Ballad Of Yarmouth Castle

(album: Sunday Concert - 1969)

Well, it's four o'clock in the afternoon
And the anchors have been weighed
From Miami to Nassau,
She's bound across the waves

She'll be heading south through Biscayne Bay
Into the open sea
Yarmouth Castle, she's a-dying and don't know it

Now the many years she's been to sea
She's seen the better times
She gives a groan of protest
As they cast away her lines

And the grumble of her engines
And the rust along her spine
Tells the Castle she's too old to be sailing

But the sands run out within her heart
A tiny spark glows red
It smoulders through the evening
There's laughter overhead

Now the men are served, and the cards are dealt
And the drinks are passed around
Deep within the fire starts a-burning

Now it's midnight on the open sea
And the moon is shining bright
Some people join the party
And others say good-night

There's many who are sleeping now
It's been a busy day
And a tiny wisp of smoke is a-rising

"Oh Lord," she groans, "I'm burning!"
"Let someone understand!"
But her silent plea is wasted
In the playing of the band

Everybody's dancing on her deck
And they're having such a time
Then a voice says
"Shut up and deal, I'm losin'"

Deep within the Yarmouth Castle
The fire begins to glow
It leaps into the hallways
And climbs and twists and grows

And the paint she wore to keep her young
Oh Lord, how well it burns
And soon that old fire is a-raging

Up beneath the bridge it's climbing fast
the captain stands aloft
He calls up to the boatswain, 'n' says
"Boatswain, we are lost"

For the ragged hoses in the racks
No pressure do they hold
And the people down below
Will soon be dying

All amidships, oh she's blazing now
It's spreading fore and aft
The people are a-scrambling
As the fire blocks their path

The evil smoke surrounds them,
And they're falling in their tracks
And the captain in his lifeboat is a-leaving

Oh then the ship, Bahama Star
Comes steaming through the night
She sees the Castle blazing
And 'tis a terrible sight

"Jump down, jump down!" the captain cries
"We'll save you if we can!"
Then the paint on his funnels is a-frying

"God help the ones who sleep below
And cannot find the way!
Thank God for those we've rescued
Upon this awful day."

Now the heroes, they are many,
But the times are growing slim
And now from stern to bow
She's a-blazing

Oh the Yarmouth Castle's moaning
She's crying like a child.
You can hear her if you listen
Above the roar so wild

Is she crying for the ones who lie
Within her molten sides?
Or crying for herself, I'm a-wondering

But the living soon were rescued
The ones who lived to tell
From the Star they watched her
As she died there in the swells

Like a toy ship on a mill pond
She burned all through the night
Then slipped 'neath the waves
In the morning