288. The Wreck of the Huron

 

The Wreck of the Huron

Though the editors have not found any evidence for the author-
ship of 'The Wreck of the Huron,' they have placed it among the
North Carolina ballads because it celebrates an event that occurred
on the North Carolina coast, and it was known by at least three
residents of that region.

On the night of November 23-24, 1877, the U. S. S. Huron, under
orders to Cuba for a coastal surveying expedition, was steaming
through a seventy-mile gale off the coast of North Carolina. About
one o'clock, probably as a result of faulty navigation in the stormy
weather, she stranded two miles off Life-Saving Station No. 7, near
Oregon Inlet. That station had "not yet been ordered to active
work." Counts of the lives lost range from 98 to 106. (See New
York Times, November 25-28, 1877; also Anmtal Report of the
Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal
Year Ending June 30, 1878 [Washington: G. P. O., 1878], pp. 19-
20.)

A
Contributed by Miss Edna Harris, without date or address, but with this
note: "Mrs. Pollie Harris, my mother, sings it, and she heard it from
her mother and aunt."

In another undated note, apparently referring to this ballad, L. W.
Anderson of Nag's Head wrote ; "Here is another source of many, many

 

NORTH CAROLINA BALLADS 669

quaint old ballads. Some, however, are not so old, and this woman is
reputed to make them up. She undoubtedly knows and sings ballads
learned from her fore-parents, as her daughter states on this sheet, and
because of her remarkable memory, people attribute them to her own
making. The vessel, the Huron, mentioned in this ballad, is buried in
the sand off the coast less than two miles from here. People fish from
its deck even now."

Apropos of Mr. Anderson's statement about the remains of the wreck.
Bill Sharpe, in Tar on My Heels (Winston-Salem, 1946, p. 156), states
that in a calm sea the bell, tank, and boiler of the Huron are still visible,
and that "Cap'n Jeflf Hayman of Roanoke Island . . . believed to be
the only person still alive who saw the ghastly affair . . . has the silver
sugar bowl from the Huron captain's table."

1 'Twas a dark stormy day when orders came to sail ;
Mountain high the billows ran, fierce winds did screech and

wail.
Around the captain sailors brave the anchor quick did

weigh
Of the noble steamer Huron, whose fate was sealed that

day,
Although they were warned by signals from the shore,
And the turmoil of the sea and wind should have warned

them all the more.
But duty came first to the sailors true and brave ;
So out, out to sea they went to meet their watery grave.

Chorus:

Then toll, toll the bell for the loss of the Huron's crew ;
Mourn and weep for the sad, sad fate of the noble boys
in blue.

2 Through the black troubled waters the noble steamer

plowed.
Higher ran the cruel waves and blacker grew the cloud.
Although they trusted Him above who ruled the mighty

waves.
The tempest was appalling to the bravest of the braves.
At last came the cry for each man to his post
To keep the sinking ship off North Carolina's rocky coast.
Oh God! It was too late, for on the rocks she tossed,
'And amid them cruel breakers one hundred lives were lost.

Chorus:

Then toll, toll the bell for the loss of the Huron's crew ;
Mourn and weep for the sad, sad fate of the noble boys
in blue.

 

'Ballad of the Huron.' Contributed by Mr. Jacques Busbee, Raleigh, in
an undated letter with this note : "This is the version of 'The Huron'

 

670 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE

which I secured from Miss Pocahontas Twiford of Nag's Head. I have
been told that this ballad was first printed in the Norfolk papers shortly
after the wreck ; and that it also appears in some school readers. But
the title and date of the reader I have never been able to trace."

1 On a dark and stormy night
When orders came to sail
Mountain high the billows rolled
And louder blew the gale.

Chorus:

Toll, toll the bell

For the loss of the Huron crew ;

We'll mourn and weep the sad, sad fate

Of the noble boys in blue.

2 The Captain and the heroes
Lined upon her deck
Awaiting for the fatal hour
When she would be a wreck.

3 Our brave and noble Captain says,
'Each man reserve his post

To keep the sinking ship off
Carolina's sandy coast.'

4 Our brave and noble Captain
And ofificers in command
Stood as statues of old

Till the Huron struck the sand.

5 'Pump, pump, my boys,
Our precious lives to save !'

But sad the fate, it was too late —
They met a watery grave.

6 Oh God ! it was too late,
For on the sands she tossed
And amid the cruel breakers
A hundred lives were lost.

7 Our widowed wives and children
A Father to them be,

For we will be lost in the breakers tossed
Upon a cruel sea.

 

Contributed by L. W. Anderson, Nag's Head, in 1932, who got it from
Miss Maxine Tillett, a pupil. Miss Tillett wrote the following note:
"The Huron, a vessel of the U. S. Navy, was wrecked just south of
what is now Kill Devil Hill Coast Guard Station. The station at Kill
Devil Hill at that time had not been built, the nearest station being

 

NORTH CAROLINA BALLADS 67I

at Nag's Head. More than one hundred lives were lost. A few days
after the disaster Lieutenant Guthrie, the first Commander of the Dis-
trict, while coming ashore to investigate the wreck, was capsized when
coming through the breakers and lost his life." Two stanzas and chorus
corresponding closely to stanzas i, chorus, and 6 of B.
---------------------
 

 

290

The Hamlet Wreck

'The Hamlet Wreck.' Sung by anonymous singer. Recorded as ms score, but
no place or date given. The detailed analysis of this tune given below shows
the masterful handling, intuitive to be sure, of musical material ; even in such
diminutive forms as this song has, the creative process and the discerning use
of the varied ideas is the same as manifested in the larger works of our masters.

 


Scale: Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: g. Structure: abcddib^e (1,1,1,1,1,1,2) ;
Chorus: fcd2fe (2,1,1,2,2).