#02261
The Schooner Marion Rogers (Collected by G. Lehr & A. Best)
Ye people all both great and small, please hearken unto me
While I relate those lines to you that will loom in history,
For once again it's in the news of another tragedy,
The schooner Marion Rogers was lost near Trinity.
The schooner Marion Rogers she sailed from St. John's town
Full laden with provisions, to the north she was bound;
Seven good seamen formed her crew, so noble and so dear,
Of the most awful shipwreck, the worst one of the year.
But little did they ever think going down the shores that night
The hour of death and tragedy was on its silent flight;
The foaming seas rolled mountains high as on the ship did go,
The land it was invisible through heavy squalls of snow.
But those that's left to mourn for them, I hope will understand
That God is on the ocean as well as on the land;
And let our noble fishermen intercede with one record,
By knowing they're in heaven and have gained a great reward.
####.... William Dawe ....####
Variant of an original poem Loss Of The Marion Rogers written by William Dawe of Flatrock, NL, and made public by Levi Butler of Port Rexton who lost his father and uncle in the wreck which was caused by wild winds, heavy seas, and a blinding snowstorm. For more information about the shipwreck see the article by Robert Parsons at Newfoundland Shipwrecks titled: Marion Rogers: Lost With Crew.
This variant was collected in 1976 from Moses Harris of Lethbridge, NL, by Genevieve Lehr and Anita Best and published as #72 in Come And I Will Sing You: A Newfoundland Songbook, p.125, edited by Genevieve Lehr (University of Toronto Press © 1985/2003).
Genevieve Lehr noted that she was not able to unearth any information concerning this locally composed song, and Uncle Mose could shed no light on it for her. Lehr also noted that it is rather fragmentary; no doubt more verses exist.
Per the Northern Shipwrecks Database, the Marion Rogers was stranded at Lighthouse Rocks reef in Trinity Harbour, NL, on Nov 27, 1938, and became a total loss.
See more songs about Newfoundland and Labrador shipwrecks.
