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On the tenth of April, 1912, her whistles they did sound,
Her power of motion was released, her twin screws turned around;
Designed by skilful builders at Belfast, Ireland,
The honour fell to Captain Smith the liner to command.
Nine hundred seamen to form the crew, some wore the golden braid,
With ladies fair and millionaires strolled on her promenade;
Southampton's piers were crowded down on that eventful day,
To see the largest ship afloat sail for Amerikay.
As the engines thrust, great clouds of smoke rose from her funnels high,
For she was bound down on the main her record for her to try;
With engines new, her turbine flew around with lightning speed,
Onto the dangers of the sea they gave but little heed.
Three days were spent in merriment, they still kept steering on,
Till the fourteenth day of April, one hour before the dawn;
When an iceberg white it loomed in sight, it lay right in our course,
From trunk to keel our ship of steel was dealt a blow in force.
Upon the main confusion reigned, we knew our end was nigh,
When our lifeless bodies in the deep a-mouldering would lie;
O, sorrow mingled with despair, their fatal hour had come,
When the White Star queen lay on the main her engines ceased to hum.
O, come to us, we're sinking, flashed a message o'er the blue,
The titan's powers are broken and her bowels are open through;
O, come to us, we're sinking, the message flashed again,
While the watchful eyes of hundreds failed to see her on the main.
Too late the ship has vanished and nothing more is seen,
And fifteen hundred all went down, all with that White Star queen;
As the great and mighty sepulchre pushed downward to her doom,
Four hundred miles from Boston and four from old Cape Race.
Collected in 1950 from Mrs. John Powers (b.ca.1916) of Tors Cove, 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 Ken Rice of Cape Broyle, NL, by Ken Peacock and published as The Loss Of The Titanic in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.965-966, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
