Probably the first of these ballads to appear. It mentions the Darlings only in passing and Grace is not identified by name.
Come listen ye landsmen, give ear to my story,
And ye bold British sailors that plows o'er the main,
For the Forfarshire steamship is wrecked with her glory,
And o'er the wild sea she will ne'er sail again.
And in the deep sea within its waves buried,
Thirty five human bodies in the deep sea does lie,
And the sailors that steer o'er the place of their slumbers,
Will hover a while and heave a sad sigh.
From Hull to Dundee the Forfarshire sailed,
As fine a steam ship as ever sailed on the deep,
With twice thirty people for the shores of fair Scotland,
But their absence will cause their dear friends for to weep.
On the fifth of September she sailed on her voyage,
From Hull that fine seaport on England's east shore,
And the second day after in the deep rearing ocean,
That proud ship and cargo and people were lost.
Four o'clock Thursday morning, the rain fell in showers,
And the boiler did leak which caused them much grief.
And they soon found the vessel with all her strong power,
Must yield to the storms and she struck on a reef,
And on the rocks she in pieces was breaking
And the passengers were all in dreadful alarms,
The captain and wife like true-hearted lovers,
Were washed over board in each others arms.
Now bonny Dundee will never behold her,
The ship that was wrecked on bam borough shore,
Your fair maids may weep and put on their mourning,
For them friends they have lost - we'll ne'er see them more.
And a mother was there - a dear tender mother,
She two lovely babes in her arms did enfold,
But the wild wind and waves tore them from her bosom,
She cried my children! My children! As they drop't from her hold.
The (sic) sunk from her view among the dark troubl'd water,
While loudly she screamed quite frantic with woe
They saved her, they saved her, but her heart was broken
But no tears from her eyelldn (sic) could flow.
And as for the Darlings the father and daughter
They ventured there lives on the dark rolling waves
To save that of others they ne'er were daunted
For nine from the wreck they did save.
Oh! Britain oh Britain, sons of yours have perished,
Will they ever return to their family again,
No never alas for in the deep ocean vanished;
These bodies may perhaps in the deep ocean remain;
[illegible] have been saved from the grasp of the billow,
Suce (sic) danger may they encounter no more,
For them that did sink may we hope that they are,
[illegible]nd the [illegible] of true joy on a happier shore.