The Loss of the Jane Maria

Come all you gallant seaman bold that plow the raging main
And landsmen pay attention whilst I relate the same.
I am a poor unhappy youth as you may understand.
I am a man far from my home on the banks of Newfoundland.

On the 15th of November last we sailed from Belfast Quay
And bid farewell to all our friends before we’d cross the sea.
On board the Jane 300 came of people great and small
But Neptune separated us, we met a sad downfall.

For 18 days we sailed the sea, right well the wind did blow
But early the next morning a squall it came in view.
The captain cries, "Make fast, me boys, there is a storm at hand.
If not for mercy of the Lord, we’ll ne’er reach Newfoundland."

Out upon the deck that night we all had to remain
And to relate our awful fate, ‘tis shocking to explain.
Her masts so tall o’erboard did fall, as you may understand.
There were 22 washed overboard on the banks of Newfoundland.

We then launched out our long boat upon the ocean wide
Whilst children for their parents so bitterly did cry
Till Providence proved kind to us, the weather then got fine.
There came a noble ship in view. She was called the Caroline.

We hoist a signal of distress, that they could plainly see.
On us they might compassion take and from danger set us free.
The captain being an Irishman, as you may understand,
He brought us safe from danger on the banks of Newfoundland.

Now to conclude and make an end, I have no more to say.
We lost 2 and 20 passengers in a desperate, dismal sea,
Likewise 4 of our sailors bold from the rigging tore away.
May the Lord have mercy on their souls and their families far away.

Source: Text - adapted from a ballad sheet at Trinity College Library, Dublin; tune - sea ballad, "The Banks of Newfoundland" (NB: NOT the "Van Dieman's Land" melody). Book: Robert L. Wright's Irish Emigrant Ballads and Songs. Recording: Dan Milner, "Irish Ballads & Songs of the Sea," Folk-Legacy CD-124, 1998.