It happened to be on Christmas Day,
From King's Cove harbor we sailed away,
With all sails set, bound to Goose Bay,
The Ellen to repair.
The morn we left, the wind was down,
We headed her up for Newman's Sound,
The Ellen, my boys, she did lose ground,
Fell off for Little Denier.
The wind veered down from the sou-sou-west,
And the truth to you I will confess,
Barrow Harbor we could not fetch,
'Twas near the close of day.
So to Dark Hole we ran her in,
And waited there for a half-free wind,
The twenty-seventh to begin,
Our anchors for to weigh.
Early next morn our hearts were light,
We ran her up and made the Bight,
Thinking, my boys, all things were right,
As you may understand.
Then from below arose the cry,
"She's leaking fast, let all stand by,"
And signals of distress ran high,
For help from off the land.
The men into the hold did make,
And women to the pumps did take,
In hopes that they might stop the leak,
The Ellen for to save.
But water still came tumbling in,
Against the rush we could not win,
The Skipper's voice rose over the din,
"All hands get on the ice."
Now to our great and sad mistake,
We found the ice was very weak,
The children then we had to take,
And bear to solid ground.
Poor Tommy Holland scratched his head,
"For God's sake, skipper, save me bed."
No sooner, he, these words had said,
When the Ellen Munn went down.
Early next morn we bid adieu,
You bring down Tommy Holland's crew,
We landed them in Plate Cove, too,
To travel down the shore.
Tommy Holland, he oft did say,
"I'll never again be caught in Goose Bay,
If I get out of it to-day,
I'll trouble it no more."
Tom Holloway lives on Goose Bay shore,
His father and two brothers more,
All hardy men to ply an oar,
Rowed out when they heard the news.
He soon jigged up three barrels of flour,
And leather too within an hour,
He gave it to Joe Hunnybun for,
To mend Rose Ryder's shoes.
The number in the Ellen Munn,
All told, my boys, was twenty-one,
And now my ink must cease to run,
When a few more words I score.
"Good people all take warning, pray,
And never sail on Christmas Day,
You have example in this lay,
So do so never more.
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