WHY ARE YOU CRYING, MA’AM?
Ron Baxter
Tune: Lord Derwentwater's Farewell

Why are you crying, Mam? That's a thing you never do.
I'll tell me Dad when he comes home, someone's been hurting you.
He's coming home for Christmas, he'll be here in an hour or two,
For Red Falcon will be landing in the morning.

He said he'd buy me a cowboy suit, and then on Boxing Day,
We'll take a tram to Bloomfield Road, to see Stan Matthews play;
Oh, please, Mam, do stop crying, for Dad's only hours away,
For Red Falcon will be landing in the morning

Why did the Mission man come round, with his face so sad and grim?
He's usually so cheerful, now what is wrong with him?
I'll have to ask my father in the morning when he's in,
For Red Falcon will be landing in the morning.

Mam! - Billy has just told me that she's lost with all her crew!
I told him he was lying, so I've run back home to you.
Oh, please Mam, please, Mam, tell me; tell me it isn't true,
And that Red Falcon will be landing in the morning.

His mother goes and embraces him, as they both share their pain;
She's lost her husband, him his Dad, all her comforts are in vain.
He's crying for his father, who he'll never see again,
For Red Falcon never landed in the morning.

Sung by Dick Gillingham

The story of the loss of the Red Falcon was always the most poignant part of "The Final Trawl" show. Even among the cast who had heard it many times before, Dick's rendition of this song never failed to draw an emotional response.

I was ten years old when the tragedy occurred, and living in Scotland, but I can still remember the newspaper coverage that followed, and the appeals that brought responses from all round the country.

More information here:- http://www.lifeinfleetwood.co.uk/2008/02/06/red-falcon/

And here:- http://www.fleetwood-trawlers.info/index.php/2009/01/st-red-falcon-lo4/

Ross