" Seadogs " or " Men of Brims "
This song is our adaptation of a late Victorian poem, published in ‘ The Lifeboat ‘ in March 1969, and it was given to me last year. The tune is probably partly traditional and partly original.
We have not altered the words at all – But we have left out two and a half verses to make it a reasonable length for performance.
The line; “ A helpless barque is drifting “ is part of one of the missing verses. and explains why the lifeboatmen were out there risking their lives. The chorus is the first two lines of the second verse of the poem.
We hope it complements our song “ 1000 miles apart “ , that we sang in Orkney 2 years ago, about the vessels saved and assisted by the lifeboats TGB and Solomon Browne.
Some notes for non-nautical visitors to Orkney : The Pentland Firth is the narrow dangerous strait between Orkney and Scotland. Stroma is the biggest island in the Firth and its Swelkie is the tide race / whirlpool at it’s Northern tip. Torness race is off the headland of the same name of Hoy. Aith Hope*, is the inlet where the Lifeboat Museum on Hoy now stands, below the village of Brims, that provided the men to man the lifeboats ( and all the crew of TGB who were lost in 1969 ).
The lifeboat herself was the Samyntas Stannah, and the coxswain, Benjamin Stout.
I would be very interested in any more information about the poem and its author.
nigelhallworth@eclipse.co.uk.
* Old Norse : Aith = isthmus Hope (hóp ) = a shallow bay
