THE LOSS OF THE SCOTCH PATRICK in the DT, covers the loss, by fire, of the Cospatrick, off the Cape of Good Hope in 1874. She was an emigrant ship en-route from Gravesend to Auckland NZ (hence my interest). Of the souls on board, 472 died. Only three survived - as the song states:

With pious moans they for water cried
And one by one they dropped and died.

The remaining few with hunger mad
Eat the dead bodies and drank their blood

Gory, eh?

I thought I'd seen the story discussed here, but could only find one thread mentioning the Cospatrick. Nothing on the NZ Folk Site either, so I must've seen it elsewher. The song undoubtedly was inspired by these contemporary accounts which I just located.

Now all we need is soeone to write a tune for it.

Cheers - Sam in NZ