SO'P, since we already had one thread active today on this subject, I combined the two. It does seem that the name of the ship involved was the Ellan Vannin, but there are a number of alternate spellings for the song title. "Ellen Vannin" is the most common alternate, but I've also seen "Ellan/Ellen Vannen. So, I think the Digital Tradition should contain all alternates, so the song can be found no matter how you search.
And the DT should certainly give proper attribution to the songwriter, Hugh Jones, a member of the Spinners.
But the DT should also include proper lyrics. I'm going to post the song as it appears in the Oak Publications New English Broadsides songbook, and ask for corrections to the text I post. Right off the bat, the Oak book calls the song Ellen Vannin, so I know there's going to be some disagreement with the Oak text. Right off the bat, I think I'll change the name to Ellan Vannin

---

ELLAN VANNIN
(Hugh Jones)

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 Ellan Vannin, lost in the Irish Sea,
Poor 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 born,
Her hold was full and battened down
As she sailed toward far Liverpool Town.

With her crew of 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 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 Nineteen—O-Nine,
Ellan Vannin sailed for the last time.


©Spin Publications, 1965

Notes:

The Ellan 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, compiled by Nathan Joseph and Eric Winter (Oak Publications, 1967), page12

Alternate spellings of the song title

Ellen Vannin
Ellan Vannen
Ellen Vannen

---

Here's the current DT version:

ELLEN VANNEN

Snaefell, Tyndwall and Benmachree,
Fourteen ships set out to sea.
Proudly bearing a Manx name,
But there's one will never again

CHO: O Ellen Vannen, of the Isle of Man Company,
O Ellen Vannen, lost on the Irish Sea.

At one a.m. in Ramsey Bay
Captain Tier was heard to say
"The contract says deliver the mail
In this rough weather we must not fail."

Liners sheltered from the storm
On the wave Ellen Vannen was borne
Her holds were full and battened down
As she sailed away for Liverpool town

Her crew were twenty one Manx men
Passengers Liverpool businessmen
"Farewell to Mona's Isle, farewell
This little boat is bound for Hell!"

Less than a mile from the Bar Lightship
Ellen Vannen by a wave was hit
She sank 'neath the waters of Liverpool Bay
There she lies until this day

Few Manxmen now remember
The third day in the month December
A terrible storm in ninety-nine
Ellen Vannen sailed the very last time

Recorded by The Spinners many years ago.
@Manx @sailor
filename[ ELLNVARN
TUNE FILE: ELLVARN
CLICK TO PLAY
MR
apr97

---

Here is a version posted by Jon Freeman in another thread after referring to a Hugh Jones songbook and after discussion:

Thread #80035   Message #1536065
Posted By: GUEST,Jon
05-Aug-05 - 08:35 PM
Thread Name: Tune Req: Ellen Vannin
Subject: RE: Origins: Ellen Vannin


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, Tynwald 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.

Any further corrections, or is Jon's transcription definitive? To me, it sounds very close to the Spinners recording except that I hear "terrible storm in nineteen-nine" on the recording. I corrected the spelling of the ships' names in Jon's post, following Noreen's link below to the Isle of Man Packet Company.
-Joe-