[1972:] Shipbuilding is synonymous with Clydeside and it was therefore this local industry that Bobby Campbell, Archie Fisher and Norman Buchan, MP, chose as their subject when asked by Ewan MacColl and Charles Parker to write a song connected with school-leavers [...]. (Notes Ray Fisher, 'The Bonnie Birdy')
[1977:] It expresses the thoughts and feelings of a Clydeside shipyard worker who has grown up through the Forties and Fifties. (Notes 'The Battlefield Band')
[1984:] This song was first heard in a series of six radio programmes called 'Landmarks' (subtitle, 'From the cradle to the grave'), 1964-65. Like the 'Radio Ballads' series [...], these were devised and presented by Charles Parker in conjunction with Ewan MacColl. The Fairfield apprentice song was in the second programme of the series, entitled 'School'. Ray Fisher says, "It pinpointed the hardships on Clydeside in the 'bad old days' - parish queues and all - people's utter dependence on the Clyde's industries." (Munro, Revival 159)
[1990:] The Kvaerner Shipyard in Govan [...] used to be Govan Shipbuilders, which used to be Upper Clyde Shipbuilders [UCS] of work-in fame, which used to be Fairfield's of even greater fame. (Damer, Glasgow 21)
[Elder's] shipyard, known as the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Works since 1890, specialised in both naval vessels and fast transatlantic liners. No less than 55 warships were built between 1870 and 1909, and another twelve were engined in the Fairfield. (Damer, Glasgow 38)
[1990:] The Shipyard Apprentice, also known as Fairfield Crane, is the most enduring [of Archie Fisher's songs]. It was written for a BBC radio series called 'Landmarks', the lyrics as a joint production with Norman Buchan, with a tune by Glasgow fiddler and Broomhill Bum Bobby Campbell. None of Norman's verses for the programme have been kept in Archie's sung version. As the fortunes of the Clyde shipyards have changed over the years other hands have wanted to change the song. Alasdair Robertson and John McCreadie have both made amended versions. (McVicar, One Singer One Song 24)