Lyrics
Sailing down the Baltic, where the wreck mark buoys all peal,
Cruisin’ in the Channel, where the steamers never yield.
Beatin’ down the Biscay, where the crew they get no meals,
She’s the mighty sailing ship the Herzogin Cecile. (Chorus)
(Chorus)
Herzogin Cecile, Herzogin Cecile,
She’s the mighty sailing ship the Herzogin Cecile.
Rolling in the doldrums, where the slightest wind she’ll feel,
Tackin’ in the Tasman, where the winds upon her steal.
Roarin’ down the Forties, her braces sing like steel,
There goes the mighty sailing ship the Herzogin Cecile. (Chorus)
Comin’ down from Labrador, with a load of pine and deal,1
Off Tierra Del Fuego, where the albatrosses wheel.
Runnin’ eastward for the Horn, hear her rigging squeal,
She’s the mighty sailing ship the Herzogin Cecile. (Chorus)
Cruising Caribbean calms, where the flying fish appeal,
Now she’s Falmouth bound for orders, where her passage time’s reveal’d.
A shipload strainin’ in her hold, the pull again she’ll feel;
She’s the mighty sailing ship the Herzogin Cecile. (Chorus)
She’s run upon the Boat Tail, in the mist, a test of steel,
She’s hard aground in Sawmile Cove, the rocks have broken her keel.
The deck planks of the Duchess, your feet will nevermore feel:
She’s was the mighty sailing ship the Herzogin Cecile. (Chorus)
WHERE TO FIND IT
Song Notes
From The Mudcat Cafe: “Ken Stephens wrote this song not knowing that the Herzogin Cecile (Duchess Cecile was one of the Kaiser’s nieces) was a four-masted bark. He wrote the chorus ‘She’s the mighty full rigged ship – the Herzogin Cecile‘ Stan Hugill interrupted Geoff Kaufman onstage with ‘That were no full rigged ship. That were a four-masted bark.'”
Here is a photo of a model of the Herzogin Cecile by Don Otis.
There is a running conversation about the thing upon which the ship ran upon. From the Mudcat Cafe we read “She’s run upon the Bobtail. William Pint and Felicia Dale sing, “She’s run upon the Bolt Head.” Tom Lewis informed us it is the “Boat Tail.” The Wikipedia article names actual geographic locations: She ran aground on Ham Stone Rock and drifted onto the cliffs of Bolt Head.
1. deal a plank of softwood (fir or pine board)