Tags: 1914 Empress of Ireland
Performances
Norman and Nancy Blake’s version of this song can be found on their album, Back Home To Sulphur Springs, available through Amazon.ca as well as iTunes.
Lyrics
She was the pride of the Canada Line
The Empress of Ireland
Sailing upon the cold north tide
Crossing the wild ocean
It crossed in four days, 200 trips made
In the service of many she’d been
The great ship went down, one thousand souls drowned
On the Empress of Ireland
CHORUS:
Friends they’d stroll upon her deck
Waltzed in her ballroom grand
While sleeping they drowned when the Empress went down
Only five miles from land.
The Empress of Ireland.
Late in the spring nineteen-fourteen
She met a terrible end
She had the same crew but the captain was new
When she set sail again
He saw a light from a ship on that night
Before the fog settled in
they heard her horn sound as the ship ran her down
The Empress of Ireland
CHORUS
In minutes all gone, sunk like a stone
In a watery grave settled down
Still resting they lie in the beds where they died
On the Empress of Ireland
The lifeboats they found, four hundred not drowned
And the Salvation Army band
One thousand souls drowned when the Empress went down
Only five miles from land.
The Empress of Ireland.
CHORUS
Lyrics transcribed from the recording by Heather Sparling
You have the third line incorrect. “Sailing upon the cold north tide” is the right line.
Thanks for the correction! I’ve made the edit.