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The Schooner Mary Jane (recitation and narrative) - 2​:​33

from The Helen Creighton Folklore Society Presents: Songs of the Sea by Varouos tradition bearers and informants

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Tom Cornealy, Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 1, 1950

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The Schooner Mary Jane (Recitation & Narrative) - Tom Cornealy [2:33]
AC: 2271 - MF NO: 289.268

Recorded: Halifax, June 1, 1950.

It was the schooner Mary Jane that sailed with wintery sea,
And the Captain shipped his crew of twelve to trawl off Jefferie,
All stout of heart, all strong of arm, the crew he shipped that day,
And each one as the good ship did all hailed from Boston Bay.

The trip to the Banks were quickly made, our hold filled o’er a week,
And then the fog it settled down and we couldn’t see to speak,
The captain lost his reckoning, which he never done before,
And he smashed the compass in his rage and said, “Let her drift ashore.”

For five long weeks we drifted in that ever increasing fog,
At last the crew with plenty of food they did starve for the want of grog,
We often wondered where we were but had no way to know,
Nothing but fog on every hand and Davy Jones below.

At last we heard that dreadful sound of breakers on the shore,
But still we drifted onward where feet might trod no more,
Then old Bill Brake in the rigging stood and earnest he gazed away,
“What’s the matter, Bill?”, our captain cried; and Bill those words did say.

“Oh Captain, I smell a familiar smell, oh say what may it be?”
But the captain answered never a word but he sniffed the __________ ,
“Oh Captain, here comes that smell again, this time I can feel it plain;
It smells like a Boston Saturday night out here in the raging main.”

The captain took another sniff and a smile his face o’er spread,
“It’s Boston, boy; we drifted home; I can smell the beans!”, he said.
So we dropped the anchor there and then and swallowed the rest of the grog,
And guided alone by the sense of smell we walked shore in the fog.

credits

from The Helen Creighton Folklore Society Presents: Songs of the Sea, released May 24, 2023

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Helen Creighton Folklore Society Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Honoring folklorist Helen Creighton (1899-1989), who collected and published traditional music and lore of Maritime Canada. The mandate of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society is to encourage and promote work that reflects the diverse folk culture of the Maritimes as exemplified by the work begun by Dr. Creighton. For more information visit our website at: www.helencreighton.org. ... more

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