'The Three Fishers' (1851), by Charles Kingsley is a stark reminder of the harsh realities faced by fishing families. He wrote this famous poem as a result of a great fishing tragedy in Bideford Bay.
"Three fishers went sailing away to the West,
Away to the West as the sun went down;
Each thought on the woman who loved him the best
And children stood watching them out of the town.
For men must work and women must weep
And there’s little to earn and many to keep
Tho’ the harbour bar be moaning.
Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower,
And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down.
They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower,
And the night-rack came rolling up ragged and brown
But men must work and women must weep
Tho’ storms be sudden and waters deep
And the harbour bar be moaning.
Three corpses lay out on the shining sands,
In the morning gleam as the tide went down,
And the women are weeping and wringing their hands
For those who will never come home to the town.
For men must work and women must weep
And the sooner it’s over, the sooner to sleep,
And good-bye to the bar and its moaning.
