[Page 106]
The Cedar Grove
(1)
It's of noble steamer,
The
Cedar Grove 1 by name,
She
crossed the briny ocean,
From London
city came.
While steering forth one stormy night
Too dark to see the land ,
By some miscalculations,
On Canso she did
strand.
(2)
The night was dark and stormy,
The look-out at his post,
The first he knew
of dangers,
Was breakers on the coast .
The
look-out wished to give them orders,
But knew it not his
place,
The bugler it must be observed,
Whatever be the case.
(3)
The sailor at the helm ,
He knew that he
could tell.
He knew they were too near the rocks ,
By the heaving of the swell.
The orders then were
given
The engines to reverse,
(4)
Then straightway through the breakers,
Our noble ship
boomed on,
Till at once an awful crash
,
Brought fear to everyone.
Both
engineers and fireman
Were hard at work below
And by their perserverance,
Our ship did backward they
go.
(5)
Soon she was deep in water.
And then her fate was sealed.
The waves
began to wash her decks,
And on her side she keeled.
Her after cabins began to fill,
And also down below.
Likewise her aft
2 compartments,
And
down our ship did go.
(6)
The saddest of my story,
From you yet doth
3 remain.
We had a
lady passenger,
Miss Farrell was her
name.
For to visit some relation,
In the
city of Saint John ,
She ventured
across the ocean ,
But not she's dead and gone.
(7)
A sailor said he saw her,
In the cabin door stand by,
He said it grieved him to
the heart,
To hear her wailing cry.
He
said he tried to console with her,
And tell her she'd not be
lost,
But in another moment,
On the
billows , she was tossed
(8)
Our steward
help her bravely,
Out o'er
4 the ship's dark rail.
He
waited for the boats ,
To pull up against the gale.
A giant wave swept over,
Which did prevail his grip,
And then the lady's tender form
Went
floating from the ship .
(9)
The same sea
took our captain,
And he was seen no more.
Through heavy seas and darkness,
The boats still lingered
near.
Two engineers were also lost,
When
the noble ship went down.
Their bodies or the ladies,
Have never yet been found.
(10)
And now the ill-fated Cedar Grove
On the bottom she doth lie.
To save the most of her
cargo ,
The divers herd did try.
A
disfigured body
Was carefully sent on,
Our
aged and honored captain ,
Who died while in command.
(11)
Our cargo was for Halifax
From the city of St.
John ,
And to the latter port my boys,
This noble ship belonged.
She was strongly built on
the banks of Clyde ,
Five thousand
tons or more,
But her strength proved of no avail,
On the rocks of Canso Shore
.
Finis
Notes
1
The Cedar Grove
was a Canadian transport ship sailing from
London, England in 1882. Carrying a cargo of Christmas goods, the ship
unfortunately hit land, which led to the Cedar Grove's
sinkage.
2
aft archaic
term for "toward the stern of a ship "
3
doth archaic
term for "do"
4
o'er archaic term for "over"