Lady Franklin's Lament

After our explorer themed day on Tuesday, the whole school got together with Douglas and Mrs Keldie on Wednesday morning to record a song they had been working on that was written about Sir John Franklin's expedition.


Please click on the link to the right to listen - it is beautiful - well done Mrs Keldie, Douglas and pupils of St Andrews Primary!


(There is also an entirely different version of this song on the new "Saltfish Forty Live" CD which is now available to buy!)


Homeward bound one night on the deep
 On my hammock, I fell asleep.
I dreamed a dream and I thought it true
 I dreamt of Franklin and his gallant crew.

A hundred brave men did sail away
To the frozen ocean in the month of May,
To seek a passage around the Pole
Where we poor sailors do sometimes go.

Through cruel hardships they vainly strove
 Their ships on mountains of ice they drove.
 The Eskimo with his skin canoe
 The only soul that e'er came through.

In Baffin’s Bay where the whale fish blow
The fate of Franklin no man may know.
The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell
  Lord Franklin and his sailors well.

And now my burden it gives me pain
For my long-lost Franklin I would cross the main.
Ten thousand pounds I would freely give
To know on earth that my Franklin lives.