Loss of the Ramillies, The [Laws K1]

DESCRIPTION: A heavy storm dooms the Ramillies. The boatswain orders the crew to the lifeboats. Hundreds drown in the wreck; only three or four survive
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Vaughan Williams collection)
KEYWORDS: ship storm wreck death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 15, 1760 - Wreck of the Ramillies off the coast of Devonshire. Only 26 men survive
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar,Newf) US(NE)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws K1, "The Loss of the Ramillies"
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "LOSS OF THE RAMILLIES, THE"
Palmer-FolkSongsCollectedBy-Ralph-VaughanWilliams, #61, "The Loss of the Ramillies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Purslow-TheConstantLovers, p. 56, "The Loss Of The 'Ramillies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig/Duncan1 28, "The Ramillies" (2 texts)
Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman, pp. 144-145, "The Ship Rambolee (The Loss of the 'Ramillies')" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 954-955, "The Loss of the Rammelly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia 85, "The Old Ramillies" (1 text)
Palmer-OxfordBookOfSeaSongs 47, "The Wreck of the Rambler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, pp. 112-113, "The Fate of the Rena Lee" (1 text, 1 tune, so composite that the name of the ship changes from verse to verse!)
DT 554, RAMILLIE
Roud #523
RECORDINGS:
Jumbo Brightwell, "The Loss of 'The Ramilly'" (on Voice12)
Charlotte and James Decker, "The Loss of the Rammelly" (on PeacockCDROM)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fatal Ramilies" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Ramalie
The Ramilies
NOTES [134 words]: Ramillies was the site of one of Marlborough's great victories (1706), and several ships were named after it, from this ship to an early twentieth century dreadnought.
This Ramillies had a peculiar history; it actually predates the battle bearing its name! In 1664, the Royal Katherine was built, an 84-gun ship. It was "rebuilt" in 1702 (a subterfuge used by the Royal Navy at the time: They built a new ship with some of the old timber). The rebuilt ship was renamed after the battle of Ramillies. (She would be rebuilt again in 1749.)
Half a century after the rebuilding and renaming, having been part of the fleet which failed to save Mallorca, Ramillies was wrecked off Bolt Head on her way to Plymouth. There are thought to have been 725 men aboard at the time, of whom only 26 survived. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: LK01

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography