Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners (John M. Dwyer)

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Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners (John M. Dwyer)

08 Feb 06 - 10:48 AM (#1664214)
Subject: Lyr Add: NOTICE TO MARINERS (John M. Dwyer)
From: Stilly River Sage

NOTICE TO MARINERS
(John M. Dwyer)

Come all you Northwest sailors, who cruise on Puget Sound,
And listen to my story, for well it will astound;
'Tis of a ferry captain, who ventured forth one day,
And of the fate befell him, as he sailed on the bay.

The ferry left Seattle, 'twas on a foggy day,
The captain had no worries, for well he knew the way;
He headed 'cross the water, where finny things abound,
And set his course for Bremerton, across famed Puget Sound.

Now all good skippers have a trick, who sail these waters 'round,
And when the fog is thickest, 'tis then they steer by sound;
Full several times a minute, their whistle loud they blow,
And by the echo bouncing, when land is close they know.

The ferry neared Rich Passage, a place of rocks and shoals,
And narrow as an hourglass, as past Point White she goes;
The captain slowed the ferry, and not to run aground,
He blew upon his whistle, and listened for the sound.

Now, a farmer on Point Glover, across the neck from White,
Had tied his cow that foggy morn, upon lush grass to bite;
So several times a minute, the ferry's whistle blew,
And as the captain listened, the echo came back "Moo!"

The captain turned the vessel, still steering by the sound,
And guided by that silly cow, the ferry ran aground;
So all you Northwest sailors, give listen to me now,
And when you cruise on Puget Sound, don't navigate by cow!

Copyright 1974 John Dwyer
All Rights Reserved

*Note. Though I have all of Dad's papers, I transcribed this song from Linda Allen's book Washington Songs and Lore, 1988, ISBN 0-9616441-3-3. The word "finny" in the second verse comes from the dictionary "finny: 1. provided with or characterized by fins 2. relating to or being fish. This word isn't a typo for "funny."

Maggie Dwyer
February 8, 2006

08 Feb 06 - 11:40 AM (#1664256)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: EBarnacle

Good 'un. Are there more?

08 Feb 06 - 11:43 AM (#1664260)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: Stilly River Sage

Yes. I'll make a point of transcribing them and sending them in.

08 Feb 06 - 12:14 PM (#1664282)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: MMario

San Juan Pig is in the 'Songs and Stories' thread already - and we have the tune.

08 Feb 06 - 03:38 PM (#1664470)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: Stilly River Sage

But does it need to be added to the DT also?

08 Feb 06 - 03:41 PM (#1664473)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: MMario

yes - but it's in the queue for submission. (there's a lag between post and execution - the DT on-site is 2002 edition)

08 Feb 06 - 05:24 PM (#1664563)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: GUEST,David Ingerson who has apparently lost his c

Thanks, Maggie. I remember John singing that song at the first Singtime Frolics back in--oh 1984? Good one.

Cheers,

David

08 Feb 06 - 05:29 PM (#1664565)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: Charley Noble

This certainly is a fine nautical song. It's right there with Kendall Morse's story about navigating along the Coast of Maine by potato... splash, spalsh, clunk!

By the way "A Notice to Mariners" is available on a new CD entitled SONGS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST as sung by Susy McAleer and Jean Smith, produced Stewart Hendrickson of Seattle and distributed by Celtic-Palentine Records.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

08 Feb 06 - 10:33 PM (#1664900)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: JennyO

Hi Charlie. The subject on "The Mother of all BS threads" drifted to cows, which made me think of your song "A Cowardly Act", which I posted, which led on to SRS posting her dad's great song that you see here. Never let it be said that the MOAB is a waste of bandwidth - I would never say that ;-)

Can't wait to see more of his songs, SRS!

Jenny

08 Feb 06 - 11:23 PM (#1664930)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: Deckman

Maggie, I drove past your Dad's beach house today ... so many fine memories. I went down to the end of the road, stopped the truck, walked to the edge of the river, and I swear ... I COULD HEAR MANY VOICES SINGING! CHEERS, Bob

08 Feb 06 - 11:42 PM (#1664949)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: Stilly River Sage

I hope you could also smell some salmon smoking!

It has been fun pulling out these songs. I'm impressed with how quickly Leo was able to add in the notations.

I have a home-made CD playing now. First cut is "John O'Dwyer of the Glen."

sniff

09 Feb 06 - 08:10 AM (#1665149)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners by John M. Dwyer
From: Charley Noble

Maggie-

Do post some more of your Dad's songs.

Jeeny-

I was wondering if I should mention "Cowardly Act." Thanks for the plug. Here's a hotlink to that song with a photo of the ill-fated fishing trawler: Click here!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

14 Jun 20 - 10:13 PM (#4059300)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners (John M. Dwyer)
From: Joe Offer

Bruce Baker opened tonight's Seattle singaround with this great song.
I wonder if Stewart's transcription is the same as Maggie's.

Thread #29195 Message #368879
Posted By: Stewart
04-Jan-01 - 11:26 PM
Thread Name: coffee stirred by thumb:Tales of the Frozen Logger
Subject: Lyr Add: NOTICE TO MARINERS (John Dwyer) ^^

Yes, John Dwyer was certainly one of a kind, and sorely missed. I only knew him for about a year, and wish I had gotten to know him better before his untimely departure. Anyway here is his song "Notice to Mariners". Perhaps I or someone should start a new thread on John Dwyer songs.
NOTICE TO MARINERS -- John Dwyer, 1974

Come all you Northwest sailors, who cruise on Puget Sound,
And listen to my story, for well it will astound;
'Tis of a ferry captain, who ventured forth one day,
And of the fate befell him, as he sailed on the bay.

The ferry left Seattle, 'twas on a foggy day,
The captain had no worries, for well he knew the way;
He headed 'cross the water, where finny things abound,
And set his course for Bremerton, across famed Puget Sound.

He left Seattle Harbor, and passed Duwamish Head,
Past Alki on the port side, he westerly did head;
And now 'twas open water, across to Orchard Point,
Through fog as thick as chowder, the ferry's bow did point.

Now all good skippers have a trick, who sail these waters 'round,
And when the fog is thickest, 'tis then they steer by sound;
Full several times a minute, their whistle loud they blow,
And by the echo bouncing, when land is close they know.

The ferry neared Rich Passage. a place of rocks and shoals,
And narrow as an hourglass, as past Point White she goes,
The captain slowed the ferry, and not to run aground,
He blew upon his whistle, and listened for the sound.

Now, a farmer on Point Glover, across the neck from White,
Had tied his cow that foggy morn, upon lush grass to bite;
So several times a minute, the ferry's whistle blew,
And as the captain listened, the echo came back "Moo!"

The captain turned the vessel, still steering by the sound,
And guided by that silly cow, the ferry ran aground;
So all you Northwest sailors, give listen to me now,
And when you cruise on Puget Sound, don't navigate by cow!

Cheers, S. in Seattle ^^

15 Jun 20 - 10:42 AM (#4059310)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners (John M. Dwyer)
From: Stilly River Sage

He and dad were friends for many years, so I'm pretty sure it will be the same. Thanks for pointing it out!

18 Jun 20 - 12:35 AM (#4059792)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners (John M. Dwyer)
From: EBarnacle

About 35 years ago one of my friends who lived in the same marina as I did, brought his yacht to the Clearwater Festival at Croton Point [before it became known as the Great Hudson River Revival] as our joint residence. We had a wonderful time but, at the end of the weekend the batteries were flat and the contacts on the charging circuit were corroded. We were also fogged in and one of the people had to be at work the next day. The last train South had already gone. Fortunately, we were in the region of the river known as the Palisades, so what we did was navigate by bouncing the blast of an air horn off the Palisades. That got us down to New York Harbor, where the fog thinned enough for us to see the lights on the navigational markers. We were fine until we got through the Verrazano Narrows and into what is known as Raritan Bay, where the fog was waiting for us. I made up a sounding line and, using that and a compass, we were able to get ourselves approximately opposite the inlet where our marina was. We decided it was safer to anchor out, outside the shipping channel for the night.
When we roused the next morning we were directly opposite our inlet.
Navigating by sound is a perfectly valid approach when used with care and when you don't have to deal with cows.

18 Jun 20 - 01:13 AM (#4059795)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Notice to Mariners (John M. Dwyer)
From: Stilly River Sage

That was quite a long trip under those conditions! Of course, by boat on the river is much more direct than trying to drive from point A to B in that region. (I spent a couple of years working in New York Harbor at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and have visited those various places you describe, including up the Hudson and hiking past Pete Seeger's house in Fishkill.)