Martin, the sheer Joy of singing this , as the first 6 lines are the Original and it lulls people into a False sense of security, It is Great. For Jacqui here is the " Americanised" version (Poor lambs dont know about the Grand Union Canal and Stoke and Milton Keynes)

Lord Franklin (American)
Les Barker: "King Charles Spaniel" page 12 Additions by Micca

'Twas homeward bound one night on the deep
Swinging in my hammock I fell asleep
I dreamed a dream and I thought it true
Concerning Franklin and his gallant crew

With a hundred seamen he sailed away
To the frozen ocean in the month of May
His maps were faulty and his compass bent
By mid July he was in Cleveland

Through cruel hardships and Natchez Gap
He saw no icebergs and no polar cap
Only the Eskimo in his skin canoe
And you don't get many, this far south of St Lou

In Baffin Bay where the whale fish blow
The fate of Franklin no man may know
The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell
But round The Twin Cities they all know him well

And now my burden it gives me pain
At Baton Rouge he got lost again
The North West Passage was Lord Franklin's dream
He's lost forever deep in New Orleans

Yes, lost forever deep in New Orleans

(my changes are of course Copywright and I dare say Les's song is too, but sing either if they appeal to you)