"Song of the Mary White" is a ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 written in Broadstairs

Broadstairs

Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate and...

, Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 around 1850.
It has been suggested that news of the loss of the Irish packet

Packet trade

Packet trade generally refers to any regularly scheduled cargo, passenger and mail trade conducted by ship. The ships are called "packet boats" as their original function was to carry mail.-United States:...

 Royal Adelaide with 250 lives, on the sands off Margate

Margate

-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....

 on April 6, 1850, prompted old Thomas White to present one of his lifeboats

Lifeboat (rescue)

A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...

 to his home town of Broadstairs that summer. The lifeboat saw its first use on March 6, 1851 when the brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 Mary White became trapped on the Goodwin Sands

Goodwin Sands

The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...

 during a severe gale

Gale

A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are...

blowing from the north. A ballad was written to celebrate the occasion, "Song of the Mary White".

Lyrics

Come all you jolly sailors bold, and landsmen too, attend,

I am inclined to sing in praise of those eight gallant men,

who boldly left their native shore as you shall understand,

to save the lives of those poor souls upon the Goodwin Sand.

Chorus

Britons all, both young and old, think of those jolly sailors bold.

On Thursday, 'twas March the sixth, the wind blew from the land

which drove the fated Mary White upon the Goodwin Sands.

The lifeboat's crew from Broadstairs flew, with hearts so light and gay,

Right gallantly they made the wreck, those precious lives to save.

Chorus

John Crouch, a gallant sailor bold, likewise George Castle too,

George Wales, Richard Crouch, this day, my praise is due to you

Sol Holbourn, Sackett Ansel, John Wales, with great delight

So gallantly did venture off to save the Mary White.

Chorus

Ned Chittingden, 17 your health I drink, I drink with thee,

Times three and for your valor, my brave men, you shall rewarded be.

Chorus

You've done your best, and saved the lives of seven poor souls this day;

May God receive the other three who did get cast away.

Chorus

So to conclude and finish now, my song is at an end,

May God above a blessing give to those eight gallant men!

Chorus