GRACE DARLING.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 241, 13 October 1886, Page 3

GRACE DARLING.

A Name Ever to bo Associated with

tho Faroe Islands,

To those who delight in old associations, tho Fame Islands are hallowed by tho memory of St Cuthbert, who livod for many years a hermit here. Green tolls how, once prior of Lindiafarno, but worn out by the disputes among his brethren, he fled at last to "one of a groupe of islets not far from Ida's fortross of Bamboroug, strewn for the most part with kelp and seaweed, tho home of the gull and tho seal. In the midst of it rose hia hut ot rough stones and turf, dug down within deep into tho rock, and roofed with logs aud straw." He was afterwards Bishop of Lindisfarne for a short time; but " his bishopric was soon laid aside, and two months after his return to hia island hermitage the old man lay dying murmuring to tho last words of concord and peace." Probably tho Fame Island have most claim to celebrity in modern times from the well-known story of the wreck of tbe steamer Forfarshire. This ill-fated ship left Hull on tbe sth of September, 1338, bound for Dundee. The next day a galo set in from north-northeast, end, owing to a leak in tho boiler, the fires were extinguished, so sail was set to keep hor frcm going ashore. She drifted slowly and Btirely to leeward. In a dense fog, the gale sill blowing, the starboard boat was lowered, in which eight of the crew and one pisser.gor embarked, eventually being picked up and carried into Shields. A quarter of an hour after, with forty eouls on board, tho ship struck upon the Hawkers rock, noar the Longstono, and in a few momenta tho stern waa swept away, and with it tho captain and nearly all the remaining cr.w. The bows drove high upon the rock, where when morning broke nine parson, clinging to the wreck were seen by the occupants of the lighthouse, William Darling and his daughter Grace. They launched their boat, and, each taking an oar, embarked on a desperate attempt to render aaBistance. After long battling with the sea they at length succeeded in reaching the rock, and it was only by Grace's skilful handling ot tho boat that it was saved fiom being dashed to pieces while Darling was engaged in gottiog,the exhausted survivors, ono by one, on board. All wero safely convoyed to tho lighthouse, where for three days and threo nights the samo hand which had taken so active a part in their rescuo administered to their wants.

The excitement caused by tho heroism of Grace Darling was felt all over England, and even now her name is a housoho!d word. So groat wa3 her celebrity that the manager of a London theatre is said to have offered her a largo sum of money to appear upon (ho stage in a wreck scene, rowing a boat of pasteboard. Her portrait became a familiar and beloved object in hundreds of English homes. Pictures wero pair.ted, poems written, and engravings circulated by hundved.. But tho objeat of this wild onthusiusm was as modest as aho was brave, and diod whoro the had lived, hor father's companion in the lighthouse of Locgstone Island. She had been waiting in the rain for a boat to tako hor to Coquet Island ; the boatman there did not tee hoi signal, and bctoro thoy camo she waa wet and chilled. Thus wero sown the seeds of the rapid consumption which ended in hor death on the 20th of October, 1842. Not vory long afterward a friend of mine was at tho Fames, and wont one day to soo Darling at the lighthouse. They were alone together, and tho old man, never tired of talking of his daughter, with tears in hia eyes shewed the collection of shells an 1 other relics of her childhood, and in the same boat in wdiich ou that memorable day ho had shared lur danger ond her triumph, bo took my friend to the rock wbcro the Forfarshire struck. Here he rested on his ears and with faltering voice told with simple words the story of that wild September dawn.