Joe, it appears I was a bit clumsy in correcting the DT version using my text. Jim Dixons (which I don't remember seeing before - have you combined threads?) version is better. Here is "my" version corrected:


ELLAN VANNIN
(Hugh Jones)

Snaefell, Tyndwald and Ben-My-Chree,
Fourteen ships have sailed the sea.
Proudly bearing a Manx name,
But there's one will never again

Oh, Ellan Vannin, of the Isle of Man Company,
Oh, Ellan 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,
Ellan Vannin on the waves was borne.
Her hold was full and battened down,
As she sailed toward far Liverpool town

With her crew of twenty one Manxmen,
Her passengers Liverpool business men.
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 Ellan 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 of the month December
That terrible storm of Ninteen-O-Nine,
Ellan Vannin sailed for the very last time.


I suppose there could be variations in the way he or the Spinners did it but you are right, this one is taken from Hugh Jones' publication.