Programme about Sir John Franklin

Subject: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 02:06 AM

Just watching programme on More 4 channel called Hunt for Arctic Ghost Ship.

They think they've found his ship on the sea bed.

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 04:02 AM

As far as I'm aware, the wrecks of both ships have been found, and more or less where the Inuit suggested they look.

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 04:19 AM

that's the programme. very interesting.

i used to love the late John Renbourn singing the ballad.

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 06:00 AM

For anyone interested, the programme that Big Al refers to can be found on YouTube:

Hunt For The Arctic Ghost Ship

There's also a fairly comprehensive page at Wikipedia: Franklin's lost expedition.

Finally, the John Renbourn sung version that (I think) Al alludes to: Pentangle - Lord Franklin

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 06:17 AM

Surely this is old news; the find, and indeed this programme, are a few years old now, but nevertheless a moving event, even more so for those of us that have heard and sung the song for forty odd years,

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: Stanron
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 06:39 AM

The name of Franklin should not be raised without also raising the name of Dr John Rae. If you don't know why you should look it up.

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 07:09 AM

I apologise for spreading old news - I hadn't heard it.

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 07:59 AM

No apology needed, it was certainly one of best documentaries on the subject, and if I remember rightly does include the song during the closing credits(?) The one about fifteen years back about the deaths from lead poisoning, was also impressive at the time (but didn’t feature the song).

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 11:25 AM

This is old news, and is a fascinating story on so many levels it never gets old.

Concerning Franklin and His Gallant Crew - 1845 is a good starting point (and I posted a link to a program at the bottom the last time it went around).

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: Iains
Date: 07 Jun 19 - 06:00 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kEuVuaSRdM

My favourite version of Lord Franklin

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 07 Jun 19 - 08:48 AM

Gill Bowman's song about John Rae deserves some exposure here, I think:

JOHN RAE                        Gillian Bowman

1. In the year of Our Lord, 1833,
He set sail for Hudson's Bay over the sea,
A company man, a ship's surgeon was he,
A young man of barely twenty.
But he took to the life of the wild Rupert's Land,
He was eager to learn, he was quick to command,
He studied the ways of the Dogrib and Cree,
Hunting for fresh food a-plenty.

Chorus
With his gun in his hand, and his deerskin coat,
He could hunt, he could fish, he could sail any boat,
And his name was John Rae, and his spirit was free,
From Stromness he sailed away.

2. His boyhood in Orkney ensured he was suited
To a life in the wilderness, tough and sure-footed,
As the Hudson Bay Company governor put it,
"John Rae's the fellow we need".
With some well-chosen men he could duly set forth
To fill in the gaps on the maps of the North,
To King William Island and the cold Arctic coast,
John Rae's the man who'll succeed.
Chorus

3. The first white explorer, the first expedition
To learn from the Inuit's native tradition,
Travelling light, living off of the land,
Succeeding where others had foundered.
And he brought news of Franklin whose game was so great,
From the Inuit tribesmen he learned of their fate,
And the tale was so gruesome, it served to create
Suspicion of all he recounted.
Chorus

4. And he lived not for glory, he lived not for gain,
At one with the elements, snow, wind and rain,
And the trusted in God, and the power that came
From his own self-reliance and knowledge.
In St Magnus Cathedral, his figure reclines
As if taking his rest in a forest of pine,
At peace with the world, and a man of his time,
His spirit goes a-walking for ever.


The vilification of John Rae by Lady Franklin, Charles Dickens and others for daring to suggest that Franklin's crew may have practiced cannibalism at the end was grossly unjust. He was THE consummate arctic traveller and the true discoverer of the North West Passage....although he didn't sail it, he did locate the final "missing link".

And thanks to Gill for sending me her CD containing this song about 3 years ago.

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 07 Jun 19 - 12:38 PM

Al, thank you so much for this thread, and the mention of the TV programme - I'd had a vague memory about the ship being found, but knew nothing in the way of specifics. So it's a treat, "old news" or not.

The first I ever heard of this song was the Renbourn version, which I still love. And his brilliant guitar work in I Know My Babe on that same album remains the gold standard for me.

I originally came across John Renbourn back in my college days in America, when a guitar-freak friend introduced his work to me. And after I moved to London, I bought a copy of that LP as a birthday gift for my boyfriend. We both loved it, and used to play it incessantly, which drove his flatmate (a resolute non-folkie) up the walls. But there were two of us and one of him, hee hee hee. We'd usually resolve our differences by all going out to the pub.

[Thread drift] Gawd, now I'm getting nostalgic, recalling a London where you and a mate could afford a grotty bedsit in one of those big white mansions in Notting Hill, with ten-foot Victorian ceilings, all ornate plasterwork and peeling paint; put a shilling in the gas meter for heat; find a pub on every corner; manage to support yourself (as I did) by singing & playing guitar in assorted vegetarian restaurants for piddly-pence and free food...

Renbourn's Franklin is a lot more than a song to me. It's part of my past.

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 08 Jun 19 - 05:36 AM

That Renbourn album was special to me too, because I won it in the raffle at the first student Folk Club I attended. Living in squalid digs at the time, I had no access to a record player, so I kept returning to the Folk Club each week to try and win one. I had to wait until returning to my parents’ home at Christmas before I actually got to hear it, so it had even more impact on me. I still play I know My Babe, when I think I can get away with it.

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan
Date: 08 Jun 19 - 04:37 PM

Many years ago, I visited John Rae’s house in Stromness, Orkney, while on a Tall Ship voyage to Shetland - and the house in which Jane Franklin lived while there. As we sailed away next morning, I sat at the break of the poop with my watch mates - and sang a long version of the song, accumulated over many years. A great memory.

Regards

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 08 Jun 19 - 05:20 PM

call me suspicious, but you can't help wondering if the canoe was made out of Franklin's skin.....

Subject: RE: Programme about Sir John Franklin
From: robomatic
Date: 08 Jun 19 - 10:28 PM

The Anchorage Museum of History and Art just opened it's Franklin Expedition exhibit. They're billing it as 'an enduring mystery' which is probably accurate, as the details go far beyond a simple disappearing act. And much exploration came out the subsequent search for the original explorers.

And no song is a greater relater of what Franklin his men and ships mean to us now than that of the Immortal Stan Rogers