Words by Dave Boulton, music by Jeff Parton
Fifty-nine days from Australia’s shore
THE NIGHT THE ROYAL CHARTER WENT DOWN
Heading for Liverpool City once more
THE NIGHT THE ROYAL CHARTER WENT DOWN
There was well-to-do merchants and mariners bold
Miners and prospectors laden with gold
The log showed five hundred and forty all told
THE NIGHT THE ROYAL CHARTER WENT DOWN
Each man had thanked God to be sailing away, THE NIGHT…
From the mud of the Murray, the silt of the Grey, THE NIGHT
Some had struck rich and came home in great store
Others had only the clothes that they wore
But each man shed a tear to see England once more, THE NIGHT…
In the dead of the night when all souls were at rest, THE NIGHT…
A terrible storm blew up out of the west, THE NIGHT…
It lashed at the rigging, it tore at the sails
It turned her around like a leaf in a gale
There was forty foot waves breaking over the rails, THE NIGHT…
The rudder was shattered, the shrouds torn away, THE NIGHT…
She was driven and drawn into Molfre Bay, THE NIGHT…
Where the waters are shallow and rocks lie in wait
Where many a vessel has sailed to it’s fate
She answered the helm but she answered too late, THE NIGHT…
The air it did echo with curses and cries, THE NIGHT…
As those prospectors floundered and fought for their lives, THE NIGHT…
And many a young man so comely and brave, THE NIGHT…
Who’d fought and who’d struggled and sweated and slaved
For the burden that carried them to a watery grave, THE NIGHT…
For the sea didn’t choose twixt the timid and brave THE NIGHT…
Not cutpurse or clergy, true man or knave THE NIGHT…
She chose who would perish and who would survive
The poor were swept safe to their families and wives
The rich kept their gold but they paid with their lives THE NIGHT…