Tale of the Dorset Maid

(Verse 1)

The wind blew east from Portland Bill, a cruel and bitter sound,

The spray it flew, the gulls they cried, as the night came dark around.

The ‘Dorset Maid’ was homeward bound, with timber in her hold,

Four sturdy men from Wareham town, and a captain growing old.

(Chorus)

Oh, the waves off Chesil Beach are cold, the rocks of Lulworth steep!

The Channel tide it drags you down into the darkest deep.

A ghostly ship off Jurassic shores, where no good harbour lies,

The sea will claim her mortal toll beneath the Dorset skies.

(Verse 2)

We’d passed the Needles safe and well, and thought the danger past,

But a sudden squall from Lullworth Bay broke off the topmost mast.

The Captain cried, “Hold fast, me lads! Fight on against the foam!”

But the ship was old, the sea was strong, and we were far from home

(Chorus)

Oh, the waves off Chesil Beach are cold, the rocks of Lulworth steep!

The Channel tide it drags you down into the darkest deep.

A ghostly ship off Jurassic shores, where no good harbour lies,

The sea will claim her mortal toll beneath the Dorset skies.

(Verse 3)

We tried to tack, we tried to turn, for the shelter of the bay,

But a monstrous breaker struck the stern, and are hopes went away.

I saw the light of a cottage hearth, a flash of distant flame,

Then the grating sound of splintered wood, and no one spoke a name.

(Bridge)

In the morning mist, the wreck lay still, near Golden Cap so high,

Just shattered planks and sodden rags beneath a weeping sky.

(Chorus)

Oh, the waves off Chesil Beach are cold, the rocks of Lulworth steep!

The Channel tide it drags you down into the darkest deep.

A ghostly ship off Jurassic shores, where no good harbour lies,

The sea will claim her mortal toll beneath the Dorset skies.

(Outro)

So raise a glass in the ‘Sailor’s Rest’, for the souls that went astray,

Lost to the fierce and hungry waves, off the Dorset coast that day.

Oh A ghostly ship off Jurassic shores, where no good harbour lies,

The sea will claim her mortal toll beneath the Dorset skies.