"Chicken on a Raft" was a great favorite with the
Vegesack Whalermen and we made a great sketch out of it for the
Ceilidh 2003 in the Gustav-Heinemann Bürgerhaus, Vegesack and later in in the same year in the Schwanewede Begegnungstätte. The song is by
Cyril Tawney (the author of
Grey Funnel Lines) and I first heard on
Wally Whyton's Folk Music programme sometime in 1983. and sung by a group called the Young Tradition. I transcribed it but never got around to performing it until sometime at the end of the 1990's. I especially enjoyed being the "dustman" in the chorus whilst Manfred Eichholz was the perfect "dabtoe" when sitting on our submarine's extremities enjoying our egg-on-toast, your actual chicken on a raft.
Photo:
Manfred Eichholz © 2003.
This song may be found in the Tyneside Maritime Chorus songbook