You might recall my bit from last year on the wreck of the George III.
Tonight, I came across this song in Farewell to Old England, by Hugh Anderson, 1964, a collection of broadsides with accompanying background material. I haven't seen it elsewhere and a web search didn't turn anything up. The only reference given for it is: 4to. N.P. N.D. [c. 1835] Copies: University of Cambridge Library (quarto, no place, no date). Helpful, indeed.
Melancholy News of the Convict Ship
George the Third
Farewell, dear friends and comrades all,
On England's fertile soil,
No more I'll view your cheering smiles,
In slavery's hardest toil.
Farewell, my mother, dearest friend,
For ever fare you well,
May you enjoy all happiness
While on earth you dwell.
If they advice I had listen'd to,
I ne'er would have gone astray,
To work in chains in a foreign land,
'Neath the sun's burning rays.
A dreadful wreck we did sustain,
Near Derwent river's mouth;
On a reef of rock we did there strike--
The wind being then due south.
The dreadful sufferings to relate
Would take a scholar's skill,
To see us in the hold secured--
The water rushing in;
A guard was round the hatchway plac'd,
To shoot us if he mov'd,
When death was making rapid strides,
'Mong some of those we lov'd.
One hundred and thirty-four were lost--
Oh! Dreadful was the woe,
To see them clinging to the wreck,
Which caused and their children young,
Clasp'd in love's embrace,
When sinking underneath the waves,
Ne'er more to see each face.
O, mother, to see us struggling with
Th' impetuous bursting surge,
Would caus'd your tender heart to break,
When some were overboard,
Crying, "Oh, Lord! forgive my sins,
For many have they been";
Then clasp'd their hands--sunk in rest,
And never more seen.
Tonight, I came across this song in Farewell to Old England, by Hugh Anderson, 1964, a collection of broadsides with accompanying background material. I haven't seen it elsewhere and a web search didn't turn anything up. The only reference given for it is: 4to. N.P. N.D. [c. 1835] Copies: University of Cambridge Library (quarto, no place, no date). Helpful, indeed.
Melancholy News of the Convict Ship
George the Third
Farewell, dear friends and comrades all,
On England's fertile soil,
No more I'll view your cheering smiles,
In slavery's hardest toil.
Farewell, my mother, dearest friend,
For ever fare you well,
May you enjoy all happiness
While on earth you dwell.
If they advice I had listen'd to,
I ne'er would have gone astray,
To work in chains in a foreign land,
'Neath the sun's burning rays.
A dreadful wreck we did sustain,
Near Derwent river's mouth;
On a reef of rock we did there strike--
The wind being then due south.
The dreadful sufferings to relate
Would take a scholar's skill,
To see us in the hold secured--
The water rushing in;
A guard was round the hatchway plac'd,
To shoot us if he mov'd,
When death was making rapid strides,
'Mong some of those we lov'd.
One hundred and thirty-four were lost--
Oh! Dreadful was the woe,
To see them clinging to the wreck,
Which caused and their children young,
Clasp'd in love's embrace,
When sinking underneath the waves,
Ne'er more to see each face.
O, mother, to see us struggling with
Th' impetuous bursting surge,
Would caus'd your tender heart to break,
When some were overboard,
Crying, "Oh, Lord! forgive my sins,
For many have they been";
Then clasp'd their hands--sunk in rest,
And never more seen.
