Roll Northumbria

Written by Nicholas Smyth for Canadian Cider Punk band The Dreadnoughts for their 2019 album Into the North, "Roll Northumbria" is a modern folk song in a traditional shanty style. It pays homage to the creation, launch, and retirement of the titular ship after a little over a decade of service.

Andy began covering the song during his solo livestreams with banjo accompaniment, and the band released an a cappella YouTube cover on 10 May 2023, and it was later included on Caught in the Net Vol 1, released 18 October 2024.

Factoids

The £6.5 million Esso Northumbria was christened by Princess Anne and launched in May 1969. Not only did the size of the vessel require cutting away a significant portion of the river bank opposite the launch berth, it had to be launched on a particular day in May when the spring tide would be highest or risk scraping the bottom.

The Dreadnoughts reference "Wallsea Yard" as the place where the ESSO Northumbria was built, but it was in fact constructed by Hunter Swan at Wallsend on Tyne, North Tyneside, England.

The closing of the Red Sea referenced in the song is a direct reference to the Suez Crisis, which was in no small part a motivator for the Northumbria's construction.

There is no Port of Hulal; it was likely just a name that the Dreadnoughts slotted in place to keep the rhyme.

Though the song references the Mersey river, Northumbria never travelled it; it was launched on the river Tyne.

Carpathia, Vengeance, and Celestial are all oil tankers registered at one time or another to a variety of oil companies.

While the ESSO Northumbria did not actually suffer an oil spill, it was plagued by repeated technical and mechanical issues, mainly owing to the dubious and rushed quality of its construction and poor design. Concerns were raised over the ship's single hull design and due to the potential risk of a major spill if it were punctured or broke up at sea, Northumbria was decommissioned in 1982 after just 12 years of service. At no time did the vessel, in fact, "[limp] away through an ocean of flame," though it did require numerous repairs throughout its short life as a result stress cracks and poor fittings.

Lyrics

Lyrics as performed in the Youtube video. The original Dreadnoughts lyrics are available here.

'Twas late '65 at the old Wallsea Yard
She was commissioned to haul the black tar
We 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 the royal monster right down on the quay
Roll Northumbria roll, me boys
Roll Northumbria roll

{Chorus}
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

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

{Chorus}

Roll Northumbria roll

So come all you good workmen, beware the command
That 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 'er black guts all across the wild main
She limped away through an ocean of flame
Roll Northumbria roll, me boys
Roll Northumbria roll

{Chorus x2}

Roll Northumbria roll
Roll on Northumbria
Roll Northumbria roll

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