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I've had enough of swiling ships, the squalor and the gore,
The Harlaw sank beneath me, and I said I'd hunt no more;
But Albert John was just sixteen and bound to try his hand,
Along I went for one more run aboard the Newfoundland.
"Stay right by me, follow to my lead,
They'll work you twice what you can take, and pay you half your need;
Your ma and me, we couldn't see to send you out alone,
I brought you to this frozen waste, and I will bring you home."
The ship was jinked right from the pier, our dreams were dark and
strange,
The shifting floes they jammed her in, the whitecoats out of range;
The glass showed dirty weather on a dawn as red as fire,
For half the day we crossed on foot in search of Kean's desire.
"Stay right by me, follow to my lead,
To chase a captain's folly, and to serve an owner's greed;
Your ma and me, we couldn't see to send you out alone,
I brought you to this frozen waste, and I will bring you home."
A chilling wind caught up the snow to drift and hide the trail,
A whisper rose, "There'll be no man alive to tell the tale."
With songs and thoughts of home we faced a night out in the cold,
But of that long night's miseries, the half cannot be told.
"Stay right by me, follow to my lead,
What hope we have is to be men, and stay upon our feet;
Your ma and me, we couldn't see to send you out alone,
I brought you to this frozen waste, and I will bring you home."
The daylight rose and crossed the sky, again was falling low,
We reached the end of faith and strength, and sank into the snow;
How little can a poor man do to keep a son from harm?
I wrapped him in my guernsey and I locked him in my arms.
"Stay right by me, follow to my lead,
And if your hour is come, me b'y, then let it come for me;
Your ma and me, we couldn't see to send you out alone,
I brought you to this frozen waste, and I will bring you home."
Notes:
¹ This is Marion Parson's follow-up song to her earlier The Newfoundland Sealing Disaster, and tells the same story from a narrower perspective. It is based on the true story of Reuben Crewe and his son, Albert John, who were found frozen on the ice. Their bodies were returned to port the way they were found, with Albert wrapped in Reuben's sweater and locked in his father's arms. Indeed, Reuben had been true to his word and had brought his son home.
² Westbury (Wes) Kean was the captain of the Newfoundland.
