James Brown - The Cedar Grove

This song is about a steamship, The Cedar Grove, which wrecked 30th Nov 1882 off Canso, NS on a journey from London to St John, NB with a cargo of liquor.

Lyrics as transcribed from this recording:

..there lies a noble steamer, the cedar grove by name,
to cross the briny ocean from London city came,
was steering off one stormy night too thick to see the land,
by some miscalculations near Canso she did strand.

oh a sailor at the helm he knew that he could tell,
he knew that they were near the land by the heaving of the swell,
he wished to give them warning but knew it not his place,
 Our bugler must be up! he says Whatever be the case.

oh the night being dark and stormy, the lookout at his post,
the first they saw of danger were breakers on the coast,
the orders then were given the engine to reverse,
 Starboard your helm our captain cries our ship she s off her course

oh then straight way to the breakers, our noble ship steered on,
a moment more a fearful crash most heared to everyone,
both engineers and firemen we e hard at work below,
and by their perseverance our ship did backward go.

oh and soon she was in deep water and then her fate was sealed,
the seas began to wash her deck and on her side she reeled,
her cabin it began to fill and also down below,
and through the upper department and down our ship did go.

oh our brave and gallant Captain on main deck he did stand,
the boats they were got ready and lowered by his command
saying engineers and fireman and sailormen also
to save their precious lives into the boats did go.

oh the saddest of my story it still doth remain,
we had a lady passenger, Miss Farrah[?] was her name,
for to visit some relations in the city of St. John,
she had ventured o er the stormy deep but now she s dead and gone.

a sailor said he saw her in the cabin door stand by,
he said it grieved him to the heart to hear her mourn ad cry,
he offered to console her and says You won t be lost
but soon this tender maiden in the billow she was tossed.

The same sea took our captain, and he was seen no more,
through heavy wind and darkness our boats they lingered near,
till engineers were also lost an our noble ship went down,
the body of this lady has never yet been found.

oh our cargo was for Halifax and the city of St John,
and to the latter port our ship she does belong,
she was strongly built on the banks of the Clyde ten hundred thousand tons or more,
but her strength it proved of no avail on the rock of Canso shore.
The transcription here contains an entire stanza (number 6) telling of how the Captain ordered firemen and engineers to get in the lifeboats. This stanza is present in Ives version but does not appear in Manny s published version, nor in Glen Hunter s performed version. While there are a few other minor variations between the versions, some of the more notable differences are that in stanza 2 in the above version the singer sings our bugler must be up , just as Ives and Manny s transcriptions read, but Glen Hunter sings the same line as our captain must be up . Also, this version (as well as Ives ) in the final stanza have the line ten hundred thousand tons or more whereas Manny s transcription and Hunter s performance read simply ten thousand tons or more .

This song is sung a cappella. The very first word of the song (probably oh ) is obscured and so the song really picks up with the word there . The last two words of the song, Canso shore , are spoken, not sung.

Another recording of this song, performed by Glen Hunter, also exists in the Manny collection (005-03) and (090-01).
Brown, James
1959

The song appears in Louise Manny and James Reginald Wilson eds. Songs of Miramichi Brunswick Press Fredericton, N.B. pg. 70 and also in Edward Ives ed. Folksongs of New Brunswick Goose Lane Editions Ltd., Fredericton pg. 136.
011-02

folktrax-archive.org gives the following citation with a number of other printed/recorded sources:

> "**CEDAR GROVE, THE** - "*O there lies a noble steamer, the CG by name"*- the helmsman knows the ship is too close to the shore but dares not say so - the look-out's warning comes too late and the ship is on the rocks, she backs off and sinks - Passenger, Miss Fareell, captain and 2 engineers lost - captain's disfigured body recovered later - LAWS #D-18 (NAB 1050/64 pp169-170) - ROUD#1959 - Wrecked 30th Nov 1882 off Canso, NS from London to St John, NB with cargo of liquors - McKENZIE BSSNS 1928 pp 236-7 Harry Sutherland NS (w/o) - DOERFLINGER SAS 1951 p186 11v/m - IVES FSNB 1989 pp136-9 James Brown, NB 1963"
>
>

An 1882 American Railroad Journal gives some details regarding the wreck of this ship (top left of page 990).