The Empress Of Ireland - Norman Blake, Nancy Blake

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

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

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

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

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