Al, thank you so much for this thread, and the mention of the TV programme - I'd had a vague memory about the ship being found, but knew nothing in the way of specifics. So it's a treat, "old news" or not.

The first I ever heard of this song was the Renbourn version, which I still love. And his brilliant guitar work in I Know My Babe on that same album remains the gold standard for me.

I originally came across John Renbourn back in my college days in America, when a guitar-freak friend introduced his work to me. And after I moved to London, I bought a copy of that LP as a birthday gift for my boyfriend. We both loved it, and used to play it incessantly, which drove his flatmate (a resolute non-folkie) up the walls. But there were two of us and one of him, hee hee hee. We'd usually resolve our differences by all going out to the pub.

[Thread drift] Gawd, now I'm getting nostalgic, recalling a London where you and a mate could afford a grotty bedsit in one of those big white mansions in Notting Hill, with ten-foot Victorian ceilings, all ornate plasterwork and peeling paint; put a shilling in the gas meter for heat; find a pub on every corner; manage to support yourself (as I did) by singing & playing guitar in assorted vegetarian restaurants for piddly-pence and free food...

Renbourn's Franklin is a lot more than a song to me. It's part of my past.