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Come all you gallant seamen bold, come listen unto me,
I'll tell you of the dangers great that you may meet at sea;
Concerning a bold seaman I mean to let you hear,
It's Captain Mike McDonald, belonged to Salmonier.
They left their homes in Salmonier on April the twenty-sixth,
When coming down Trepassey Bay, the fog it came in thick;
They met a land, Freshwater Point, just at the break of day,
McDonald said unto his men, "We'll put her head to sea."
They ran her for the shore that night for three long hours or more,
McDonald said, "Now let her come, I think she'll clear the shore."
But to their sad misfortune, just at the break of day,
Their schooner struck at Johnson's Point up in Trepassey Bay.
McDonald said unto his men, "Our schooner now is done,
For soon she will be broken up by the heavy seas that run."
One of her spars fell on the cliff, as loud the seas did roar,
Which formed a bridge, and two of them got safely on the shore.
McDonald, like all true seamen, he was the last to leave,
He stood there on the deck of her till he saw his crew were safe;
Alas, he waited all too long, himself he could not save,
When the seas soon washed him overboard and buried him in the waves.
No pen can write, no tongue can tell, the feeling of those boys,
To see their loving father and he drowning before their eyes;
They could not lend a helping hand their father for to save,
And soon poor Mike McDonald was buried in the waves.
Heartbroken then they turned away from that sad spot that day,
And up the cliff unto the group they quickly made their way;
Arriving there both wet and tired and hungry, too, as well,
With heavy hearts and tearful eyes, their sad tale for to tell.
No praise now could be too great for those few men that day,
Unto the scene of disaster they quickly made their way;
They searched both late and early, too, success their efforts crowned,
On the third day, in the afternoon, his body it was found.
They brought him home unto the group, and that without delay,
They fixed him up and laid him out all on that very same day;
Some people then from poor Eagle Cove a coffin did prepare,
And had him sent back to his home and friends in Salmonier.
Now he is gone and laid to rest, his name will honour be,
He was as good a seaman as ever plowed the seas;
Like a true man he lived and died at the end of doomsday's call,
May the Lord have mercy on his soul, that is the wish of all.
Collected in 1950 from Gerald Aylward [1917-1987] of Cape Broyle, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
A variant was collected in 1951 from Cyril O'brien of Trepassey, NL, and published as Mike McDonald in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
