My friend Claudia and I came across this the other night in Folk Songs of North America. We really liked the tune, and the lyrics tell a great story. I swear I've heard Great Lakes folksinger Lee Murdock sing this tune, but I can't find it on any of his recordings.
Since I was born in Detroit, I was brought up with certain knowledge that St. Clair is the sixth of the Great Lakes.
-Joe Offer-

The Julie Plante
Words by William Drummond.

On wan dark night on de Lake St. Clair
De win’ she blow, blow, blow
An’ de crew of de wood scow Julie Plante
Got scar’ and run below.
For de win’ she blow like hurricane,
By’n bye she blow some more,
An’ de scow bus’ up jus’ off Grosse Pointe
Ten acres from de shore.

De captain walk on de fron’ deck,
He walk on de hin’ deck, too;
An’ he call de crew up from de hol’
An’ he call de cook also.
De cook she’s name was Rosie
She com’ from Montreal
Was chamber-maid on lumber barge
On de beeg Lachine Canal.

De night was dark like wan black cat,
De wave run high and fas’
W’en de captain take hees poor Rosie
An’ lash her to de mas’.
An’ den he take de life preserve
An’ jump off in de lake,
Say’n ‘Au revoir ma Rosie dear,
I go drown for your sake.’

Nex’ mornin’ veree earlee,
‘bout half pas’ two-t’ree-four,
De captain, scow, an’ poor Rosie
Was corpses on de shore.
For de win’ she blow like hurricane,
An’ den she blow some more,
An’ de scow bus’ up jus’ off Grosse Pointe
Ten acres from de shore.

Now, all good wood scow sailormen,
Take warnin’ by dat storm,
An’ go marree some nice French girl,
An’ leev on wan beeg farm.
De win’ may blow like hurricane,
An’ s’pose she blow some more,
You can’t get drown on Lake St. Clair
So long you stay on shore.


Tune is basically an old Irish jig tune like the Irish "As I Roved Out" or the Scots "Trooper and the Maid"
(from The Folk Songs of North America, by Alan Lomax, 1960). Lomax got the text from the Ivan Walton Collection at the University of Michigan. See: Rickaby 93.

Alan Lomax: Apart from the sea chanteys, which were sung on the Lakes in the days of sail, shipwreck songs form the largest section of the folklore of the Great Windy Lakes. This ballad comes from the pen of W.H. Drummond (1865-1907), famous for his poetry in habitant, or French-Canadian English, but it appealed so much to the Lakes sailors that, long before it was published, it was a favourite in bar-rooms all round the Lakes.

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Click to play

(Lomax tune)

To play or display ABC tunes, try concertina.net

ABC format:

X:1
T:The Julie Plante
M:2/4
Q:1/4=120
K:C
E2E2A2A2|ABA2G2E2|E2E2A2A2|B2A6|EEE2AAA2|
B2A2G2E2|F2G2E2D2|B,2A,6|EEE2A2A2|B2A2G2E2|
E2E2A2A2|B2A6|EEE2A2A2|B2A2G2E2|^F2G2E2D2|
B,2A,6|-A,||

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Click to play

(alternate tune transcribed by Lee Murdock for the Windjammers Songbook, same lyrics)