Margaretta

The Margaretta was a beautiful ship to see.
Although a good traveler she didn't seem to be.

In Machias she was captured with pitch fork and rake.
When the British tried their woods to take.

They hid her in Marshfield , high up in the river
Because to the British they didn't want to give her.

And then one day when all was quiet
John O'Brian took the Margaretta out to try it.

Off Mount desert isle as he took out to sea
He espied a British ship and he didn't play to stop for tea.

Thought he, it might be a large and fair bounty
So he went out to get it for his town and country.

But to his surprise when he got close
There was  too much boat for him to boast.

A  British "man-of-war" was the ship
So he had to try  and give her a slip.

He looked on a chart and there he did see
A small cove called Sawyer's to which he did flee.

His ship sailed deep into the mudflats of the cove.
While at the coves entrance the "man of war " did  rove .

O'Brian and his men fled as fast as they could,
While the British burned the Margaretta to the waterline
    as fast as it would.

Many a son in our town of Jonesport can still boast,
That there great,. great, great grandmother saw the
    Margaretta roast.

Now many long years have gone past
We have come to the end of our story at last.

Still lies the remains of the Margaretta
   in Sawyer's Cove.
Aye; it's many a long year since she did rove. 

Oh, how great would be the tales she would tell
Of Machias and the revolution and the days before 
   she fell. 

               Jeanne Pedersen 1976