Henry's Songbook

It's four o'clock in the afternoon, the anchors have been weighed
From Miami to Nassau she's bound across the waves
She's a-heading south to Biskin Bay and to the open sea
Yarmouth Castle she is dying and don't know it
The many years she's been to sea she's seen her better times
She gives a groan of protest as they cast awave her lines
And the grumble of her engines and the rust along her spine
Tells the Castle she's too old to be sailing

But the sands run out, within her heart a tiny spark glows red
And smoulders through the evening; there's laughter overhead
Now the men are served at the counter down, the drinks are passed around
And deep within the fire starts a-burning
It's midnight on the open sea, and the moon is shining bright
Some people join the party, and others say good night
There's many who are sleeping now, it'as been a busy day
And a tiny wisp of smoke is rising

O Lord, she groans, I'm burning, let someone understand
But the silent plea is wasted in the playing of the band
Everybody's dancing on the deck and a-having such a time
And a voice says, Shut up and deal, I'm losing
Deep within the Yarmouth Castle the fire begins to glow
It leaps into the hallways and climbs in twists and throes
And the paint she wore to keep her young, O Lord how well it burns
Soon that old fire is raging

Now beneath the bridge it's climbing fast, the captain stands aloft
He calls up to the boatswain, saying, Bosun, we are lost
For the ragged hoses in the racks, no pressure do they hold
The people down below will soon be dying
All the midships o'er now she's blazing full, it's spreading 'fore'n'aft
The people are a-scrambling as the fire blocks their path
The evil smoke surrounds them and they're falling in their tracks
The captain in his lifeboat is a-waving

Then the ship Bahama Star comes steaming through the night
She sees the Castle blazing, and it is a terrible sight
Jump down, jump down, the captain cries, We'll save you if we can
And the paint on his funnels is a-frying
God help the ones who sleep below and cannot find their way
Thank God for those we rescued on this awful day
The heroes they are many but the time's a-growing slim
And now from stern to bow she's a-blazing

The Yarmouth Castle's mourning, she's crying like a child
You can hear it if you listen above the roar so wild
Is she crying for the ones who lie within her molten sides
Or crying for herself, I'm a-wondering
But the living soon were rescued, the ones who left to tell
And from the Star they watched her as she died there in the swells
Like a toyship on a millpond she burned all through the night
And slipped beneath the waves in the morning