Harbo and Samuelson

Jerry Bryant

 

In Brooklyn, New York at the turn of the century

Lived two young Norwegians so brave and so bold

Frank Samuelson only half way through his twenties

George Harbo had just become thirty years old.

 

Now Harbo had spent all his life on the water

He shipped in square riggers when only a lad

His partner likewise was no stranger to workin'

No matter the task he gave all that he had.

 

That year a rich publisher offered a challenge

That men in a vessel no matter the size

Couldn't cross the Atlantic without steam or canvas

Ten thousand dollars he named as a prize

 

Now dredgin' up oysters by hand is no picnic

And these two Norwegians were tough as a whip.

Says Frank "If we row only four miles an hour

in fifty-four days we could finish the trip."

 

CHORUS

We'll see you in France or we'll see you in Heaven!"

Cried Harbo and Samuelson out on the bay

Two hardy young oystermen after adventure

And no one believed they could row all the way.

 

Obtaining a sponsor they started their training

They ordered a dory of cedar and oak

Just eighteen feet long with a draft of eight inches

And Fox was the name of their cockle-shell boat.

 

On the sixth day of June eighteen ninety and six

Messers Harbo and Samuelson started to row

They took food and water to last until August

And the newspapers said they were foolish to go (chorus)

 

From the slips of Manhattan they rowed through The Narrows

Out onto the gulf stream and over the deep

Each day they would row eighteen hours together

At night they took turns gettin' three hours sleep

 

Their stove wouldn't light so they ate cold provisions

Their arms and their legs became swollen and cramped

The odd passing vessel that took them on board

Was their only relief from the cold and the damp. (chorus)

 

Then out on the Grand Banks the weather attacked them

The wind humped the water into mountainous waves

They lashed down their oars and tied on their lifelines

And prayed they were not goin' straight to their graves.

 

Then out of the dark came a monstrous wave

Capsizin' the Fox and her terrified crew

Their lifelines held fast but they lost half their water

And most of their food it was swept away too. (chorus)

 

They carefully rationed the little remaining

Praying for help as they rowed o'er the brine

Then out in the distance they spied a tall ship

With the colors of Norway a-floatin' behind.

 

The captain could not be convinced they weren't crazy

But he gave them supplies and they went on their way.

By the lines on the charts they were half way to Europe

But now they must row sixty miles every day. (chorus)

 

The weather held fair and the two men kept pullin'

All through each long day and far into each night

Then early one morning before the sun rose

Out on the horizon they spotted a light.

 

On August the first they made land off St Mary's

On the south coast of England just by Bishop's Rock

In amazement the townsfolk gathered down by the water

Where Harbo and Samuelson barely could walk. (chorus)

 

Most men would have stopped then and basked in the glory

After having been sun-beaten, capsized and starved

But they were both back in the boat the next morning

And in less than a week they arrived at La Havre

 

So those of you listening who yearn for adventure

Like Harbo and Samuelson so long ago

Like them be prepared for the task you are facing

They were not only brave but, by God!, they could row! (chorus)