Sam Larner

Sam Larner was born in 1878 in Winterton, Norfolk, and died 11 September 1965. Sam first went to sea when he was only eight, and signed on as a 'peggy' (cabin-boy) at 12. He learned many songs from his father and other fishermen and first performed in public at the age of nine, singing for pennies to coach parties passing through the village. Later, he sang at fishermen's smoking concerts in ports along the coast from Shetland to Cornwall, as the fishing fleet followed the annual migration of the herring. “We used to have some good old times when we used to come home from sea. We used to get in the old pub, have a pint or two around, give 'em the four-handed reel... A drink, a song and a four-handed reel. Round we'd go and up we'd go, and we used to have a rare old, good old time.”