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Grace Darling : Maid and Myth
215 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
3 people want to read
About the author
Richard Armstrong
132 books4 followersLibrarian Note:
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There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 1, 2019
I have visited Bamburgh on a few occasions .. a gorgeous coastal town in Northumberland, with stunning views to the Farne Islands and Lindasfarne, a fantastic Castle, and of course the Legend of Grace Darling .. Her ornamental grave in the churchyard, from which you can still see the sea, stands out like a beacon, and the small Museum just across the way is well worth a visit ..
However, the Legend that is proffered, and loved by many, was perhaps the worst day of young Grace's life .. Imagine, being brought up on an Island with a Lighthouse as your home, 5 miles off the mainland, with only your family for company and schooling .. then, becuase as a young woman, you helped your father to save the lives of 9 people from a shipwreck, you are, by the hands of others, thrust into the world at large and your story explodes in the media, countrywide ..
You are a plain girl, hardworking, so your clothes are handmade, your hair unruly, your hands red raw from the daily chores of keeping the Lighthouse clean and tidy for family and visitors .. you know nothing of the ways of society, let alone the world outside yours .. She is written to, promises of money being raised, gifts sent (how many Bibles did the poor girl receive) .. all expecting personal replies .. Invites to gathering and performances, to speak at Womens' Groups .. imagine all this pressure being forced upon her .. the worry to her of being disliked and riddiculed because of her appearance and her lack of education and social graces ..
As with anyone involved in a traumatic experience, the chance to forget and move on is very welcome, but Grace was never allowed to forget .. The continued stress that was brought to her door is heartbreaking ..
I fully appreciate that many documents from that time will be lost, if indeed set down at all, so the body of the book is conjecture, but the Author poses valid reasoning and good research for all the suppositions made ..
Final paragraph of the book ..
" A simple girl with limited resources, she had been persuaded to relinquish her privacy for a promise which quickly proved false; and when all her efforts to retrieve what she had surrendered failed, she reasserted her basic human right to be herself alone in the only way left to her. She turned her face to the wall and dropped out of the legend, leaving it to roll on down the years with the 'girl of the wind-swept hair' in her place at its heart .. " To which I shed more than a few tears ..
However, the Legend that is proffered, and loved by many, was perhaps the worst day of young Grace's life .. Imagine, being brought up on an Island with a Lighthouse as your home, 5 miles off the mainland, with only your family for company and schooling .. then, becuase as a young woman, you helped your father to save the lives of 9 people from a shipwreck, you are, by the hands of others, thrust into the world at large and your story explodes in the media, countrywide ..
You are a plain girl, hardworking, so your clothes are handmade, your hair unruly, your hands red raw from the daily chores of keeping the Lighthouse clean and tidy for family and visitors .. you know nothing of the ways of society, let alone the world outside yours .. She is written to, promises of money being raised, gifts sent (how many Bibles did the poor girl receive) .. all expecting personal replies .. Invites to gathering and performances, to speak at Womens' Groups .. imagine all this pressure being forced upon her .. the worry to her of being disliked and riddiculed because of her appearance and her lack of education and social graces ..
As with anyone involved in a traumatic experience, the chance to forget and move on is very welcome, but Grace was never allowed to forget .. The continued stress that was brought to her door is heartbreaking ..
I fully appreciate that many documents from that time will be lost, if indeed set down at all, so the body of the book is conjecture, but the Author poses valid reasoning and good research for all the suppositions made ..
Final paragraph of the book ..
" A simple girl with limited resources, she had been persuaded to relinquish her privacy for a promise which quickly proved false; and when all her efforts to retrieve what she had surrendered failed, she reasserted her basic human right to be herself alone in the only way left to her. She turned her face to the wall and dropped out of the legend, leaving it to roll on down the years with the 'girl of the wind-swept hair' in her place at its heart .. " To which I shed more than a few tears ..
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