Spirit of the Age

Spirit of the Age

Mathew looked out to the north from his fishing boat,

"Brothers come with me," he said, "to Scarborough, we'll go"

The sparkling Norfolk coast behind, three brothers they traveled on,

to settle in that coastal town, in 1861

Brother, help me turn the page,

navigate the waves,

on the Spirit of the Age

On the freezing northern sea, their vessels rocked and swayed

Then in the month of Janu'ry - a fateful stormy day

The Spirit of the Age went down, close to Flamborough Head

Their brother lost in the high waves, Jeremiah presumed dead

Brother, help me turn a page,

navigate the waves,

on the spirit of the age

A shadow left on the brothers,

through summer they carried on

Autumn arrived, Matthew's bride, well she gave him a son.

There was no doubt in their minds of what his name would be,

Little Jeremiah was born, a living memory.

Caught beneath the waves,

Caught beneath the waves

Written by Candi Godbold & Adam Gardner (Weaver Birds)

This is the story of my great, great grandad Mathew Bullamore (pictured at the end of the video) and his two brothers, John and Jeremiah.

"Miah" the elderly ferry boatman pictured in the video, was born September of the same year his uncle Jeremiah died and was named after him. His uncle John lost his life a few short years later when his yawl the "Capernum" was run down by the steamship "Polynesian" in May 1894.

A terrible tragedy for Mathew and his relatives back in Norfolk to lose both dear brothers. Mathew also lost two sons of his eight children, George (aged 10) and Mathew (aged 15) to the sea.

The third installment of Short Stories will be posted next week!