Jon's corrected version may be better than this American one because it appears he got it direct from the songwriter's version, but I thought I'd post this one for comparison. Most of these corrections are minor, except for the year of the event. Note also the difference in the chorus. Anybody have a Hugh Jones or Spinners recording of the song? If so, can you double-check these lyrics?
-Joe Offer-
ELLEN VANNIN
(Hugh Jones, 1965)
SnaeFell, Tynwald and Benmy Chree,
Fourteen ships have sailed the sea.
Proudly bearing a Manx name,
But there's one will never again.
CHORUS:
Poor Ellen Vannin, lost in the Irish Sea.
Poor Ellen Vannin, lost in the Irish Sea.
At one a.m. in Ramsey Bay
Captain Teare was heard to say,
"Our contract says deliver the mail
In this rough weather we must not fail."
Ocean liners sheltered from the storm,
Ellen Vannin on the waves was borne,
Her hold was full and battened down
As she sailed toward far Liverpool town.
With her crew od twenty-one Manxmen,
Her passengers Liverpool businessmen,
Farewell to Mona's Isle, farewell,
This little ship was bound for hell.
Less than a mile from the bar lightship,
By a mighty wave Ellen Vannin was hit,
She sank in the waters of Liverpool Bay,
And there she lies until this day.
Few Manxmen now remember
The third day od the month December
That terrible storm of nineteen-O-nine
Ellen Vannin sailed the last time.
Notes: The Ellen Vannin, a small ship built in 1860, plied between Liverpool and the Isle of Man and was sunk in a stormy sea in 1909. Hugh Jones, a member of the Spinners folk song group, wrote this song with the assistance of Ted Hughes, retired engineer; Stan Hugill; and the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.
Source: New English Broadsides: Songs of Our Time from the English Folk Scene (compiled by Nathan Joseph and Eric Winder, Oak Publications, 1967).
The tune in the Digital Tradition is exactly the tune found in New English Broadsides.
I thought I'd add this copy of a message from another thread so we'd have more complete origins information with the lyrics posts.Thread #7931 Message #84323
One more:
Posted By: Bobby Bob, Ellan Vannin
05-Dec-98 - 01:29 PM
Thread Name: Ellen Vannen
Subject: RE: Ellen Vannen
The name, 'Ellan Vannin' is the Manx Gaelic name for 'the island of Mannin', the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea at the centre of the Celtic world, from where the great god, Manannan Mac Lir, rules the sea.The vessel itself was called the 'Ellan Vannin', so perhaps you'll find it under that spelling. Just as a matter of interest, the vessel also had a nickname, the 'Li'l (Little) Daisy'.
On 3 December 1909, she left Ramsey in the Isle of Man to sail to Liverpool. As she was entering the River Mersey, she was apparently swamped by a wave which broke over her stern, and she sank with loss of all aboard.
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has never used the name 'Ellan Vannin' for any of its vessels since.
A great 20th Century collector of Manx folklore, music, dance, etc was Mona Douglas. According to Mona, her mother was heavily pregnant with Mona when she set off to visit relations in Liverpool in 1898. Unexpectedly, she went into early labour, so Mona Douglas says she was born on board the 'Ellan Vannin'.
Later, her father was due to go to Liverpool on board the 'Ellan Vannin', but Mona says she had some sort of vision of burning out on the sea, and she begged her father not to go. Her father was willing to humour her, so he didn't go. That was the night that the 'Ellan Vannin' went down.
The story of the wreck of the 'Ellan Vannin' was in a book by Fred Henry about the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Ltd that big John Kaneen sent to Hughie Jones of The Spinners. Hughie made the song about the wreck of the 'Ellan Vannin' from the information there.
And finally:
Thread #49474 Message #807800
Posted By: Wolfgang
12-Jul-02 - 05:43 AM
Thread Name: (The loss of the) Ellan Vannin
Subject: RE: (The loss of the) Ellan Vannin
and here is a summary of the entries in the BS-Quiz thread:(1) (IanC) E - Strangely enough she was a man, though she sank in December.
(2) (Greg Stephens) Ellen Vannin
(3) (Sharon A) Ian: Okay, obviously I don't understand the clue for "E" (Ellen Vannin), since here across the pond I'm not familiar with the terminology for a person from the Isle of
Man. I've heard the term "Manx" as an adjective, but does one say "he (or she) is Manx" (as I would say "I'm American")? And does one say "he (or she) is a
Man" (as I would say "I'm an American" or "I'm a Pennsylvanian")? ...or would one say "Mannan", or "Mannish", or what?
By the way, here's a link to lyrics for "Ellen Vannin" (for anyone else who, like me, isn't familiar with the song):
http://www.molwert.de/Lieder/Ellen_Vannin_Tragedy.htm NOTE: An mp3 of the tune plays automatically when the page appears on-screen.
(4) (Greg Stephens) Ellen Vannin is Manx Gaelic for "Isle of Man"or Man for short. he's just saying it's odd that someone
called Ellen is (a)Man.
(5) (SharonA) Please do be picky! I noticed that, in the lyrics I linked, the Hughie Jones song is entitled "The Ellen Vannin Tragedy" but the name in the lyrics themselves is spelled
"Ellen Vannen"!
Then there are the Eliza Craven Green lyrics of 1854 which render it "Ellan Vannin" as Lucy says. See this page for lyrics and music:
http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/ms1896/p070.htm
So was the poster of the Hughie Jones lyrics not sufficiently concerned with accuracy? I did a Google search on all three spellings and got many hits for each, so I
can't even tell what the correct spelling of the ship's name was!!!
(6) (Greg Stephens) Manx Gaelic has a varied written history and both spellings are completely standard.However i must say I've
never seen a photo of the nameplate on the boat, so Lucy may well be completely correct that Ellan was what was actually written on it.Anyone know for sure?
As a footnote, she was launched as "Mona's Isle". We all know what happens when you change a boat's name!
(7) (Wolfgang) On this site of Manx books there is a book advertised about the loss of the ELLAN VANNIN (this spelling; which is by the way the same as in the history of The
Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. Limited.).
(8) (IanC) Also (to be fair) the same as Hughie Jones spelt it when he wrote the song so...
(9) (Wolfgang) As an aside on Ellan Vannin: Both the lyrics in Sharon's link and in the DT have the same error in the last verse:
...A terrible storm in ninety-nine...
The tragedy was in nineteen nine (1909)
(10) (SharonA) Okay, here's a link to the lyrics with the correct year-date:
http://www.acronet.net/~robokopp/shanty/elenvann.htm
But wait... there's more! The lyrics at www.molwert.de have the first line as "Snaefell, Tyndwall and Benmachree" and the captain's name as Tier. The lyrics at
www.acronet.net say "Snaefell Tynwald, Ben-my-Chree" and spell the captain's name as Teare.
Then there's the first line of the sixth verse. Molwert.de has "Few Manxmen now remember", whereas Acronet.net has "You Manxmen now remember". Quite a
difference in meaning! Is it safe to assume that Acronet's line is correct? (There are other, less glaring, discrepancies between the two versions as well.)
When was this song written? I can't find a date for it.
(11) (Wolfgang) We should have started an extra thread for that song, but...
The Loss of the Ellan Vannin (with pictures of the ship!) seems quite reliable to me.
The name of the captain on this site (and all other sites I have seen) is Teare. The spelling of the mountain is variable and depends on to which amount the Welsh
name has been anglicised. From roughly knowing when the Spinners have been singing, the song should have been written in the 1960s (give or take a decade).
Therefore, "few Manxmen.." makes more sense to me.
Thread #49474 Message #674115
Posted By: GUEST,greg stephens
12-Jul-02 - 07:19 AM
Thread Name: (The loss of the) Ellan Vannin
Subject: RE: (The loss of the) Ellan Vannin
These three boat names give a nice picture of the Isle of Man for those unfamiliar with the place. Snaefell is the highest hill/mountain/fell. Means Snow Fell (Old Norse, lots of Viking invaders). Tynwald is the litte hill at St Johns where the parliament has been meeting for more than a thousand years (compare other places called Dingwall, Thingvellir etc etc throughout the Scandinavian world, all meaning parliament place). Ben-my Chree means woman of my heart (Manx Gaelic, lots of Irish invaders).