Page 26
on Tommy Makem's Lonesome Waters album
capo 2
Ballad of the Lady Jane
by Tommy Makem
There [Am] was a bonny ship and she sailed the Spanish [Em] Main
and the [Am] name that they called her by it was the Lady [Em] Jane
but she [Am] went down in a [Em] Gale with her [Am] captain and her [Em] crew
but the [Am] devil brought her up again and set her straight and [Em] true
Lady Jane
He gathered up her men and he stood them in a line
saying “Every man of you is dead, but every man is mine.
For I’m taking me a ship, for to sail the seven seas
I’m taking me a crew for to sail her where I please”
Lady Jane
and from underneath his arm he took his fiddle and his bow
and he struck a note of fire and the Jane began to glow
set your faces to the stormy seas, and bid the land farewell
the Lady Jane has set her sail and set ‘em straight for hell
Lady Jane
(fiddle solo)
I’ll make your daughters weep ‘fore the turning of the tide
I’ll make orphans of your sons and widows of your brides
and for a hundred years my boys, I’ll wait for your return
and for a hundred years my boys, the Lady Jane will burn
Lady Jane
So the Lady Jane she rolled for a hundred years of more
and we heard her men lamenting as we stood upon the shore
saying “Lucky were the landsmen, but luckier were we
when we lay with the fishes at the bottom of the sea”
Lady Jane
They say you still can see her, if you pass her in the night
Her decks are all on fire, and her sails are turning bright
You can hear the fiddle playing, you can hear the sailors cry
You can hear the devil laughing as the Lady Jane goes by
Lady Jane
Upon Lady Jane will you never come again
with your captain and your crew and all your merry men
or will you sail forever far beyond this side of land
where dead men ride the rigging and the devil’s in command
Lady Jane
and the [Am] name that they called her by it was the Lady [Em] Jane
but she [Am] went down in a [Em] Gale with her [Am] captain and her [Em] crew
but the [Am] devil brought her up again and set her straight and [Em] true
Lady Jane
He gathered up her men and he stood them in a line
saying “Every man of you is dead, but every man is mine.
For I’m taking me a ship, for to sail the seven seas
I’m taking me a crew for to sail her where I please”
Lady Jane
and from underneath his arm he took his fiddle and his bow
and he struck a note of fire and the Jane began to glow
set your faces to the stormy seas, and bid the land farewell
the Lady Jane has set her sail and set ‘em straight for hell
Lady Jane
(fiddle solo)
I’ll make your daughters weep ‘fore the turning of the tide
I’ll make orphans of your sons and widows of your brides
and for a hundred years my boys, I’ll wait for your return
and for a hundred years my boys, the Lady Jane will burn
Lady Jane
So the Lady Jane she rolled for a hundred years of more
and we heard her men lamenting as we stood upon the shore
saying “Lucky were the landsmen, but luckier were we
when we lay with the fishes at the bottom of the sea”
Lady Jane
They say you still can see her, if you pass her in the night
Her decks are all on fire, and her sails are turning bright
You can hear the fiddle playing, you can hear the sailors cry
You can hear the devil laughing as the Lady Jane goes by
Lady Jane
Upon Lady Jane will you never come again
with your captain and your crew and all your merry men
or will you sail forever far beyond this side of land
where dead men ride the rigging and the devil’s in command
Lady Jane