Storm Damage

 

So many storms

 

It has been one storm after another for weeks on end, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. On the east coast huge waves have pounded the sea walls and great fountains of spray have been shooting above the harbours and into the towns. It was spectacular to watch. Some brave souls tried to catch it on camera, but didn’t dare go too close! The fishing boats have hardly had a clear day to get to sea and some of their gear left in the sea has been destroyed. 

 

Sea walls along the coast have been badly damaged in some places. At Dysart the harbour wall was breached and now requires urgent repair, while along this way several stone-built retaining walls which have withstood storms for many years have been undermined and broken through, with the soft bank behind now crumbling into the sea. The foundations and the fabric are subject to terrible stress at times like these. There is so much force in these raging waves of the sea, spectacular and beautiful maybe, but devastating and costly to many people who might have thought they were safe enough.

Memorial - Beautiful Star

 

 Beautiful Star, KY 1298 

 

This memorial in King’s Lynn cemetery is a crafted stone replica of the fishing boat in which eight St Monans fishermen perished in a storm on the way home from the East Anglia fishing in November 1875. Five East Fife boats were wrecked and 37 men were lost at that time. 

There are poignant inscriptions on the memorial, but the passing of time has made them difficult to read. The names of the men who were drowned can be made out - the oldest was James Patterson, the skipper, age 49, and the youngest was Robert, his son, who had just turned 18. 

Then these words are written beneath - 

When the shore is won at last, 

Who will count the billows past? 

While we linger on the shore of life, 

A wave wafts us to eternity. 

Life, how short! 

Eternity, how long? 

Isn’t it true that life on earth is short and unpredictable, whereas the eternity which follows is long and sure to come? 

A Month of Remembering

November 5th wasn’t always about fireworks and fun, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. It began as a way of remembering the treason of Guy Faulkes and his friends who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. Now it has created a hazard for people and pets in some places!

November 11th is different. It’s an opportunity to remember the many courageous men and women who gave their lives in the cause of freedom in wars that have blighted this earth for centuries, and sadly, they still do. So, in a more sombre mood, communities and individuals will pause this weekend, reflect, and observe a minute of silence. “We will remember them.”