The (So-called) Weaker Sex…..
Whenever I hear someone mention the ‘weaker sex’ I wait a few moments to see if they are talking about men or women. In most cases they refer to women but personally, having seen my mother and grandmother in full flow, I know better.
In many situations,
physical or otherwise, women are more determined and able to deal with anything
that nature can throw at them.
A case in point is when a young Victorian lady became a celebrated
heroine of her time and is still revered in shipping circles. She took part in
one of the most daring sea rescues of her era and became known as The Maid of the Isles or The Girl with the Windswept Hair.
Grace Darling was born on 24 November 1815 at Bamburgh in Northumberland,
which is situated in the North
East corner of England close to the border with Scotland. It is on
the North Sea
coast.
Her father was a lighthouse keeper and Grace spent her youth
living in two lighthouses. One was at Longstone,
(now known as Outer Farne)
at Farne Island and the other at Coquet
Island.
Early morning on 7 September 1838, Grace looked out the window of the Longstone lighthouse and saw a ship, the SS Forfarshire, which had run aground on rocks a few hundred yards away.
A very rough sea was running and the weather made it impossible
for the shore lifeboat to put to sea. Grace, then aged 23 and her father took
to a 21-foot rowing boat and made their way through the rough seas to the ship.
During the height of the storm, Grace helped in saving eight men
and one woman. Nine others were rescued from a lifeboat by a passing ship.
There had been 31 passengers and 29 crew- members on board.
As the storm temporarily abated, the shore lifeboat managed to
launch. On arrival at the wreck they found no
survivors. In fact those who had been saved by Grace and her father
were sheltering in the lighthouse.
The lifeboat crew, which included Grace’s brother, made their
way to the lighthouse where they all remained while the weather
worsened. They were obliged to remain there for three days before
it was safe to row to shore.
When details of the daring rescue were published, Grace became
an instant success and celebrity. She received a substantial reward for her
actions. The story no doubt gained in the telling and in fact became a legend
in its own time.
Unfortunately, Grace died of tuberculosis, unmarried in 1842.
She is buried in her local cemetery at Bamburgh with her father and mother. An
elaborate cenotaph nearby commemorates her life.
The Royal National Lifeboat at Seahouses bears the name 'Grace
Darling'.
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A Poem by William Wordsworth
commemorates the event:
Grace Darling.
Among the dwellers in the silent fields
The natural heart is touched, and public way
And crowded street resound with ballad strains,
Inspired by One whose very name bespeaks
Favour divine, exalting human love;
Whom, since her birth on bleak Northumbria's coast,
Known unto few but prized as far as known,
A single Act endears to high and low
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The remainder of this long poem
can be found on the following link:
-----Mike-----
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