Poem: © Thedore Goodridge Roberts
Music: © 1973 Dan Aguiar
Stories of people enhancing their living by wreck-picking, or even assisting the wrecks to happen, are rampant round the coasts of many countries. In this poem, it is coastal Newfoundlanders merely praying for a little divine assistance. It comes from The Leather Bottle, a 1937 novel by Theodore Goodridge Roberts. Dan Aguiar is an old musical friend of mine now living in Red Hook, New York.
The January Men and Then Some
Give us a wreck – or two, Good Lord
For winter in Topsail Tickle* is hard
With grey frost creepin' like a Mortal Sin
And perishin' lack of bread in the bin
A grand, rich wreck, we do humbly pray
Busted abroad at the break-of-day
And hove clear in 'cross Topsail Reef
With vittles and hear to beguile our grief
One grand wreck, or maybe two
With gear and vittles to see us through
Til the spring starts up like the leap-of-day
And the fish strike back into Topsail Bay
Lord of reefs and tides and sky
Heed ye our need and hark to our cry:
Bread by the bag and beef by the cask
Ease for sore bellies is all we ask
One rich wreck, for Thy hand is strong
A barque or a brig from up-along†
Bemused by the twisty tides, oh Lord
For winter in Topsail Tickle is hard
Loud and long will we sing thy praise
Merciful Father, O Ancient of Days
Master of fog and tide and reef
Heave us a wreck to beguile our grief
Amen
* a tickle is a small strait, or passage
† To the Westward – Nova Scotia or the U.S.
Wrecker's Prayer is recorded on the album In Concert