Traditional

'Twas 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 one hundred seamen he sailed away
To the icy ocean in the month of May
To seek that passage around the pole
Where we poor seamen do sometimes go

Through cruel hardships they manly strove
Their ships on mountains of ice was drove
Only the Eskimo with his skin canoe
Was the only one who ever came through

In Baffin's Bay where the whale fishes blow
The fate of Franklin no man may know
The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell
Lord Franklin among his sailors do dwell

And now my burden it gives me pain
For my long lost Franklin I'd cross the main
Ten thousand pounds I would freely give
To say on earth that my Franklin do live