© 1988 Jim Stewart CAPAC
From the Marco Polo Suite (also available from Timberhead Music.) (GB)
Where the Marsh Creek waters meet Courtenay Bay
Heave her round and let her fly
At James Smith's yard her keel did lay
There's no ship here can match her
She was launched with a groan and a thud
She's like a demon sailing by
She stuck two weeks in the March creek mud
There's no ship here can catch her
Chorus:
Liverpool in fifteen days, the seven seas her name will praise
Wind in her hair and her sails unfurled, she's the fastest ship
in all the world
And her name is Marco Polo
Her keel's all bent, she'll never sail
James Smith's hopes are doomed to fail
She's felt the wrath of jeers and scorn
And through the pain the legend's born
To the Blackball line she soon was sold
Australia bound in search of gold
She was ruled with an iron hand
When Bully Forbes was in command
Sixty-eight days to Melbourne town
The waves will echo her renown
She's beating packets run by steam
From James Smith's wish to St. John's dream
For thirty-two years she ran the tide
On Cavendish shoal she finally died
But dreams are much too hard to kill
For the Marco Polo's living still.
Marco Polo is recorded on the album Language of the Heart and is part of the Jim Stewart album Marco Polo Suite