Fire & Flame

Let me sing you a song, boys, of fire and flame
 Of a French ammo ship, the Mont-Blanc was her name
 How the brave Nova Scotia was never the same
 On the morning when Halifax burned
 'Twas in early December 1917
 She was packed to the gills with Grade A T-N-T
 They were bound for the fighting in High Germany
 When towards them the other ship turned
 The Norweigan ship Imo, some fault in her gears
 She struck Mont-Blanc's side like the mightiest of spears
 And the benzol ignited the captain's worst fears
 As the fire consumed bow to stern
 The people gazed on from their safe distant rooms
 Watched the soot and the smoke fill the sky with their plumes
 But within, the ships cargo would spell all their dooms
 How were they to know to be concerned?
 The crew rowed for shore, lest they burn or they drown
 They cried, "Save your souls!" as they ran through the town
 But their warnings were nothing but strange foreign sounds
 For the townsfolk, no French had they learned
 One man, Patrick Coleman, in the railway's employ
 Sent word, "Stop the trains or they'll all be destroyed
 This will be my last message, farewell to you, boys"
 For a true hero's death he had earned
 An explosion, colossal, when the munitions blew
 Devastation and debris for miles fired through
 The Mont-Blanc was gone, and the town with it, too
 And the waters raged up in return
 There were heroes and angels all fated to die
 Over two thousand souls laid to rest by-and-by
 We will always remember and lift a glass high
 To the morning when Halifax burned