“Lady Franklin’s Lament” (also known as “Lord Franklin” and “The Sailor’s Dream”) is a traditional folk ballad indexed by George Malcolm Laws (Roud 487) (Laws K9). The song recounts the story of a sailor who dreams about Lady Franklin speaking of the loss of her husband, Lord John Franklin, who disappeared in Baffin Bay during his 1845 expedition through the Arctic Ocean in search of the Northwest Passage sea route to the Pacific ocean. The song first appeared as a broadside ballad around 1850 and has since been recorded with the melody of the Irish traditional air “Cailín Óg a Stór” by numerous artists.
“Bob Dylan’s Dream” was recorded on 24 April 1963 and released onFreewheelin‘ (27 May 1963, see the lyrics at BobDylan.com). An early unreleased version is from a session at Gerde’s Folk City, New York, 8 February 1963 and it also appears on the Witmark Studio demos from April 1963 (now released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos 1962-1964). The first concert performance was probably at Town Hall, New York City, 12 April 1963. According to HisBobness.Info 50 live performances are documented: 4 in 1963 and 46 in 1991.
Read More at: https://www.justanothertune.com/html/ladyfranklin.html
APRIL 12, 1963, BOB DYLAN PERFORMED AT NEW YORK CITY’S TOWN HALL AND SANG, ‘BOB DYLAN’S DREAM’ LISTEN TO THIS PERFORMANCE.
Bob Dylan’s Dream {Live at Town Hall 1963}
This is a song that has never been found in Minnesota (it’s known mostly in Canada), and which has no direct Minnesota connection — but the number of indirect Minnesota connections is amazing.
The song is about the search for the Northwest Passage — a sea route that would allow cargo ships to travel from Europe to China and Japan by sailing north of Canada. In sailing days, this was very important — there was no Panama Canal, and the trip around Cape Horn south of Latin America was very long and very dangerous.
It so happens that many of the first Europeans to explore Minnesota were seeking the Northwest Passage — there was a notion that the Minnesota River might lead to it. Of course it did not.
Read More at: https://mnheritagesongbook.net/the-songs/addition-song-with-recordings/lord-franklin-lady-franklins-lament/
Lady Franklin’s Lament
(Martin Carthy’s version)
We were homeward bound one night on the deep
Swinging in my hammock I fell asleep
I dreamed a dream and I thought it true
Concerning Franklin and his gallant crew
With 100 seamen he sailed away
To the frozen ocean in the month of May
To seek a passage around the pole
Where we poor seamen do sometimes roll
Through cruel misfortune they vainly strove
Their ships on mountains of ice was drove
Where the Eskimo with his skin canoe
Was the only one that could ever come through
In Baffin’s Bay where the whale fish blow
The fate of Franklin no man may know
The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell
Lord Franklin among his seamen do dwell
And now my burden it gives me pain
For my long lost Franklin I would cross the main
Ten thousand pounds I would freely give
To know that on earth my Franklin do live
Book : https://books.google.de/books?id=So0kAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA823&hl=tr#v=onepage&q&f=false
External Sources : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Franklin%27s_Lament
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