A Mariners Tale - Lyrics

Here is a new one! Yes, I like to tell stories throughout my songs. Stories that resonate and may give a glimpse of history and lives long gone. Some of them are maritime themed stories. Maybe to keep them resp. their memories alive and mostly because they are worth telling...

Just recently I stumbled across the story of the SS Bannockburn, a steel hull freighter, that was lost without a trace in a winter storm on Lake Superior, and the mystery that have surrounded its disappearance ever since. She still has not been found (yet). This song is the result. Have fun!

And a shout-out to Dan Hall, Carl Behrend, Lee Murdock, Gordon Lightfoot and for sure the great Stan Rodgers, for keeping the memories of those alive, who perished whilst doing their duty throughout the centuries on the great lakes. Those singer/songwriters are a huge inspiration for me...

I'll upload the song shortly, when I'm done editing on audacity...

A Mariner’s Tale

by Sporty

Let me tell you the story 'bout a skipper and his crew

That went down with their ship in a gale

You might have heard it before from the few

that returned as a mariner's tale

The Bannockburn was a mighty good ship

when she steamed through the lakes in her time

Her hull full of grain, when she made her last trip

They thought the profit she’ll make would be fine

(Bridge)

Her Captain was named the old George R. Wood

a bunch of young men was his crew

like a rock on the bridge at the wheel he stood

The year was nineteen-o’-two

(Refrain 1)

The Bannockburn she went down that night

and the flying Dutchman appeared

The Bannockburn just vanished from sight

As the flying Dutchman she’s feared

She left Fort William from Thunder Bay

To reach the opposite shore

But fate determined that stormy day

That she will go down with a roar

No one really knows what happened that night

when the Bannockburn met her sad end

she might struck the reefs near Stannard Rock Light

but there was no distress signal sent

(Bridge)

But since that night she's been sighted again

to ships in the claws of a storm

To help the poor sailors in their raging pain

ant their vessels not to get torn

(Refrain 2)

The Bannockburn she just disappeared

Captain Wood through the sea he still rakes

The Bannockburn to the bottom he steered

the flying Dutchman of the great lakes

now how do i know this you lads may ask

This sounds too absurd to be true

I was the first mate on the Hitchinson

and I was part of their crew

One foggy night we almost sank

too close to an unknown reef

When suddenly a ship submerged

i know it is hard to believe

(Bridge)

from those dangerous shallows she steered us away

instead of us hit the rocks of that bay

and as she faded in the fog i saw in the maze

captain Woods grin on his face

now pour me another glass my friends

telling stories makes my throat dry

but this is how my story ends

a last drink and a final goodbye

(Refrain 2)

The Bannockburn she just disappeared

Captain Wood through the sea he still rakes

The Bannockburn to the bottom he steered

The flying Dutchman of the great lakes

The flying Dutchman of the great lakes