No. 191 Old Ship of Zion (A), Osh 79
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III — V VI —)
What ship is this that will take us all home?
O glory hallelujah,
And safely land us on Canaan’s bright shore?
O glory hallelujah.
’Tis the old ship of Zion, hallelujah, hallelu,
’Tis the old ship of Zion, hallelujah.
The winds may blow and the billows may foam,
But she is able to land us all home.
She’s landed all who’ve gone before,
And yet she’s able to land still more.
If I arrive there before you do,
I’ll tell them that you are coming up too.
The text is said to have been written around 1800 by Rev. Samuel Hauser of North Carolina. The tune is called the “North Carolina Version” of the immensely popular song. See White Spirituals, 257-258. Closely related to the above tune is ‘Sweet Canaan’ in this collection.