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