- Lady Franklin's Lament

Words: Traditional (Roud 487)
Tune: Traditional

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

With one hundred seamen he sailed away
To the frozen ocean in the month of May,
To seek that passage around the Pole
Where we poor seamen do sometimes go.

In Baffin Bay where the whalefishes blow
The fate of Franklin no man may know.
Oh the fate of Franklin no tongue can tell,
Lord Franklin along with his sailors do dwell.

Through cruel hardships they vainly strove,
Their ship on mountains of ice was drove,
Only the Eskimo in his skin canoe
Was the only one who ever came through.

In Baffin Bay…

And now my burden it gives me pain,
For me long lost Franklin I’d cross the main.
Oh ten thousand pounds I would freely give
To say on earth that my Franklin do live.

In Baffin Bay…