Lyrics

A luxury liner considered the best
Built strong for the ice, far better than the rest
The pride of the fleet of the old Red Cross line
Commissioned and christened in 1909,
Florizel
She took men to the front off Labrador shores
Blue Puttees across the ocean to fight the Great War
Carried passengers grand down to Halifax town
Then on to New York, she was the jewel in the crown,
Florizel

Well she left old St. John’s on that cold winter’s day
Back in 1918, and was well on her way
She sailed through the Narrows, no lights to be seen
Just the sound of her whistle fading into a dream
Florizel
As she rounded Cape Spear, ran sou’west for Cape Race
A course that would take her to her last resting place
The Atlantic graveyard on the Southern Shore
On a reef at Horn Head she was ripped to the core
Florizel

The sound of her whistle brought men from their sleep
As they rushed to the wreck, left their women to weep
And pray for the lives of the people on board
That God in his mercy would grant some accord
Florizel
They hurried and scurried with dories and oars
From Cappyhayden, Renews, and all-round the shore
But helpless to rescue those poor frightened souls
They stood there and watched as they washed o’er the shoals
Florizel

With the winds and seas still pounding the shores
They gathered the bodies, the rich and the poor
And carried them back to the old railway station
Prayed God would grant them eternal salvation
Florizel
For twenty-four hours they watched there in vain
‘Til the winds and the seas subsided again
Then they launched out the dories and rowed to the wreck
To help rescue those still left on her deck.
Florizel

A luxury liner considered the best
Built strong for the ice, far better than the rest
In the Atlantic graveyard on the Southern Shore
On a reef at Horn Head she lies evermore
Florizel, Florizel