The packet was lost on the foulest of nights,
A great storm thundered in and extinguished its lights,
Two hundred miles from the South Georgia shore,
In the year of our Lord seventeen twenty four,
The longboat was lowered but saved only three,
The carpenter, first mate and young Paul McPhee.
Three lives in thrall to the gods of the sea,
The carpenter, first mate and young Paul McPhee,
After ten days adrift they'd had nothing to eat,
Rain slaked their thirst but they'd no scrap of meat,
The mate turned to the carpenter while the lad slept,
And they crept up on Paul with their strategem set.
A shrimper from Brunswick out fishing next morn,
Saw the longboat lit up by the light of the dawn,
They found just one aboard as they came alongside,
And the skipper cried out "looks like this one's alive!
Where are ye from sailor? Who might ye be?"
He said "From a lost packet ship, I'm Paul McPhee."
Restored to rude health after just a few days,
Paul McPhee went to church and he knelt down and prayed,
He prayed for the children and wives of the crew,
He prayed to forgive the dark deeds that men do,
He thanked God for the fishers that brought him ashore,
He thanked God for the rigging knife nobody saw.
A great storm thundered in and extinguished its lights,
Two hundred miles from the South Georgia shore,
In the year of our Lord seventeen twenty four,
The longboat was lowered but saved only three,
The carpenter, first mate and young Paul McPhee.
Three lives in thrall to the gods of the sea,
The carpenter, first mate and young Paul McPhee,
After ten days adrift they'd had nothing to eat,
Rain slaked their thirst but they'd no scrap of meat,
The mate turned to the carpenter while the lad slept,
And they crept up on Paul with their strategem set.
A shrimper from Brunswick out fishing next morn,
Saw the longboat lit up by the light of the dawn,
They found just one aboard as they came alongside,
And the skipper cried out "looks like this one's alive!
Where are ye from sailor? Who might ye be?"
He said "From a lost packet ship, I'm Paul McPhee."
Restored to rude health after just a few days,
Paul McPhee went to church and he knelt down and prayed,
He prayed for the children and wives of the crew,
He prayed to forgive the dark deeds that men do,
He thanked God for the fishers that brought him ashore,
He thanked God for the rigging knife nobody saw.
