Click here to listen to Alex Sinclair perform The Stuff of Dreams
2004
be it brigantine or barkentine, be it schooner or a barge
be it a saltie or a laker from the smallest to the large
be it steam or sail or tow rope that moves her up the stream
it’s still the stuff of dreams
the float is bobbin’ up and down – our young lad doesn’t care
this boat is leading his imagination anywhere
he’s heading up to Thunder Bay with voyageur canoes
or off to war in Europe with the Haida[i] passing through
be it icebreaker or scow or captured German submarine[ii]
the royal yacht Britannia[iii] with all her lights a’gleam
be it heading down to drydock for a scrape, a paint, a mend
or to the graveyard at Ramey’s Bend[iv]
the Welland takes a young lad down to the sea in ships
past cities with their buildings taller than Niagara’s cliffs
through the 1,000 Islands where bold pirates[v] once made free
past the belugas of the Saguenay out to the open sea
be it pilot boat or dredge, be it new or old or hulk
be it tanker or a tug, cargo in barrel or in bulk
be it diesel, sail or tow rope that moves her up the stream
it’s still the stuff of dreams
[i] HMCS Haida: a Tribal class Canadian destroyer that served in the Second World War, the Korean Conflict and the Cold War. It now calls Hamilton its permanent home where it is operated as a floating museum.
[ii] UC-97: a mine-laying U-boat from the First World War. It was one of six U-boats transferred to the United States after the War and went on a Liberty Loan drive of Great Lakes ports in 1919 (transiting the Welland Canal, 13 June 1919, on its way to Chicago). On 7 June 1921 it was intentionally sunk in Lake Michigan as part of target practice exercises.
[iii] HMY Britannia: the former Royal Yacht of the British monarchy, in service from 1954 until 1997. HMY Britannia sailed through the Welland Canal on July 1, 1959 during a summer that featured the official opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway by the Royals on 26 June 1959, followed by a cross-Canada tour by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
[iv] Ramey’s Bend: located just north of Port Colborne/Humberstone at the junction of the Welland Ship Canal and the former route that was used by the first three Welland Canals where they veered off to the west curving southwards towards Port Colborne harbour and Lake Erie. Ramey’s Bend has been the site of a stone dock, grain elevators, a ship graving operation and a terminal business.
[v] “Pirates”: refers to Bill Johnson who in the 1800s smuggled goods both ways across the St. Lawrence River through the region of the Thousand Islands.
Published in Spirit of the Big Ditch: The Story of the Welland Canals in Pictures, Poems and Songs. Compiled, edited and annotated by Robert Ratcliffe Taylor. St. Catharines: The Historical Society of St. Catharines, 2024
The Historical Society of St. Catharines 