Lyr Add: Betsy of New York

Subject: Lyr Add: BETSY OF NEW YORK
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 02:18 PM

^^BETSY OF NEW YORK

1
Our ship she sailed from Liverpool,
As you shall understand,
Three hundred tons we had on board,
With five and twenty men,
Well fitted out to plough the main,
Our fortune did run so,
That we were but three days at sea,
Till a heavy storm did blow.
2
In eighteen hundred and twenty one,
As you shall understand,
On the 21st of January,
We lost the sight of land,
While the loud thunder did rattle,
And the lightning round did fly,
Caus'd many a seaman for to fear,
When the seas ran mountains high.
3
Our captain from the long boat's bow,
To the helm he did run,
It's now my lads stick to your pumps
Or else we are all undone.
These words were scarcely uttered,
Than she struck upon a rock,
The Lord have mercy on our souls,
The deep must be our lot.
4
Our gallant crew was twenty five,
All on the decks did stand,
And out of all that number,
Only three did reach the land.
Our ship's name it was the Betsy,
For New York we were bound,
So you see the danger of the seas,
You landsmen all around.
5
Now for to make a finish
Of those few lines I've penn'd,
When a seaman he doth enter a storm
He meets with many a friend.
And if that he is lost at sea,
His friends will grieve for him full sore,
Perhaps they'd wives and families
Their fate it is full sore.

Bodleian Collection, Harding B 35(180); nd. A New Song Called the Betsy of New York.

I have not checked to see if there is any factual basis to this song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Betsy of New York
From: GUEST,AW
Date: 03 Mar 10 - 05:16 AM

Bob Conroy does a great version of this song. I'm fairly certain it's based on true events.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Betsy of New York
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Mar 10 - 08:18 AM

Several ships were named Betsy, some carried passengers to the U. S. and Canada, data online.

The British ship Betsy was scuttled off Virginia in 1781.

I have not found one that wrecked c. 1821.