The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #1957   Message #772167
Posted By: Clinton Hammond
27-Aug-02 - 03:06 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Nellie J Banks +Tales of the Phantom Ship
Subject: Lyr Add: TALES OF THE PHANTOM SHIP (Lennie Gallant
No I will not...

Here..

;-)
^^
TALES OF THE PHANTOM SHIP
Lennie Gallant

On a night as black as a raven’s feather
Thunder cracks like a snap of leather
And the wind whips through the black spruce on the shore.
Waves are pounding the beaches harder
As the last of the fishermen reach safe harbour
And the wind turns cold, cuts to the core.

Out on the wide Northumberland Strait
A ball of fire skips over the waves
And those who've seen it can't believe their eyes.
There's a burst of flame and a flash of light
And there on the tide is a frightening sight
As a tall ship all aflame lights up the sky.

Tales of the phantom ship, from truck to keel in flames.
She sails the wide Northumberland Strait. No one knows her name.
Tales of the phantom ship. It's a ship of fire they cry.
Hard against the wind she sails. No one can say why.

They say she's a three-masted square-rigger
Four hundred tons or maybe bigger
With fire on every rope and spar and sail.
Out of the east though the wind blows west
She ploughs the strait on an unknown quest
Cutting through the waves with the strength of a full-force gale.

Of why she appears there's none who know
Some say it's nothing but a moonlight glow
But those who've seen her swear they tell no lies.
They tell how her bow suddenly drops down
And into the depths of the strait she's bound
And the wind goes wild with wailing chilling cries.

Tales of the phantom ship, from truck to keel in flames
She sails the wide Northumberland Strait. No one knows her name
Tales of the Phantom ship. It's a ship of fire they cry
Hard against the wind she sails. No one can say why.

Some say she's an immigrant ship of old
Highland Scots whose land was stolen
Lost at sea while seeking the new land,
Or a ghostly American privateer
Who plundered innocent harbours here
Cursed to sail the strait, forever damned.

But an old timer sang a song to me -
Six hundred Acadians drowned at sea
Deported long ago from St. John's Isle,
He says they sail this choppy strait,
Through time and tide they navigate,
Searching for the means to end their long exile.

Tales of the Phantom ship, from truck to keel in flames
She sails the wide Northumberland Strait. No on knows her name.
She sails the wide Northumberland Strait. When will she sail again?

enjoy!