THE LADY MARIA
(Dave Robinson)

The Maria she started her life in Badalona
In the great days of sail in fifty eight
In a hundred and thirty years and seven
In her favourite bay she met her sad fate

Chorus: The Maria Asumpta a grand old lady
The sea has now claimed her and sad was the day
This lady of Spain had sailed in from Swansea
At Rumps Point she foundered in old Padstow Bay

Cargo she carried fron Buenos Aries to Cuba
Barcelona to Palma, Oran and Tangier
She was passed on from owner to owner
In the year nineteen eighty her end it seemed near

Chorus:

The beautiful brig was to have been a film star
Alas for The Maria it proved not to be
She was left lying in the port of Malaga
To be burnt and her ashes cast out on the sea

Chorus:

The Maria was rescued and restored in her finery
To gracefully sail on the oceans again
With her square rigged sail white on the water
Once again proud was this lady of Spain

Chorus:

On every quay-side her admirers would flock
To gaze on the grand old lady with awe
Shantymen sang on her scrubbed timbered decks
Songs she may have heard in the years gone before

Chorus:

Now on the rocks between Rumps Point and Pentire
The Lady Maria has a watery grave
No more will she grace the ports that embraced her
They can only remember the pleasure she gave

Chorus:

Copyright Dave Robinson 1995

Recorded by Baggyrinkle on audio cassette tape "A Pound and a Pint"
^^

Notes: The Maria Asumpta was the oldest square rigger still sailing. Wrecked off the Cornish coast Tuesday 30 May 1995 with the loss of three lives. The owner and skipper, Mark Litchfield, an ex Royal Navy Lieutenant, received 18 months jail for the manslaughter of Anne Taylor (51), John Shannon (30) and Emily MacFarlane (19)
It's worth noting that Mark Litchfield was the owner and skipper of the "Marques" which went down in 1984 with the loss of 19 lives.
MR