Truth in Folk Songs
I'm not very keen on Steve Knightly, even though he's a very talented singer - and here's one reason why. He edits history, in his songs.
I once went to a workshop he was running and he expressed surprise that many people had gone to visit a particular church yard because he'd added a line to a song saying that a particular person was buried there. The song was about a real person, but he'd added stuff to make it sound good at the end.
Why am I such a cumudgeon about accurate details?
Because fictional 'historical' songs detract from those that are true. They may lead us to think that all songs are fake, and some songs carry so much incredible truth that they sound like fiction.
Take the song I've just listened to - 'The Robert Whitworth'. It's a true story and is accurately described in the song. It's a story that could so easily have been invented for a Hollywood movie - it's also a story that's worth reading as it helps remind us of humanity at its best.
On January 19th, 1881, the lifeboat men of Whitby took part in one of the most outstanding launches in lifeboat history. It had been snowing and blowing, a south-easterly gale for days, piling the snow into deep snowdrifts. That morning a telegram was received by the harbour master in Whitby saying that a ship had sunk off Robin Hoods Bay and the crew had taken to the ships boat but were unable to land because of the heavy seas.
The wind had changed to a north-easterly making the launching of the lifeboat there impossible, so they decided to take the lifeboat overland to Robin Hoods Bay, six miles away, to launch it. The road to Robin Hoods Bay was very narrow and rising in some places to 500 feet above sea level. The snow was seven feet deep in places. Sixty Whitby men were given shovels and they began to clear the snow from the road, a team of horses was hitched to the lifeboat carriage and the team set off for Robin Hoods Bay, pulling the lifeboat Robert Whitworth.
More men joined in the snow clearing along the way and additional horses were supplied from farms along the way, until there were over 200 men involved in clearing the road to save the crew of the stricken ship.
It took two hours to clear the snow from the road and get the lifeboat to Robin Hoods Bay.
There was little clearance between the houses when they got to the bottom of the Bay, but once there the crew who had worked as hard as anyone to clear the snow and were tired, manned the lifeboat straight away and set off to rescue the ships crew.
For over an hour they struggled to get to the small boat when six of their oars and the steering oar broke. They had to return to shore without reaching the small boat.
While more oars were obtained the call went out from the coxswain Henry Freeman to double bank the oars, so with new oars and a crew of 18 on board the lifeboat Robert Whitworth set off again to save the crew.
After struggling for an hour and a half they reached the small boat and rescued the six sailors on board, they were from the Whitby Brig Visitor. They had to be carried ashore as some of the men were unconscious. Some of the lifeboat men needed medical attention as well; one man was so exhausted he had to stay in the Bay for some time until he recovered enough to make the journey home.
The rest of the men returned to their homes, going back to the Bay for the lifeboat when the weather improved, and sailing it home.
And, what's more, that wasn't the only time Lifeboat men did something like this. The Lynmouth Lifeboat men also did an overland launch.
I once went to a workshop he was running and he expressed surprise that many people had gone to visit a particular church yard because he'd added a line to a song saying that a particular person was buried there. The song was about a real person, but he'd added stuff to make it sound good at the end.
Why am I such a cumudgeon about accurate details?
Because fictional 'historical' songs detract from those that are true. They may lead us to think that all songs are fake, and some songs carry so much incredible truth that they sound like fiction.
Take the song I've just listened to - 'The Robert Whitworth'. It's a true story and is accurately described in the song. It's a story that could so easily have been invented for a Hollywood movie - it's also a story that's worth reading as it helps remind us of humanity at its best.
On January 19th, 1881, the lifeboat men of Whitby took part in one of the most outstanding launches in lifeboat history. It had been snowing and blowing, a south-easterly gale for days, piling the snow into deep snowdrifts. That morning a telegram was received by the harbour master in Whitby saying that a ship had sunk off Robin Hoods Bay and the crew had taken to the ships boat but were unable to land because of the heavy seas.
The wind had changed to a north-easterly making the launching of the lifeboat there impossible, so they decided to take the lifeboat overland to Robin Hoods Bay, six miles away, to launch it. The road to Robin Hoods Bay was very narrow and rising in some places to 500 feet above sea level. The snow was seven feet deep in places. Sixty Whitby men were given shovels and they began to clear the snow from the road, a team of horses was hitched to the lifeboat carriage and the team set off for Robin Hoods Bay, pulling the lifeboat Robert Whitworth.
More men joined in the snow clearing along the way and additional horses were supplied from farms along the way, until there were over 200 men involved in clearing the road to save the crew of the stricken ship.
It took two hours to clear the snow from the road and get the lifeboat to Robin Hoods Bay.
There was little clearance between the houses when they got to the bottom of the Bay, but once there the crew who had worked as hard as anyone to clear the snow and were tired, manned the lifeboat straight away and set off to rescue the ships crew.
For over an hour they struggled to get to the small boat when six of their oars and the steering oar broke. They had to return to shore without reaching the small boat.
While more oars were obtained the call went out from the coxswain Henry Freeman to double bank the oars, so with new oars and a crew of 18 on board the lifeboat Robert Whitworth set off again to save the crew.
After struggling for an hour and a half they reached the small boat and rescued the six sailors on board, they were from the Whitby Brig Visitor. They had to be carried ashore as some of the men were unconscious. Some of the lifeboat men needed medical attention as well; one man was so exhausted he had to stay in the Bay for some time until he recovered enough to make the journey home.
The rest of the men returned to their homes, going back to the Bay for the lifeboat when the weather improved, and sailing it home.
And, what's more, that wasn't the only time Lifeboat men did something like this. The Lynmouth Lifeboat men also did an overland launch.