well as an accompanying music video on 3 October 2025 on the Stricken EP from Pieces of Eight.

Factoids

Fiddlers' Green is a mythic location where, folklore holds, all good sailors go when they die; it is an idyllic locale featuring such pleasures as endless music, good drink, and pleasant company.

The idea of Fiddlers' Green has existed at least since the early 19th c., but the origins of the story are obscure and the details often vary wildly between tellers. Though its genesis does seem to be nautical, it has since been associated with a number of groups; a 1965 article describes the list of who may end up there as including (in no particular order), "animals, tailors, musicians, sailors, vagabond craftsmen, soldiers, cavalrymen, fiddlers, banjo-pickers, story-tellers, ballad singers, tinkers, peddlers, cowpokes, and 'souls...too bad for Paradise and too charming for hell.'"

Some versions of the story incorporate the trope of the Winnowing Oar: a sailor at the end of his career takes an oar and begins walking inland until he reaches a place where no one recognizes the object he's carrying — the sign that he's reached Fiddlers' Green at last.

Lyrics

As performed on the album.

As I walked by the dockside one evening so fair
To view the salt waters and take in the salt air
I heard an old fisherman singing a song
Oh, take me away boys, me time is not long

{Chorus}
Wrap me up in me oilskins and jumper
No more on the docks I'll be seen
Just tell me old shipmates, I'm taking a trip mates
And I'll see you someday on Fiddlers' Green

Now Fiddlers' Green is a place I've heard tell
Where the fishermen go if they don't go to hell
Where the sky is all clear and the dolphins do play
And the cold coast of Greenland is far, far away

{Chorus}

Where the skies are all clear and there's never a gale
And the fish jump on board with one swish of their tail
Where you lie at your leisure, there's no work to do
And the skipper's below making tea for the crew

{Chorus}

When you get by on dock and the long trip is through
And there's pubs and there's clubs and there's lassies there too
Where the girls are all pretty, and the beer is all free
And there's bottles of rum growing on every tree

{Chorus}

Now I don't want a harp nor a halo, not me
Just give me a breeze and a good rolling sea
I'll play me old squeeze-box as we sail along
With the wind in the rigging to sing me a song

{Chorus}

Recordings

Stream/Purchase

• Amazon
• Anghami
• Apple Music/iTunes
• Bandcamp
• Deezer
• Pandora
• Spotify
• Tidal

YouTube Videos

• Music video
• Album version

Full Band Streams

• It Was Christmas Stream Babe (20 Dec 2023)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Stream (18 Dec 2024)
• 28 Streams Later (15 Oct 2025)

Gaming Streams

• The Longest Johns Play Sea of Thieves but the servers die and we sing anyway (20 Mar 2018)