L (con’t)
De captinne walk on de fronte deck,
 An' walk de hin' deck too–
He call de crew from up de hole,
 He call de cook also.
De cook she's name was Rosie,
 She come from Montreal,
Was chambre maid on lumber barge,
 On de Grande Lachine Canal.

De win' she blow from nor'-eas'-wes',–
 De sout' win' she blow too,
W'en Rosie cry, "Mon cher captinne,
 Mon cher, w'at I shall do?"

Den de captinne t'row de beeg ankerre,
 But still de scow she dreef,
De crew he can't pass on de shore,
 Becos' he los' hees skeef.

De night was dark lak wan black cat,
 De wave run high an' fas',
W'en de captinne tak' de Rosie girl
 An' tie her to de mas'.
Den he also tak' de life preserve,
 An' jomp off on de lak',
An' say, "Good-bye, ma Rosie dear,
 I go drown for your sak'."

Nex' morning very early
 'Bout ha'f-pas' two–t'ree–four–
De captinne–scow–an' de poor Rosie
 Was corpses on de shore,
For de win' she blow lak hurricane,
 Bimeby she blow some more,
An' de scow bus' up on Lac St. Pierre,
 Wan arpent from de shore.

MORAL: Now all good wood scow sailor man
 Tak' warning by dat storm
An' go an' marry some nice French girl
 An' leev on wan beeg farm.
De win' can blow lak hurricane
 An' s'pose she blow some more,
You can't get drown on Lac St. Pierre
 So long you stay on shore.

[2007] Message 1: From Bill A. Thank you for providing a forum for the discussion of these matters.  This song, or poem, stuck in my memory, too.  I found it on pages 248-249 in: Quaife, Milo M. 1944.; Lake Michigan. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. 384 pages.

According to Quaife, he found it in: Walton, Ivan H. 1935.; Michigan History Magazine. XIX, No. 368 (Autumn).
Quaife's version has "Lac St. Clair".  I haven't seen Michigan History Magazine, but have asked a friend in Chicago to look at it for me.  Quaife omits the tragic second-to-last stanza.  Quaife's 1944 version, and Walton's 1935 version, were published well after Drummond's death in 1907, so "Lac St. Pierre" is probably the original.  But the more famous, and possibly better-sounding "Lac St. Clair" seems to be replacing it.  The footnote explaining the word "arpent" as a unit of area is not helpful.  Quaife says that an arpent is 200 feet.