- Ballad Of John Rae, the 

This song follows the exploits of the Orkney-born, Arctic explorer John Rae (1813-1893). Rae was a Hudson's Bay Company doctor and arctic explorer who adopted survival techniques of the Inuit to prepare for his expeditions. Rae discovered the last navigable link in the Northwest Passage, as well as the fate of the lost Franklin Expedition. Either of these accomplishments should have brought John Rae a knighthood, but when he reported that cannibalism was evident, Lady Jane Franklin and Victorian society refused to believe him. Rae's reports were marked as slanderous and he was eventually discredited. Only recently has Rae's importance as a great explorer been recognized. Track 7 of Buchan Bluegrass (2005) 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 If was ever a man who could find his way The name of that man is John Rae 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 Then up to the North, came 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 A man of 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 Then back from the North, came 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 Now 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 Raise your glass to 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 music by Bruce Coughlan, lyrics by Jim Smith and Bruce Coughlan