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We shipped aboard a naval ship for coastal Labrador,
September eighteen-eighty-nine we left our island shore;
The wind was up southwestward and the swell began to rise,
While the Lily hove toward the darkening skies.
Her mighty steam powered engines pumped to push her from behind,
She also had her canvas spread to help make better time;
We met a heavy blow with fog when we neared the Labrador,
But the wind drowned out the horn from Point Amour.
So heave her ho and haul away, she's bound for Labrador,
Heave her ho and haul away, she won't be back no more;
No more we'll sail the salty seas, we're on the land to stay,
So heave her ho and haul away.
We saw the foaming breakers dead ahead and warned the mate,
We reversed our engines, furled sheets, too little and too late;
We fired our guns and lowered lifeboats so when she was awash,
We were sure our lives would all be lost.
The lifeboats lowered overturned, and seven men were drowned,
Many more swam to the shore, in the lighthouse can be found;
Most men stayed on board the ship through dark and morning light,
While the angry waves kept pounding through the night.
So heave her ho and haul away, she's bound for Labrador,
Heave her ho and haul away, she won't be back no more;
No more we'll sail the salty seas, we're on the land to stay,
So heave her ho and haul away.
Rescuers from nearby towns answered the distress,
From L'Anse au Loup and L'Anse Amour, from Forteau and the rest;
Bonfires burning on the shore gave hope to us on ship,
While we prayed for those who had already left.
Next day the ordeal over, a successful rescue won,
With no further loss of souls the salvage was begun;
The Emerald took survivors back to our native home,
And then we swore we never more would roam.
So heave her ho and haul away, she's bound for Labrador,
Heave her ho and haul away, she won't be back no more;
No more we'll sail the salty seas, we're on the land to stay,
So heave her ho and haul away.
So heave her ho and haul away, she's bound for Labrador,
Heave her ho and haul away, she won't be back no more;
No more we'll sail the salty seas, we're on the land to stay,
So heave her ho and haul away.
The variant in the YouTube video above features a recording by Murphy's Law, a retired Celtic, Irish, bush band from New Zealand.
Point Amour is located just off route 510, between the communities of Forteau and L'Anse au Loup, on the Southern Labrador coast.
On September 16, 1889, the 720 ton British Naval vessel, HMS Lily, was attempting to intercept a mail ship en-route from Montreal to Great Britain. Powered by sails and engines, the Lily had left Brig Bay, Newfoundland, and was steaming into Forteau Bay in a thick blanket of fog when it ran aground near Point Amour. The nearby fog horn could not be heard above the roar of the sea and the noise of confusion aboard the boat. Thomas Wyatt, the light-keeper at the time, along with his assistants, heard the firing of the guns from the distressed ship, and ran to assist with the rescue. Although the ship was only 150 feet from shore, seven men lost their lives in the heavy sea. As the Lily sank to the bottom, with only its masts above the ocean, Thomas Wyatt got a line to the ship and rescued four men who were clinging on to the gear. The British Admiralty credited Mr. Wyatt as being a hero, and presented him with a clock in appreciation of his help with the rescue and his care of the survivors of HMS Lily.
© Point Amour Lighthouse - Shipwrecks
