ON September 7th, 1838, the paddle steamer, Forfarshire, was wrecked in a severe storm on the Farne Islands off Northumberland.
Nine survivors of the disaster were seen clinging to the rocks by William Darling, keeper of the nearby Longstone Lighthouse, and his daughter, Grace. These nine were rescued by the pair, while the rest of those aboard the ill fated ship, including the captain and his wife, were lost.
Now the reaction of Grace and her father was undoubtedly swift and courageous. They set out in the chaotic seas in their small boat, and by treading their way through the rocks they succeeded, perhaps against the odds, in bringing nine people to safety. The even captured the imagination of a generation in a quite disproportionate way, and Grace Darling became a national figure overnight, a heroine second in precedence only to Florence Nightingale.
Victorian poets were quick to celebrate her derring do. Algernon Charles Swinburne, for example, wrote a poem in her honour. So did William Wordsworth and so also did the Scotsman William McGonagall, who has traditionally enjoyed the unenviable reputation of being the worst poet in the English language.
McGonagall's pen picture of the young heroine could well he worse:
Grace Daring was a comely lass with long fair hair, float ing hair.
With soft blue eyes, and shy, and modesty rare.
But the same can scarcely be said of his description of her reaction on spotting the ill fated Forfarshire:
And then she cried, O, Father dear, come here and see the wreck;
See, here take the telescope and you can inspect;
Oh, Father try and save them, and heaven will you bless;
But, my darling, no help can reach them in such a storm as this.
Decisive action followed, however, despite the lighthouse keeper's initial hesitation, and after some considerable melodrama, the great deed is accomplished:
Nine persons were rescued al most dead with the cold
By modesty and lovely grace
Darling, that heroine bold.
The survivors were taken to the lighthouse and remained there two days,
And everyone of them was loud in Grace Darling's praise.
As it happened, an early death only four years later at the tender age of 26 further enhanced grace Darling's saintly stature throughout the nation - and also provided McGonagall with his memorable closing lines:
Consumption, that fell de stroyer, carried her away,
In Heaven's hope, to be an angel for every and aye.