Roll Northumbria

'Twas late '65 at the old Wallsea Yard She was commissioned to haul the black tar Built the Northumbria there on the bar Roll Northumbria, roll For when the Egyptians they closed the Red Sea A call came on high from the powers that be To build a royal monster right down the key Roll Northumbria roll, me boys Roll Northumbria, roll Carpathia Vengeance Celestial call She was the tanker to outsize 'em all From the banks of the Mersey To the port of Hulal Roll Northumbria, roll And fair princess Anne threw a bottle of wine And watched as the giant set down in the Tyne What lay ahead could no mortal divine Roll Northumbria roll, me boys Roll Northumbria, roll And it's one for the hot sun above Two for the empire we love And it's three for the fire that burns down below Roll on Northumbria Roll Northumbria, roll And it's one for the hot sun above Two for the empire we love And it's three for the fire that burns down below Roll on Northumbria Roll Northumbria, roll So come all you good workman Beware the command It comes down on high from the desk of a man Who's never held steel or torch in his hands Roll Northumbria, roll For atop a wild breaker the cracks in her frame Spilled her black guts all across the wild main She limped away through an ocean of flame Roll Northumbria roll, me boys Roll Northumbria, roll And it's one for the hot sun above Two for the empire we love And it's three for the fire that burns down below Roll on Northumbria Roll Northumbria, roll