Norman Blake
The Empress of Ireland
[Verse 1]
She was the pride of the Canada Line
The Empress of Ireland
Sailing upon the cold north tide
Crossing the wild ocean
[Verse 2]
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
[Verse 3]
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
[Verse 4]
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]
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
[Verse 5]
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
[Verse 6]
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]
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