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The Wellfleet Schooner

from From Boston Harbor by Crosscurrents Music

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about

In January 2008, a winter storm unearthed the wreck of a schooner not far from the childhood home of Steve Woodbury, now of the Folklore Society of Greater Washington. The mystery spoke to Steve in song. Steve felt that the piece should live with a current Massachusetts resident, so he sent it on to me. Thanks, Steve!

lyrics

At Wellfleet in a winter storm she washed up on the shore,
At Wellfleet, up on the shore she came.
A keel, some ribs, some oaken planks – and very little more.
She’s a schooner, but we do not know her name.

Who carved each rib and trunnel?  And who launched her in the foam?
At Wellfleet, up on the shore she came.
Where was she built?  Where did she sail?  Where did her crew call home?
She’s a schooner, but we do not know her name.

She was not a speedy clipper ship to ply the China trade.
At Wellfleet, up on the shore she came.
Not a sturdy whaler for the North Pacific made.
She’s a schooner, but we do not know her name.

This schooner was a workaday ship, her story went untold.
At Wellfleet, up on the shore she came.
Did she fish for cod on Georges Bank?  Haul granite?  lumber?  coal?
She’s a schooner, but we do not know her name.

Did she founder in a winter gale, and fail to round the Cape?
At Wellfleet, up on the shore she came.
Were all her sailors lost at sea?  Did some of them escape?
She’s a schooner, but we do not know her name.

Cape Cod girls and Cape Cod boys all flocked down to the shore,
At Wellfleet, up on the shore she came.
To see this stark reminder of a time that is no more.
She’s a schooner, but we do not know her name.

Three thousand ships and more were lost off Cape Cod’s sandy shore;
At Wellfleet, up on the shore she came.
One day a future winter storm may fetch us up one more.
She’s a schooner, but we do not know her name.

This schooner’s a reminder of the long-gone days of sail:  
At Wellfleet, up on the shore she came.
The romance and the mystery, the tragedy as well.
She’s a schooner, but we do not know her name.

last:  She put ashore for one last time, but we don’t know her name.
And chances are that we will never know her name;
And chances are that we will never know her name.

credits

from From Boston Harbor, released June 9, 2022
© Steve Woodbury

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Crosscurrents Music Boston, Massachusetts

Lynn Noel brings traditional song and heritage arts online to create community. Lynn has a voice of striking clarity and power, equally at home in rhythmic chanteys and flowing ballads.

Lynn is a respected song session leader on both sides of the Atlantic and the producer and host of the Mermaid's Tavern online folk club. She is currently Program Chair of the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA). ... more

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