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Ye feeling-hearted Christians, hold on and console with me,
Till these few feeling verses I am going to tell to thee,
Concerning of the Kate O' Branch that lately was run down,
All by an English man-o'-war bound down to St. John's town.
The fourteenth day of July, as you may understand,
This boat lay at an anchor about eight miles from the land;
And as they lay in their virgin beds, making their silent sleep,
'Twas little they thought before the light they'd be slumbered in the deep.
It being a short time after the news reached Salmonier,
Among the friends and parents came loving sisters dear,
To hear his darling mother as she cried aloud and said,
"My darling son, you're cut down in your bed."
It being a short time that these poor boys were drowned,
Mick coming from Broad Cove, young William Daley found;
He brought him to St. Mary's, rolled up in a sail,
If your heart was of marble, it's for him that you would feel.
Here's adieu to the St. Mary's men, they are real true blue,
They gave him a shroud and a coffin, what more could they do?
A boat and a crew to bring him home all on the very next day,
And had him wait there with his friends to be buried in the clay.
'Twas early the next morning, his boat reached Salmonier,
With colors flying half-mast, the morning it being clear;
The people all assembled to welcome this poor b'y,
And hear his tender mother, how bitterly she did cry.
We took him to his father's house and waked him there till light,
I hope that ye will pray for him, morning noon and night;
All up ye good Christians, it is for him you'll pray,
And in the hands of our blessed Lord that died on Calvary.
Collected in 1950 from Mike Kent (b,1904) 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 Leonard Molloy of St. Shott's, NL, and published as Kate Of Branch in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
According to a 1951 recording by MacEdward Leach of a Mrs. Ryan of St. Catherine's, NL, Morris Daley wrote this song with help from the first priest to settle in St. Catherine's, Father Ryan from St. John's. Mrs. Ryan was a relative of Father Ryan, and she recalled this event occurred sometime around 1850. She also confirmed William Daley as one of the victims of this tragedy.
A variant was collected in 1977 from Linda Slade of St. John's, NL, by Genevieve Lehr and Anita Best and published as #64, The Kate From Branch in Come And I Will Sing You: A Newfoundland Songbook, pp.112-113, edited by Genevieve Lehr (University of Toronto Press © 1985/2003).
Genevieve Lehr noted that Linda Slade's variant was a composite version of the song learned by Linda Slade from the late Mack Masters of Arnold's Cove and Pius Power, who learned the song from his grandfather, Mr. Billy.
