Grace Darling
Grace Darling
Tempest spits upon the gunnels,
But Grace Darling manhandles the paddles
To rescue the folks of the Forfarshire crash,
Stranded on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast.
The spirit of innocence to give more than ought
Took on the challenge and faced the onslaught.
And lucky for them on Big Harcar Rock,
Grace Darling was manning the boat.
***
Note:
During a stormy night on September 6, 1838, the paddle steamer SS Forfarshire, with sixty-one passengers and crew aboard, ran aground and foundered near Big Harcar Island of the Farne Islands group in the North Sea, located off the Northumberland coast of the United Kingdom, and sank in the early morning hours of September 7, 1838. Thirteen people escaped the sinking vessel and were stranded on Big Harcar Island, where four were swept away into the sea. The others who were on the SS Forfarshire perished in the storm.
Grace Darling and her father (William Darling, who was the Longstone Lighthouse keeper, located in the outer group of the Farne Islands) rowed out to rescue the survivors. Grace Darling (age 22) manned the rowboat and kept it steady while her father aided in the rescue of the stranded survivors. For her heroics, Grace Darling became the first woman and the first citizen recipient of the Royal Humane Society’s gold bravery medal. She and her father were awarded the Royal National Lifeboat Institution silver gallantry medal. Grace Horsley Darling was born in 1815 and died of tuberculosis in 1842.
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