I don't think this version has been posted at Mudcat before:

From The Bodleian Library Broadside Ballad collection, Firth c.12(81):


LADY FRANKLIN'S LAMENT

My Franklin dear long has been gone,
To explore the northern seas.
I wonder if my faithful John
Is still battling with the breeze,
Or, if ever he will return again
To these fond arms once more,
To heal the wounds of his dearest Jane
Whose heart is grieved full sore.

CHORUS: My Franklin dear, though long thy stay,
Yet still my prayer shall be,
That Providence may choose a way
To guide thee safe to me.

My Franklin dear, where dost thou dwell?
What part of the frozen sea?
Oh, how I wish that I could tell,
I'd quickly haste to thee.
With my goodly ship in motion,
No longer here I'd stay,
But athwart the rolling ocean,
For thee I'd bear away.

My Franklin dear, I can but mourn
At thy long protracted stay.
Oh, would to God thou could'st return,
How bless'd would be that day!
The hearts of merry England
Would swell with joy once more
To welcome my lost husband
To his dear native shore.

The brave and good Lieutenant Pim*
Is now gone off to sea.
May Heaven's blessing go with him
To guide my love to me,
And if again he should return
To this fond heart once more,
He shall not cause his friends to mourn
Nor again his loss deplore.

My Franklin dear, once more safe home
Upon Britannia's shore,
To the northern seas no more shall steer
Where the cruel icebergs roar,
But once safe in his native home,
Bless'd by wife and children dear,
With bears and wolves no more to roam,
He'll be free and happy here.

My Franklin dear may be laid low
Amidst the icebergs drear.
The sad thought fills my heart with woe,
Yet one ray of hope is near,
That if I never meet him more,
In this world of hope and fears,
Yet we may meet on a happy shore
And wipe away our tears.

Wilson Printer Bideford

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* Bedford Clapperton Trevelyan Pim, who later rose to the rank of Admiral.