OLD WOODEN BOATS (Mickey MacConnell)
Video of 'Old Wooden Boats'

I pulled my boat to the pier at Dingle
There I met an old man long home from the sea
He caught my rope and with eyes sun-crinkled
He looked first at my boat and then at me

And he told me, 'Son, I've fished these waters
'For eighty years, both man and boy
'And I was brave, but you're much bolder
'To dare to go to sea in that rich man's toy'

'Because that boat you stake your life on
'It's fibreglass and plastic, stem to stern
'It bears the beaten soul of its factory builder
'For it has never known the love of a craftsman's hands'

'But old wooden boats scold like old mothers
'When you drive them through a west of Ireland sea
'Old wooden boats are like no other
'For the fight for the lives of fools like you and me

He said, 'Old oak planks will groan and whimper
'And they'll warn you when it's time to feel afraid
'While a plastic hull will crack and splinter
'And, with no warning, sweep you to an early grave'

'When the Northern Star leans on your shoulder
'And it's icy anger builds a troubled sea
'Then put your faith in God almighty
'And in the secrets that the winds once told the trees'

I caught the tide in early morning
In the dawn I watched the Blaskets fall astern
And the wind recalled the old man's warning
And it asked me had I listened, had I learned

That old wooden boats scold like old mothers
When you drive them through a west of Ireland sea
Old wooden boats are like no other
For the fight for the lives of fools like you and me