Subscribe to our Newsletter

We Shepherds Be the Best of Men

Back to browse page
Performer: Chidlaw, Richard
Place Collected: Cheltenham
Date collected: 1980 (Oct)
Collector: Davies, Gwilym
Roud Number: 284

Versions in this form are found only in southern England since about 1880, but it is an adaptation of an earlier sailor ballad printed on broadsides ‘When the stormy winds do blow’. Interestingly we have the same sailor-shepherd pairing in the old saying ‘Red sky at night, sailor’s/shepherd’s delight, etc.).

Notes by Steve Gardham