The Storm
The fishermen reached the fishing grounds, just a mile or two off shore, quite early. The morning began calm, fair and mild but the wind began to strengthen as the morning progressed and by around mid-day the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse and the south-westerly gale drove the boats away from land and down the firth. Although the men were powerful oarsmen the ferocity of the storm overwhelmed all three boats. All 21 people, men and youths, were drowned; only women, young children and the elderly remained.
Read more about this topic: Stotfield Fishing Disaster
Famous quotes containing the word storm:
“Thee for my recitative,
Thee in the driving storm even as now, the snow, the winter-day
declining,
Thee in thy panoply, thy measur’d dual throbbing and thy beat
convulsive,
Thy black cylindric body, golden brass and silvery steel,”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“Hail, Columbia! happy land!
Hail, ye heroes! heaven-born band!
Who fought and bled in Freedom’s cause,
Who fought and bled in Freedom’s cause,
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Let independence be our boast,
Ever mindful what it cost;”
—Joseph Hopkinson (1770–1842)