G            C
We were homeward bound one night on the deep 
Am            D
Swinging in my hammock I fell asleep 
G         C        G
I dreamed a dream and I thought it true 
C        D           C           G
Concerning Franklin and his gallant crew 
 
G             C
With 100 seamen he sailed away 
Am                  D
To the frozen ocean in the month of May 
G            C            G
To seek a passage around the pole 
C        D         C       G
Where we poor sailors do sometimes go. 
 
G                   C
Through cruel hardships they vainly strove 
Am                    D
Their ships on mountains of ice was drove 
G                C          G
Only the Eskimo with his skin canoe 
C                  D          C       G
Was the only one that ever came through 
 
G                             C
In Baffin's Bay where the whale fish blow 
Am               D
The fate of Franklin no man may know 
G                           C           G
The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell 
C     D                    C        G
Lord Franklin among his seamen do dwell 
 
G                           C
And now my burden it gives me pain 
Am              D
For my Lord Franklin I'd sail the main 
G                         C            G
Ten thousand pounds I would freely give 
C               D           C            G
To say on earth that my Franklin do live.