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A true account of fishermen in distress...
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Manly and daring are the
fishermen when their qualities of heart and hand are put to the test -
as, alas! they often are on the subtle and ill-protected northern
headlands. The third of October, 1847, was one of those days which leave
their impress in anxious and sorrowful memories. There were tales of
shipwreck - of brave men perishing in their efforts to reach the shore;
and were the untold fruits of that terrible storm revealed, what a
picture of suffering, endurance, and heroic toil!
On that fatal morning the 'Buchans' of Springhaven, a boat of little
more than fifteen tons, left the Tay for her native port with a heavy
cargo of mussels. She was manned by William and Alexander Stephen, with
two of their sons - boys of about fourteen years of age. Suddenly the
wind rose, and finding it impossible to breast the storm, they ran to
sea, and continued their course till at least a hundred miles from land.
Being unable to carry canvas, or even to take down the mast, they were
entirely at the mercy of the waves, and could only struggle to keep
their vessel from sinking. The perilous condition of the poor fishermen
and their boys it would be impossible to conceive. Here on the trackless
ocean, in a small open boat, their provisions destroyed, without fire or
chart or compass, wet and weary, in the midst of the raging elements,
their only prospect was a watery grave. Most of the precious cargo was
thrown overboard, twice was the boat nearly filled with water, and the
waves continued to break over her. The poor boys soon became exhausted,
and were placed under the only shelter a deckless boat can give -
saddening thought! - that their parents might not see them die. They
refused to remain; they would die by the side of their fathers; and the
last edible remnant, a raw cabbage, was divided between them. Hard and
hopeless were the struggles of the two fishermen; yet they toiled on as
those inured to danger only can. For five days did William Stephen
remain at the helm. except twice he was dashed by a wave into the bottom
of the boat; for the same time his brother worked the pump, now and
again arranging the ballast, and dropping a word of comfort to their
fast-sinking laddies. Such trying exposure, such protracted
privation, such suffering in themselves and for their children, few men
have been called to endure. At last the calm came and the troubled
waters were stilled. With what strength remained, stimulated by the hope
that even yet, through a kind Providence, they might be saved, they
bravely rowed for the land. On the sixth day they sailed into the little
haven, guided thither by an instinct which cannot be explained. Five
days had they battled with the storm - without food, without sleep - and
been exposed to perpetual wet and the hardest toil. With mingled
astonishment and joy were the tidings of their deliverance welcomed by
loving friends - a joy chastened and purified by the sorrow that had
come before.
This tale of privation, endurance, and manly courage, when told in
the newspapers at the time, called forth many welcome expressions of
sympathy and appreciation. A noble Earl sent from his far distant
English home five pounds and a Bible suitably inscribed to each of the
"brave men who manned 'The Buchans;'" and a widow sent her
mite, with the words - "Remember the Fishermen at Sea in the
Storm."
Past and Present or Social and Religious Life in the North
by H G Reid
1871
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