Lyr. Add: JIM WHALEN
A. C. Hannah, Bemidji, Minnesota

1
Come all you jolly raftsmen, I pray you lend an ear.
'T' is of a mournful accident I soon will let you hear,
Concerning of a noble youth, Jim Whalen he was call'd,
Was drowned off Pete McLaren's raft below the upper fall.
2
The rapids they were raging, the waters were so high.
Says the foreman unto Whalen, "This jam we'll have to try.
You're young, you're brave and active when danger's lurking near.
You're just the man to help me now these waters to get clear."
3
Young Whalen then made answer unto his comrades bold,
Saying, "Come on, boys, though it's dangerous, we'll do as we are told.
We'll obey our orders manfully, as young men they should do-"
But while he spoke the jam, it broke, and Whalen, he went through.
4
Three of them were in danger, but two of them were saved,
But noble-hearted Whalen met with a watery grave.
No mortal man could live in such a raging watery main,
And although he struggled hard for life, , his struggles were in vain.
5
The foaming waters roared and tossed the logs from shore to shore.
Now here, now there his body seen tumbling o'er and o'er.
One awful cry for mercy- "O God, look down on me!"
And his soul was freed from earthly cares, gone to eternity.
6
Come all you jolly raftsmen, think on poor Jimmy's fate.
Be careful and take warning before it is too late,
For death is lurking near you ever eager to destroy
The pride of a fond father's heart, likewise a mother's joy.

Pp. 20-22, 3A, with musical score.
Franz Rickaby, 1926, Ballads and Songs of the Shanty-Boy, Harvard University Press.

Another version has the name as James Phalen.