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Some folks seem to folla'
The high and mighty dollar
And never take the trouble to look at what's upon a dime
She's something very special
An old wooden sailing vessel
And she blazed a path to glory once upon a time
More beautiful than most along the rocky eastern coast
She was the fastest fishing schooner in the game
From Halifax to Boston
She won races rarely lost one
She's still Queen of The Atlantic
Bluenose is her name
Back in the days of sail
Oakum caulking , wooden nails
When Bluenose was the future still uncharted
A twenty five knot wind
Caused New York Yacht Club to rescind
A race before the contest even started
Those who fished salt cod
Shared a quiet wink and nod
Having rode out many a storm together
Maritimers sensed the humour
Why not a race for schooners ?
For a trophy to be won in any weather
So down in Halifax
Amongst the schooners , fishing smacks
Warships , Ocean liners , and the rest
Schooner racing rules were drawn an International Trophy born
And God- speed all those on the quest
Bill Dennis had a notion to get the thing in motion
And when fishing season ended on the banks
Nine schooners in a pack raced from Halifax and back
To find a worthy Champion , to compete against the Yanks
The Delawana finished first in a canvas tearing burst
And put her name upon the Herald Cup
Captain Walters placing second broke a mast as victory beckoned
And watched the Delawana wrap it up
The Americans were ready
International feaver heady, Delawana pitched and rolled
As if she were alive
Thousands were on hand
Along with one or two brass bands
Waiting for the US Champion to arrive
The Yankee schooner Esperanto
Sailed through the foggy manteau
Her stars and stripes proudly on display
She was trim and very fast
Her completion were outclassed
The day she won the right to represent the USA
Her crew did not relax
When she berthed in Halifax
They were there to prove she was the better boat
Right from the starting gun
It was plain to everyone
That she was indeed the faster ship afloat
She crossed the finish line
With Delawana far behind
The contest was to be the best of three
It was over after two
Esperanto and her crew
Had won the Herald Trophy easily
The whole country was in shock
As the news went block to block
Telling of the Yankee victory scored
Angus Walters gave a warning
We'll not be long in mourning
We've a schooner named the Bluenose on Bill Roues drawing board
They proudly laid her keel
With pomp and circumstance and zeal
In Lunenburg , the old shipbuilding town
Folks had never seen the like
The Governor -General drove the spike
That started all the records tumbling down
Most of the work was done and in 1921 ,
She slid gently down the ways , sleek and clean .
Angus Walters was her Master , and he reckoned she was faster ,
Than any other schooner that he'd ever sailed or seen.
Bluenose wasn't yet a legend , but Angus knew by summer's end ,
That she'd bring the International Trophy home .
Now folks argue whether , he knew it was forever .
Which indicates how much her legend's grown .
When they put her to the test she outsailed all the rest
For the right to face the US schooner Elsie ,
Who'd won the honour to defend when Esperanto met her end ,
Going down in fifteen fathoms far at sea .
With a warship for an escort , Elsie left her home port ,
Down in Gloucester , Massachusettes , USA .
She was Esperanto's sister , and she'd once outraced a twister
And they said that she'd be faster , come race day .
Winds were gale force , damp and cool, and some said only fools
Would race beyond the harbour on that day ,
But a Grand Banker's lot , meant winds of over thirty knots
And quite a bit beyond so I've heard say .
With gusts of thirty five , Bluenose came alive ,
Dancing on the water like a feather .
Angus knew his schooner and ran up her ballooner ,
Proving she could handle any weather .
Winds howling in his ears , dark clouds scudding near ,
Marty Welsh aboard the Elsie did the same .
Her top-foremast wouldn't take it , he might have guessed the strain
would break it ,
And a heavy blast of wind rendered Elsie partly lame .
As they cut away the wreckage Captain Walters sent a message
Which was understood by all the schooner seamen .
Sailors are by nature kin , he hauled the extra canvas in ,
And with grace and honour kept the contest even .
Bluenose passed the Shut-in Isle , leading by a mile
With another twelve or thirteen more to go .
In twenty two foot swells her crew could hear the victory bells .
They'd won in heavy weather , toe to toe .
The crews rested on the Sunday and raced again on Monday .
In the early going , Elsie set the pace ,
But as they rounded Light House buoy, Nova Scotians cheered with joy .
Bluenose passed her tacking windward and went on to win the race .
With two races out of three , Bluenose claimed the victory ,
And brought the Trophy back to Halifax .
She was welcomed home in style , some went a little wild ,
Though things were quiet below the Adirondacks .
But not for very long , the rumours weren't far wrong
Which said the Yankees had a schooner on the board .
In Essex , Massachusetts , they were really building two ships
And come spring they launched the Yankee , and then the Henry Ford .
In elimination races Henry Ford had shown her paces
And proved that she was faster in light seas , wind and rain .
Her skipper knew the ropes and raised the US hopes
That they'd win the Herald Trophy back again .
From April through the summer , Bluenose heard a different drummer ,
Hunting cod along the Banks till mid September ,
But with October's angry skys , the winds of winter rise ,
And she sailed south to meet the challenge as defender .
This time the ships would wrangle around Cape Ann triangle ,
Tempers frayed and both crews were annoyed.
For two races in a row, decent winds refused to blow .
The committee called the first race null and void .
Then the autumn gales came blowing , bringing rain and sometimes snowing
,
And the Bluenose showed again what she could do .
But the winds which screamed and roared were too much for Henry Ford ,
And the Bluenose won the next race , and then the next one too .
In 1923, Columbia put to sea ,
She was built to put the Bluenose curse to rest ,
She was large , she was fast , with extra canvas on her masts ,
But like those who'd tried before , she finished second best .
Now the Bluenose creator had another ship on paper .
The Haligonian was built in record time .
When they raced I've heard it said , even Bill Roue scratched his head ,
And it's Bluenose who's the one still on the dime .
Come the following year , a disaster had occurred ,
Devastation that came quickly from the south .
A hurricane's violent fury ripped through schooners , men and dories .
Chewed them up and spit the pieces out .
When crew and ships are driven by winds so unforgivin' ,
There's little they can do , not even flee ,
Columbia far from land was missing with all hands ,
Bluenose limped home slowly , broken by the sea .
Despite the beating from the weather they put her back together ,
And soon she was sliding down the slip ,
And off to the fishing grounds in joyous leaps and bounds ,
Some swore those Lunenburghers, had built a brand new ship .
In autumn 1930 , a little worse for wear and dirty ,
After yet another summer on the blue ,
She was on the racing line against a schooner in her prime ,
Who'd been launched the year before , the Gertude L. Thebaud .
Though successes had been meager , the Yankees were still eager
To see the Champion schooner in their wake .
' Old ' Bluenose and the 'pup' would contest the Lipton Cup ,
But the International Trophy , wouldn't be at stake .
Thebaud won the first race easy , it wasn't very breezy ,
And the Bluenose was known to like a squall ,
And just to prove the point she was two miles out in front ,
When visibility caused the next race to be called .
When they raced again , the winds were quiet and tame ,
And the outcome of the first race was repeated .
The Gertrude L. Thebaud and her wildly happy crew
Had won the Lipton trophy . The Bluenose was defeated .
Back home some hearts were broken , others scoffed it was a token ,
Not a real race , just a drill , an exercise .
Nothing could beat Bluenose , ' not till hell itself was froze '
They would race for real in Halifax , with the “ Trophy “ for the prize
.
Once again excitement mounted , this was the one that counted ,
And when the Bluenose brought her catch home in September ,
She was hauled off to the yard and came back clean and hard ,
Win or lose she'd give them racing to remember .
Thebaud did her best in the brisk winds from the west ,
When the contest was finally under way .
But it wasn't quite enough . Bluenose showed her stuff ,
And a clean pair of heels as she vanished in the spray .
She'd been the Champ for ten long year , just stood Thebaud on her ear ,
And was known and loved all around the world .
They wouldn't let her go when she visited Toronto ,
Kept her there all winter , locked in ice with canvas furled .
Thousands came and saw her , thousands more adored her ,
Her praises were sung across the sea .
The King of England was delighted when Bluenose was invited ,
To come across and celebrate , the Silver Jubilee .
The clean lines , speed and skill of this Consul of Goodwill ,
Took the British people by surprise ,
Racing round the Isle of Wight , she brought howls of delight ,
And quite a goodly number rubbing disbelieving eyes .
Leaving Falmouth on the tide , Bluenose took the seas in stride ,
Glad to leave behind the fuss and fame .
She hit a violent storm , as bad as any round Cape Horn ,
And ran into her second hurricane .
The power of the seas couldn't bring her to her knees ,
But the future held something far more evil .
Sail was inefficient , the Bluenose was deficient ,
They exchanged her masts and canvas for a diesel .
No more the graceful rover , her glory days were over ,
Northern Dancer turned into a trotter .
If she'd been a dying dog , a stricken cow or hog ,
Some well meaning person would have shot her .
Her future was uncertain , was this the final curtain ?
The weeks turned into months then dreary years .
She was little but a scow , a racehorse with a plough ,
Sometimes pulling here or trudging there .
Then a whisper was heard , growing louder with each word .
The Yankees had again thrown down the gauntlet .
And in Nineteen Thirty eight she was at the starting gate .
With the chance to race again and maybe flaunt it .
The cursed engines were withdrawn , Bluenose was reborn ,
She was again as she was meant to be .
Her canvas caught the breeze , drove her south ' cross sparkling seas ,
Running with the wind , wild and free .
There was no elimination , sail had been forsaken ,
And full rigged sailing ships were hard to find .
In the twinkling of an eye an era had passed by .
Bluenose and Thebaud were the last two of their kind .
Boston Town was humming , guitars and banjos strumming ,
Many thousands came , to see Thebaud take the crown .
When they'd won two races each , people crowded Gloucester beach ,
Straining necks and eyes to see the showdown .
Bluenose had her old time speed and never lost the lead ,
Beating Theabaud by three minutes all the way .
The stewards fired the winning gun , at last her day was done ,
There was not a single dragon left to slay .
When the cheering had died down , the circus gone with all the clowns ,
The evening breeze was somehow not the same ,
She was from a bye gone age , the world was someone elses stage ,
The Bluenose would never race again .
Farewell the schooner races , no more frantic chases ,
Where the restless , heaving ocean meets the sky .
There would be no white museum , no dry dock mausoleum ,
She hit a reef and sank off Haiti , but it's here her memories lie .
For twenty six long years , she shared our joys , our hopes and fears ,
And she'll hold the Herald Trophy for all time .
She's a gentle inspiration , a symbol of our nation .
She'll be in our hearts forever , not just once upon a time .
Take a look at any dime.
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