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Another widely spread song in the UK, Ireland, US and Canada. Aka ' Lady Franklin's Lament', it was first published as a broadside ballad in about 1850. It refers to Lord Franklin's ill-fated expedition to find a navigable Northwest Passage through the ice north of Canada. The long-standing mystery of the ships' and crews' disappearance is now partly solved after the Canadians found his sunken ships,The Terror and Erebus. Elspeth sings a snippet from another ballad, A Sailor's Life( Roud 273; Laws K12), as a prelude to Lord Franklin.

lyrics

LORD FRANKLIN

‘Twas homeward bound one night on the deep
Lying in my hammock, I fell asleep
I dreamed a dream. and I thought it true
Concerning Franklin and his gallant crew

With a hundred seamen he sailed away
To the frozen ocean in the month of May
To seek a passage around the pole
Where we poor seamen do sometimes go

Through cruel hardships they vainly strove
Their ships on mountains of ice were drove
Only the Eskimo in his skin canoe
Was the only one that ever came through

From Baffin's Bay where the whalefish blow
The fate of Franklin no man may know
The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell
Where Lord Franklin and his sailors do dwell

And now my burden it gives me pain
For the fate of Franklin, I would sail the main
Ten thousand pounds would I freely give
Just to know on earth, that Lord Franklin do live

credits

from Elspeth Cowie: songs from The Devil's Delight -, track released January 1, 1992
Traditional, arranged Seannachie

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Elspeth Cowie Spain

Elspeth Cowie is a leading singer of folk and traditional songs, notably from Scotland, but also Americana. Her life and musical journey has spanned many places, genres, and decades. This shows in the arrangements she produces across, and sometimes fusing, genres. "If a song's got soul, it's worth singing whatever the label on it," she says. "Why paint with just one colour?" ... more

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