Lyr Req: Night the Crissie Wright ran aground...

Subject: Night the Crissie Wright ran aground...
From:
Date: 31 Jul 97 - 04:42 PM

Need lyrics. Folk song about a high storm in the Morehead City area. The Chrissie Wright was a rumrunner in the 1920's. All I have is the following:

The night the Crissie Wright ran aground and the sharks were eating the collards on the beach...

Can you help please?

Thank you!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Night the Crissie Wright ran aground...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jan 10 - 01:13 PM

"On January 7, 1886, the Philadelphia schooner Crissie Wright, on her way from Baltimore to Savannah, was forced to beach herself three miles east of Beaufort [North Carolina] during the bitter winter of 1886. Six of the crew drowned and froze to death. Two of the crew were lost at sea and three were buried in a common grave in Beaufort's Old Burying Ground."
—found here (click for more details).

I haven't found a description of the cargo, but I doubt that rum-running had anything to do with it.

Also, I haven't found any song about the event.

Some sources spell the name "Chrissie Wright."

(Refreshing a 12-year-old thread here.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Night the Crissie Wright ran aground...
From: GUEST,999
Date: 13 Jan 10 - 02:49 PM

More of the story here.

Subject: ADD: The Coast Guardsman's Children
From: GUEST,999--not the song, but good though
Date: 13 Jan 10 - 02:54 PM

THE COAST GUARDSMAN'S CHILDREN
SONGWRITER: ???

Two little children, a boy and a girl,
Sat by the old church door.
The little girl's cheeks were as brown as the curls,
That hung on the dress that she wore.

The boy's coat was faded, and hatless, his head,
A tear shone in each little eye.
"Why don't you run home to your mother?" I said
And this was the maiden's reply.

"Mamma got sick. Angels took her away.
Left Jim and me all alone.
We came here to stay 'til close of the day,
For we have no Mamma or home.

"Daddy was lost out at sea long ago;
We waited all night on the shore.
For he was a life-saving Captain, you know,
And never came back any more."

The Sexton came early to ring the Church bell;
He found them beneath the snow white.
The Angels made room for the orphans to dwell
In Heaven with Mamma that night.

Their Mamma's in Heaven, God took her away,
Left Jim and his sister alone.
They came here to stay, 'til the close of the day,
For they had no Mamma or home.

SOURCE: ???

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Night the Crissie Wright ran aground...
From: GUEST,#
Date: 25 Mar 21 - 12:47 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPmpm72vP_Y&t=6It It seems there's at least one song about the Crissie Wright.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Night the Crissie Wright ran aground...
From: cnd
Date: 05 Dec 21 - 11:33 PM

Not sure if it's the same source, but the above COAST GUARDMAN'S CHILDREN appears under the same title with exactly the same words in a small pamphlet I recently bought from a used book store by Mary and Grayden Paul, titled Carteret County, N.C. - Folklore, Facts And Fiction, on p. 25. I haven't seen anywhere else on the internet where it is given under that name.

The link 999 provided is now dead and unfortunately was not preserved. But the details here match the story presented in the book I listed above.

Via https://www.tradeonlytoday.com/columns-blogs/it-was-blowing-the-lard-out-of-the-biscuit-and-other-sayings:

Gray Harker has a way with boats and a way with words.

First the words. Imitating a saying of the old Harkers Island, N.C., watermen, Harker said in his best island accent:

"The wind blew sooo hard and the tide was sooo high that the sharks were eating the collards out of the garden."

That's all I can find about sharks eating collards. Several other pages have similar versions of the quote to back up that statement.

I haven't found anything about a rumrunner or a song the OP requested. It's possible a cheeky local payed homage to the scene with a bit of dark humor, I suppose, but like I said, I haven't found anything.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Night the Crissie Wright ran aground...
From: cnd
Date: 05 Dec 21 - 11:52 PM

On second thought, it's very likely the melded several songs and stories from the area. As mentioned above, the quote about collard greens was popular in the area, and the history of the Chrissie Wright has been discussed as well. There was a popular Harkers Island song said to have been written by a Ralph Sanders and popularized by local fiddler Ivey Scott called "The Booze Yacht" -- it can be heard on a Folkways album (Between The Sound And The Sea) about a ship supposedly named Fortune running ashore while blockade running. The drivers threw the booze overboard to help reduce weight. Mary and Grayden Paul go into great detail about the event and I can post it if there is interest, but the lyrics match exactly the Jule Garrish recording on Folkways. They noted "There may have been more verses... but the following are all I have been able to find."