THE BALLAD OF JOHN RAE

The last link in the Northwest Passage

John Rae was one of the most amazing of 19th century Arctic explorers. Rae’s willingness to learn from and engage with the Indigenous Peoples of the North allowed him to excel far beyond the maritime-based model employed by other Arctic explorers of his day.

Although not technically a tale of Pacific Canada, it is a story of Arctic Canada, in that John Rae discovered the last navigable passage in the Northwest Passage.

This video is a slide show of photos, sketches, and paintings mainly from the Orkney Mainland Island in Scotland focussed on where Dr. John Rae, the discoverer of the Canadian North West Passage, employed by the Hudson's Bay, was from and is reverently remembered today.

Submitted by a friend and fan.

Ballad of John Rae

Tiller's Folly

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All songs, music & lyrics by Bruce Coughlan (SOCAN) except: The Ballad of John Rae by Bruce Coughlan & Jim Smith (SOCAN) All tracks produced by Laurence Knight except: Laurence Knight & Steven Drake (15, 23) Read more

Ballad of John Rae

You may well have heard of Franklin’s fate, of Parry, Ross and McClure
Explorers brave who roamed the North, each gallant men of worth
Though, of all the bold adventurers to comb the Arctic range
The greatest of all was an Orkneyman from the Hall of Clestrain

Drawn to the North, was bold John Rae, shining star of the Hudson’s Bay

The whaling men were first to mark these Northwest Passage straights
A trade route to the Orient that merchants sought for freight
Many’s the banker tried his luck, Many’s the ship would go
And many’s the lad was led to die on the blinding ice and snow

Drawn to the North, was bold John Rae, shining star of the Hudson’s Bay
If was ever a man who could find his way
The name of that man is John Rae

He’d scarcely nigh a dozen men, he put them to the test
And learning from the Esquimeaux he sought the noble quest
12 thousand miles he roamed the North, by oar and sail and march
He made it look a morning stroll from the Ayre to Highland Park

Drawn to the North, was bold John Rae, shining star of the Hudson’s Bay
If was ever a man who could find his way
The name of that man is John Rae

Grave news had reached the Hudson’s Bay that Franklin’s men were lost
John Rae was sent to seek them out no matter what the cost
In learning from the Inuit, a true and honest source
How Franklin’s crew was driven to their desperate last recourse

Drawn to the North, was bold John Rae, shining star of the Hudson’s Bay
If was ever a man who could find his way
The name of that man is John Rae

Seething with ambition strove the ruthless Lady Jane
With wickedness & cunning, John Rae she would defame
She robbed him of the knighthood, so rightfully his due
For he’d found the Northwest Passage and the fate of Franklin’s crew

Now at St. Magnus’ holy ground, my thoughts to you do stray
The greatest man of all the North, the pride of Hudson’s Bay
Who solved the Arctic riddle, Let Scotsmen praise his name!
That truth and time cannot deny so great a man of fame

Raise your glass to bold John Rae, darling pride of the Hudson’s Bay
If was ever a man who could find his way
The name of that man is John Rae
The name of that man is John Rae

Words by Jim Smith (SOCAN), Music by Bruce Coughlan (SOCAN)