‘Twas late ’65 at the old Wallsend 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
Call came on high from the powers that big
To build a royal monster right down on the quay
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 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 Northumbria
Roll, Northumbria, Roll
So come all ye 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 hand
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
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 Northumbria
Roll, Northumbria, Roll