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about

This is one of my personal favourites among traditional folk songs.

The Franklin expedition was lost in the Canadian Arctic in the late 1840s, and for many years Franklin's widow funded further expeditions to look for her husband and his crew. Franklin and his ships have still not been found, although some of the bodies of his men have been discovered.
This song is sometimes called 'Lord Franklin' and sometimes 'Lady Franklin's Lament'. It first appeared on a broadside ballad sheet in London around 1850, but quickly passed into the tradition and evolved, as traditional songs will.

lyrics

Lord Franklin
Traditional

We were homeward bound one night on the deep
Swinging in my hammock I fell asleep
I dreamed a dream and I thought it true
Concerning Franklin and his gallant crew

With a hundred seamen he sailed away
To the frozen ocean in the month of May
To seek a passage all around the pole
Where we poor seamen do sometimes go.

Through cruel misfortunes they vainly strove
Their ships on mountains of ice were drove
Only the Eskimo with his skin canoe
Was the only one that ever came through

In Baffin Bay where the whale fish blow
The fate of Franklin no man may know
The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell
Where Lord Franklin with his sailors dwells

It’s been seven long years since those ships of fame
Took my Lord Franklin across the main;
Ten thousand pounds I would freely give
To know on earth, that my Franklin lives.

credits

from Folk Songs and Renovations, released May 13, 2013
Words and Music: Traditional
Vocals and Guitar: Tim Chesterton

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Tim Chesterton Edmonton, Alberta

Tim Chesterton is inspired by the rich heritage of traditional folk music of the British Isles and North America, and enjoys interpreting traditional songs as well as writing new songs in the traditional style.

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