On board "The Star of Good Hope", any time he had a moment to spare, Jimmy Geddes took out the harmonica and played a little. And the other fishermen began to listen, remembering old tunes and songs they had forgotten from way back.

"Go on. Play 'The Drunken Sailor' for us, Jimmy," they'd say. Or "Can you play 'The Rio Grande' ? Now that's a fine tune." Or "Do you remember the tune of 'Barbara Allen' ? How does that go again? That was a rare old song...."

And all the crew began to sing a bit and whistle a bit, even those with the cloth ears and the old leather tongues !

Out on the dark sea with a thin white moon and the cold North star glittering overhead, you could hear the harmonica playing a hundred miles away. Such a lively cheerful voice it had.

Down in the galley they were smoking their old black pipes, drinking strong tea and eating a dish of old Mother Strachan's potted meat, while the silver darlings fairly jumped right up out of the water to hear those fine old sea shanties.

Well, by the morning weren't the nets seething to bursting with herring again so that when they reached the safe haven at Peterhead, Tommy Strachan said with a wink, "Jimmy Geddes is after being a rich man. For he's fairly charming the herring out of the sea with his old harmonica."

But Jimmy Geddes just laughed and said,"I don't want to be a rich man. All I want is a little grey cottage, a pretty wife, a black cat and an apple tree in the garden."