The Mary Ellen Carter
Encyclopedia
The Mary Ellen Carter is a song written and recorded by Stan Rogers
, intended as an inspirational hymn about triumphing over great odds. It tells the story of a heroic effort to salvage a sunken ship, the Mary Ellen Carter, by members of her former crew. It is one of the most popular songs written by Rogers.
Though the song chronicles the efforts to salvage the ship, the lyrics end on a hopeful note but without telling whether the ship was raised. The description of the salvage ends with the lines:
The song appears on three of Rogers' albums:
The song has become a classic of the genre and many artists covered it even before Rogers' death, including Jim Post
who began performing it in the 1980s, as did Makem and Clancy, and the English a cappella trio, Artisan
, who went on to popularise their harmony version of it in UK folk circles throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and Portland
, Maine
-based folk group Schooner Fare
. Ian Robb
recorded it with the other members of Finest Kind
on his album From Different Angels. It was also recorded by the seven piece Newfoundland band The Irish Descendants
as part of the tribute album Remembering Stan Rogers: An East Coast Tribute performed by a large number of acts at Rogers' favorite venue in Halifax, Dalhousie University
; the album is out of print though occasionally available from online sellers; the track does not appear on any of the band's own albums.
It was also recorded by Williamsburg, Virginia
-based celtic rock band Coyote Run as part of their self-titled Coyote Run album. According to liner notes with their 10 Years and Running retrospective album, Coyote Run's recording of the song was done with the same 12-string guitar that Stan Rogers himself had used when recording the song.
As a tribute to Stan Rogers, "The Mary Ellen Carter" has been sung to close the annual Winnipeg Folk Festival
every year since his death.
to a power station in Somerset, Massachusetts
. The worst storm in forty years blew up that night and the ship sank at about four o'clock in the morning on the 13th. The ship's Chief Mate
, fifty-nine-year-old Robert M. ("Bob") Cusick, was trapped under the deckhouse as the ship went down. His snorkeling
experience helped him avoid panic and swim to the surface, but he had to spend the night alone, up to his neck in water, clinging to a partially deflated lifeboat, and in water barely above freezing and air much colder. Huge waves washed over him, and each time he was not sure that he would ever reach the surface again to breathe. Battling hypothermia
, he became tempted to allow himself to fall unconscious and let go of the lifeboat. Just then he remembered the words to the song "The Mary Ellen Carter".
He started to sing it and soon was alternating shouting out "Rise again, rise again" with holding his breath as the waves washed over him. At seven o'clock that morning a Coast Guard
helicopter spotted him and pulled him to safety. Only two men of the other thirty-three that had been aboard survived the wreck. After his ordeal, Cusick wrote a letter to Stan Rogers telling him what had happened and how the song helped save his life. In response, Cusick was invited to attend what turned out the be the second-to-last concert Rogers ever performed. Cusick told his story in the documentary about Stan Rogers, One Warm Line.
Stan Rogers
Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his finely crafted, traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing...
, intended as an inspirational hymn about triumphing over great odds. It tells the story of a heroic effort to salvage a sunken ship, the Mary Ellen Carter, by members of her former crew. It is one of the most popular songs written by Rogers.
Though the song chronicles the efforts to salvage the ship, the lyrics end on a hopeful note but without telling whether the ship was raised. The description of the salvage ends with the lines:
We've patched her rents, stopped her vents,
Dogged hatch and porthole down,
Put cables to her fore and aft
and girded her around.
Tomorrow noon, we'll hit the air
And then take up the strain
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.
The song appears on three of Rogers' albums:
- Between the Breaks...Live!Between the Breaks ... Live!Between the Breaks . . . Live! is a 1979 folk music album by Stan Rogers.Stan Rogers: six string and twelve string acoustic guitars, vocals.Garnet Rogers: violin, flute, vocals.David Alan Eadie: electric bass, pennywhistle, vocals....
- Home In HalifaxHome In HalifaxHome in Halifax is a 1993 live album by Stan Rogers. It was recorded by the CBC during a concert Rogers performed at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax, Nova Scotia in March of 1982, 11 years prior. The concert was put together as a life radio and T.V. broadcast celebrating Rogers' annual...
- The Very Best of Stan Rogers
The song has become a classic of the genre and many artists covered it even before Rogers' death, including Jim Post
Jim Post
Jim Post is an American folk singer-songwriter, composer, playwright and actor. In 1968 his pop song "Reach out of the Darkness" charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, peaking at number 10.-History:...
who began performing it in the 1980s, as did Makem and Clancy, and the English a cappella trio, Artisan
Artisan (group)
Artisan were an English vocal harmony trio, who sang a cappella from 1985 to 2005. They consisted of songwriter Brian Bedford, his wife Jacey Bedford, and Hilary Spencer.-History:...
, who went on to popularise their harmony version of it in UK folk circles throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
-based folk group Schooner Fare
Schooner Fare
Schooner Fare is a local Maine folk band, consisting of the late Tom Rowe , Steve Romanoff , and Chuck Romanoff . Schooner Fare plays primarily original maritime, socially conscious, and traditional folk music...
. Ian Robb
Ian Robb
Ian Robb is a well-known English-born folk singer, currently based in Ottawa, Ontario. He was a founding member of Friends of Fiddler's Green, and a columnist for Sing Out!. He is also a member of the Canadian folk trio Finest Kind....
recorded it with the other members of Finest Kind
Finest Kind
Finest Kind is a folk music trio based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It consists of Ian Robb, Ann Downey and Shelley Posen.Finest Kind has released four albums in its own name . Individually, its members have appeared on several solo CDs...
on his album From Different Angels. It was also recorded by the seven piece Newfoundland band The Irish Descendants
The Irish Descendants
The Irish Descendants are a folk group from the Atlantic province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. All the members, born of Irish emitters, were workers in the Newfoundland fishing industry before forming the band in 1990 out of the remnants of two former Newfoundland bands – The Descendants...
as part of the tribute album Remembering Stan Rogers: An East Coast Tribute performed by a large number of acts at Rogers' favorite venue in Halifax, Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
; the album is out of print though occasionally available from online sellers; the track does not appear on any of the band's own albums.
It was also recorded by Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
-based celtic rock band Coyote Run as part of their self-titled Coyote Run album. According to liner notes with their 10 Years and Running retrospective album, Coyote Run's recording of the song was done with the same 12-string guitar that Stan Rogers himself had used when recording the song.
As a tribute to Stan Rogers, "The Mary Ellen Carter" has been sung to close the annual Winnipeg Folk Festival
Winnipeg Folk Festival
The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It features a variety of folk artists from all around the world, as well as a number of local folk performers....
every year since his death.
Connection to the Sinking of the Marine Electric
So inspiring is the song that it is credited with saving at least one life. On February 12, 1983 the ship Marine Electric was carrying a load of coal from Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
to a power station in Somerset, Massachusetts
Somerset, Massachusetts
Somerset is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,234 at the 2000 census. It is the birthplace and hometown of Clifford Milburn Holland , the chief engineer and namesake of the Holland Tunnel in New York City....
. The worst storm in forty years blew up that night and the ship sank at about four o'clock in the morning on the 13th. The ship's Chief Mate
Chief Mate
A Chief Mate or Chief Officer, usually also synonymous with the First Mate or First Officer , is a licensed member and head of the deck department of a merchant ship...
, fifty-nine-year-old Robert M. ("Bob") Cusick, was trapped under the deckhouse as the ship went down. His snorkeling
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a wetsuit may also be worn...
experience helped him avoid panic and swim to the surface, but he had to spend the night alone, up to his neck in water, clinging to a partially deflated lifeboat, and in water barely above freezing and air much colder. Huge waves washed over him, and each time he was not sure that he would ever reach the surface again to breathe. Battling hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
, he became tempted to allow himself to fall unconscious and let go of the lifeboat. Just then he remembered the words to the song "The Mary Ellen Carter".
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
Rise again, rise again—though your heart it be broken
Or life about to end.
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend,
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
He started to sing it and soon was alternating shouting out "Rise again, rise again" with holding his breath as the waves washed over him. At seven o'clock that morning a Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
helicopter spotted him and pulled him to safety. Only two men of the other thirty-three that had been aboard survived the wreck. After his ordeal, Cusick wrote a letter to Stan Rogers telling him what had happened and how the song helped save his life. In response, Cusick was invited to attend what turned out the be the second-to-last concert Rogers ever performed. Cusick told his story in the documentary about Stan Rogers, One Warm Line.