EAST DONYLAND​ / ROWHEDGE

Valkyrie II - Races in 1894

Wednesday 4 July 1894 - YACHTING - ROYAL LARGS YACHT CLUB REGATTA. 1. Britannia (winner) 3h.28m.53s; 2.Valkyrie (second prize) 3h.30m.31s.. Satanita also competed.

Thursday 5 July 1894 - YACHTING - ROYAL WESTERN CLYDE YACHT CLUB REGATTA . 1.Britannia (winner) 4h.10m.35s; 2.Valkyrie 4h.17m.53s.

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THE TIMES - Friday 6 July 1894 - THE VALKYRIE SUNK - “There was an eventful and intensely exciting day’s racing on the Clyde yesterday, a regrettable accident in the sinking of the Valkyrie marking the outset...The morning opened as cheerless as well could be, a strong southerly wind driving rain and gloom before it - in fact, so dirty was the weather that until nearly noon objects were  obscured at a distance of half a mile. Excitement naturally ran high when it was found that the Vigilant was ready to oppose the Britannia, Valkyrie, and Satanita, and between the guns all the vessels were tearing about, manoeuvring for a good position for a start. Vigilant and Britannia were outside in clear water, but Valkyrie came reaching out of Holy Loch on the starboard tack among the yachts at anchor, and was in a high weather berth when Satanita came flying in on the port tack with the wind abaft the beam, evidently intending to stay on Valkyrie’s weather quarter. A small craft with four hands in it got right across her course, however, and she luffed to clear, but shaved so close that her quarter sea washed one hand out. Afterwards, unfortunately, the helmsman could not keep the vessel away, and with a tremendous head of speed on she smashed into Valkyrie’s port beam between the rigging and the runners. Her stem went through Valkyrie’s covering board and on for about 6ft. into her deck. There was a gaping hole in Satanita’s port bow some 10ft. in length, the lower part being about a foot above the water-line. The impact forced Valkyrie right round, but the vessels lay locked together for a time, and when the way was off were blown helplessly along. A number of Valkyrie’s hands clambered on to Satanita, but probably 15 were overboard. There was plenty of help at hand. The owner, the designer (Mr. G.L. Watson), Mr. Langriche, Lady Algernon Gordon Lennox and another lady, and the rest of the crew were taken off, as Valkyrie was found to be sinking. Valkyrie eventually blew broadside on against the steam yacht Vanduara, and smashed the latter’s steam launch and bulwarks. By that time Satanita, with bowsprit broken short off, had blown clear. Nine minutes after the collision the Valkyrie suddenly took a strong list to port, and almost simultaneously her stern rose in the air and she went down head first in 16 fathoms of water. Just as the hull of the unfortunate Valkyrie disappeared, the topmast, with Lord Dunraven’s colours aloft, broke short off. When the vessel had settled on the bottom a portion of the masthead was still showing. Satanita had to be trimmed aft to keep the hole in her bow clear of the water, and she was towed to Greenock for repairs. The occurrence naturally cast a gloom over the regatta, and Lord Dunraven came in for very general sympathy. There were a good many valuables on board, and a diver will be sent down as soon as possible. One of the Valkyrie’s crew, William Brown, of Wivenhoe, had one of his legs broken and received other very serious injuries. The doctors at Dunoon Hospital regard it as a very serious case......The unfortunate collision between Satanita and Valkyrie occurred 35sec. before the start..... As soon as the news of the sinking of the Valkyrie became known at the Royal Cork Yacht Club the following telegram was despatched to the Earl of Dunraven: - “Regret exceedingly to hear disaster to Valkyrie. Members beg to convey their sympathy. - C.M. Harvey, Secretary, R.C.Y.C.”

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THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN - 6 July 1894 - YACHTING DISASTER ON THE CLYDE - THE VALKYRIE SUNK IN COLLISION. NARROW ESCAPE OF LORD DUNRAVEN - One of the chief events of the Clyde yachting fortnight was yesterday marred by a serious accident, resulting in the loss of the yacht Valkyrie, two steam launches, damage to two other craft, and serious injuries to a member of the Valkyrie’s crew. The Muir Memorial Cup was to be sailed for, and the yachts entered were the American Vigilant, her unsuccessful rival, Lord Dunraven’s Valkyrie, the Prince of Wales’s Britannia, and Mr. Clarke’s Satanita. A crowd of spectators gathered to see the start. Rarely has the anchorage at Holy Loch, on the Clyde, presented such a spectacle as it did yesterday morning. At half-past nine o’clock the four great yachts were sailing about Hunter’s Quay, the American cutter being the furthest out in the channel, the Britannia holding her out of sight, the Valkyrie making starboard tacks inshore, and the Satanita bowling along to get into position, she being on the port tack. Just as the Satanita came up the Valkyrie was endeavouring to pass between the Hebe and the Vandura. The Satanita attempted to pass around the Valkyrie’s quarter. This she failed to do, and the yachts collided with a loud crash. The steam launches of the Hebe and Satanita were smashed, and Mr. Clarke’s yacht lost about six yards of her starboard side above the waterline, while the Valkyrie was cut amidships down to the water’s edge and commenced to settle down. The crew took refuge in the steam launches and small boats in the vicinity, and within three minutes the Valkyrie had disappeared bow first, her decks bursting with a loud report. Though Lord Dunraven and others on board the Valkyrie were unable to say how the accident occurred it was thought the Satanita collided with her in endeavouring to avoid a boat which got in her way. The Valkyrie was cut right through the cabin and rigging, and the cabin instantly filled with water. She quickly settled down, and sank in fourteen fathoms of water. Though yachtsmen attribute the disaster to the boat referred to, it is clear the starting point was much too closely crowded by craft of all kinds. One of the Valkyrie’s crew, named Brown, was so severely injured that he is unlikely to recover. In addition to Lord Dunraven and other yachtsmen, Lord and Lady Lennox were aboard the Valkyrie at the time of the disaster. There is a general agreement that nobody on the Satanita or the Valkyrie was to blame for the collision, and Mr. Clarke, the owner of the Satanita, firmly held this opinion. He described the mishap as one of the saddest incidents of his life. Lord Dunraven’s yacht has been unfortunate. In her first race she broke her bowsprit, and in the Cinque Port race she was delayed and badly beaten through collision. In the Royal Ulster match, she had to stop to recover a man who fell overboard, and for the Queen’s Cup she suffered defeat by the German Emperor’s yacht through taking the wrong side of the finishing buoy.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES – 6 July 1894 - THE YACHT VALKYRIE SUNK - RUN DOWN IN THE CLYDE BY THE SATANITA - Narrow Escape of Lord Dunraven and His Guests from Drowning - An Accident Which Marred the Pleasure of the Mudhook Regatta - Due to the Fact that Too Many Boats Were Crowding the Course - The Crew of the Valkyrie All Saved - GLASGOW. July 5. - “People from all parts of the United Kingdom gathered along the banks of the Clyde to-day to witness the races of the Mudhook Regatta, the excitement and interest in which events were greater than have hitherto been known... The Valkyrie has on board Burns of the Mohican, as an extra man, which made her total crew forty-six. The Britannia carried forty-seven men, including sixteen of the crew of the Iverna, and the Satanita had a crew of fifty.

The sail areas of the Valkyrie and Vigilant seemed almost identical... When the start was made in the Clyde this morning, the Britannia was the first to cross the starting line, the Vigilant following a minute later. The Valkyrie and the Satanita were meanwhile endeavouring to get into position, and in the course of their manoeuvres attempted to put about. In doing so the Satanita’s bow struck the Valkyrie on the port side, abaft the rigging, and nearly cut her in two. The Valkyrie immediately began to fill, and in five minutes after she was struck sank in twenty five fathoms of water. The Satanita’s bows were badly stove, and it is not regarded as probable that she will be able to take part in a race for a month to come.

As soon as the boats came into collision, a number of vessels near by hurried to the assistance of the crew of the Valkyrie. Lord Dunraven and one of the Valkyrie’s crew were rescued by the steam yacht Hebe, and the steam yacht Vanduara attached lines to the sinking yacht and saved the rest of the crew. It was found that only one of the crew was injured. The unfortunate man was a seaman named Brown, one of whose legs was broken. Brown was one of the crew of the Valkyrie when the vessel was contesting for the America’s Cup in the United States. The crew lost everything they had except what they wore.

The collision was due to the Satanita’s being jammed by a number of steam yachts at the starting point, leaving her cramped for room.

Yachtsmen and spectators concur that the collision was solely due to a small boat getting in the way of the Satanita, and that there was altogether too great a crowd of steamers and other craft on the water. Capt. Cranfield of the Valkyrie persists that the Satanita was on the wrong tack. He says that the loss on personal effects to himself and the crew amounts to about £700.

Lord Dunraven narrowly escaped being struck by the Satanita’s bowsprit at the time of the collision. His brother-in-law, Mr. Lanridge, who was aboard the Valkyrie, was rescued by the Vanduara. The latter lost ten feet of her rails, and her launch was smashed to pieces.

Owing to the suddenness of the accident to the Valkyrie, neither Lord Dunraven nor any of his friends is able to tell how it occurred. The Satanita cut through the Valkyrie to the cabin, which filled long before the yacht went down. The sunken yacht now lies in fourteen fathoms of water on a fishing bank. The gaff of her mainsail is visible. A buoy is being anchored at the spot to mark her position.

Ten feet of the Vanduara’s rail was carried away when the Valkyrie collided with her.

In an interview with a representative of the United Press, at Hunter’s Quay, A.D. Clarke, the owner of the Satanita, who was steering that boat when the accident occurred, said: “The collision took place three minutes before the starting gun was fired. We were manoeuvring for position. I saw that a collision was becoming inevitable, and shouted to Capt. Diaper to abandon all rules and avert a smash, if possible. The Satanita was running with her rails in the water, at a speed of 12 knots. I tried to luff, as the Valkyrie was keeping straight on, but a small rowboat got in the way and prevented my doing so. As it was, the main sheet of the Satanita almost swamped the rowboat.”

“The Valkyrie was struck hard aft of the mainmast, and her rigging showered down upon her deck. Before we cleared her, the Valkyrie’s topmast came down. After we got away from her, the Valkyrie ran her bow into the steam yacht Vanduara, cutting that boat’s deck as easily as though it were a bit of cheese.”

Capt. Cranfield says the Valkyrie is damaged beyond repair. Before she went down she reared on her head, and as she sank her deck burst with a report which sounded like thunder. The Satanita is not making any water, but her forward plate is badly stove. Everybody agrees that if the collision had not occurred the start would have been the prettiest ever seen in any race on the Clyde.

George L. Watson, the designer of the Valkyrie, was on board the yacht when she was struck by the Satanita. Speaking of the accident, he said, in an interview to-day:

“I was standing beside Lord Dunraven, who was steering the Valkyrie. At gunfire the Valkyrie was reaching down on the starboard tack in order to take the line. The Satanita, which had come up on the port tack, was too soon, and was obliged to hold on before putting about for the start. In luffing to clear a sailboat which was in her way, the Satanita ran into us, striking the Valkyrie amidships, and cutting into her about six feet.”

“The two yachts were locked together for a short while. The Satanita’s bowsprit and topmast were carried away almost immediately on the yachts separating.. The Valkyrie then began to sink. Lord and Lady Algernon Gordon-Lennox were sitting at the stern of the Valkyrie at the time of the accident. They were greatly alarmed, but Lord Dunraven remained cool and reassured them. A number of small boats put off from the other yachts in the harbour and took off Lord and Lady Lennox, Lord Dunraven and myself before the Valkyrie disappeared from view, which she did in about three minutes after the collision.”

Mr. Watson’s version of the rescue of Lord Dunraven differs from other accounts, according to which he was taken on board the Hebe. So quickly did the accident happen that no one seems to be perfectly clear as to what actually did occur. Lord Dunraven himself has positively declined to discuss the affair.  Both he and Mr. Watson feel the loss of the Valkyrie keenly.

Before coming here to race the Yankee sloop the Valkyrie sailed in five races. In the first of these she was leading the Prince of Wales’s Britannia, and when near the finish line lost her bowsprit and was beaten. The critics at the time of her first appearance were somewhat disappointed in her performance. It was believed that she would prove about an even match for the Prince of Wales’s racer, and that both would be about fifteen minutes faster than the crack Iverna. This opinion was strengthened when, at the regatta of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, the Britannia beat the Valkyrie by a small margin after a long luffing match, but the Iverna finished first on time allowance.

From this time on the Valkyrie improved in form, and a higher estimation as to her abilities was created. At the races of the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, from Southend to Harwich, she beat the Satanita by about ten minutes, the Britannia by twelve minutes, the Calluna by sixteen minutes, and the Iverna by thirty-one minutes. The Britannia had allowed her one minute. In the second race of the club’s regatta, she beat the Britannia by a minute and left the Iverna nearly one-half an hour behind. A few days later she defeated the Britannia by two minutes.

These performances satisfied the critics across the water that she was about two minutes faster than the Britannia, and on the strength of that, she was sent here to contest for the cup won by the old America away back in the fifties. On her way across she weathered some strong Atlantic gales, and for a time it was feared that she had met with an accident. But she reached here early one September morning safe and sound, proving that she was a great sea-going boat.”

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THE YACHTING WORLD - Vol. I., 20 April 1894 to 12 October 1894 - 13 July - p.252 - “LOSS OF “VALKYRIE” - SUNK AT THE START - A SEAMAN CRUSHED - On Thursday, July 5th, as the big ships were manoeuvring to cross the line at Hunter’s Quay, preparatory to the start for the Muir Challenge Cup, Satanita crashed into Valkyrie. Our correspondent was an eye-witness of the collision, and has also had interviews with gentlemen who were on board both boats.... 

DEATH OF THE INJURED YACHTSMAN - The remains of the yachtsman, William Brown, of Colchester, who succumbed to his injuries on Saturday morning, were conveyed south the same night, leaving Dunoon pier per the Lord of the Isles. His body was enclosed in a beautiful coffin of polished oak, and as it lay on the pier, awaiting the arrival of the steamer, surrounded by a number of the poor fellow’s comrades, conspicuous amongst whom was the commanding figure of Captain Cranfield, the large crowd of people silently looked on. At a distance from the small group who surrounded the coffin was Captain Brown, deceased’s father, who had arrived from Colchester that day, and who appeared to be bowed down with grief over the sad calamity which had bereft him of his son. The remains were taken south by Captain Brown and two yachtsmen belonging to the same place. Mr. M’Naughton, Deputy-fiscal, who arrived from Inveraray on Friday night for the purpose of investigating the affair, took the dying man’s deposition, and was on Saturday joined by Mr. M’Lullich, Procurator-fiscal for the county, who, along with Dr. Roxburgh, held a post mortem examination. The Procurator-fiscal at Greenock has been instructed to take a precognition of the crew of Satanita, who are at present located there. Lord Dunraven, Captain Cranfield, and several of Valkyrie’s crew have been examined by the Fiscal at Dunoon.

INTERVIEW WITH VALKYRIE’S SKIPPER - A representative of the North British Daily Mail succeeded in obtaining a very interesting interview with Captain Cranfield. He found him at the Blythwood Hotel. Here is what is reported to have passed:-

“A minute, Captain.”

“All right. I know, you want to hear what I’ve to say about the disaster. I’ll give you a minute. Hold a bit,” and he looked over his shoulder to the mate, who was waiting at the door. “Well, sir, I never was in a mishap like this before, and hope to God I never will again. At the outset I may say that I and my crew left the scene of the disaster in the afternoon, and came on to Glasgow, where my crew were fitted out with new clothes at Mr. Paisley’s. They are going on to their homes in England to-night. Two of the men have been left to look after the wants of the man Brown, who was hurt. Poor fellow, the injury to his leg is such that it will require to be amputated.”

“But about the collision?”

“Satanita came down on the port tack. We in Valkyrie could not help ourselves. Had all gone right Valkyrie would have been the first boat to cross the line, and she would have done well: I know she would. I saw it stated in the newspapers that the alterations made on Valkyrie had made her 15 minutes slower. That’s all bosh. I saw from the very moment that Satanita was bearing down on us a collision was inevitable, and the thought which flashed through my mind, as I jumped to the tiller to do what I could to save the ship, was that our boat was not merely going to be cut down and sink, but that lives were going to be lost.

“Sir, it is marvellous that lives were not lost! We shoved along-side Hebe. When Satanita crashed into us, the steward and two of the cooks were below, the last two washing up, for we had all had breakfast and were dressed in our oilskins ready to uphold the credit of Britain in the race. The fellows who were below rushed up. One of the crew descended to get something, but on his return his cap was floating in water, the main cabin being full.

“Lord Dunraven, who kept remarkably cool, had been carrying out my instructions, but the moment I grasped the tiller it was every man save himself. Two of the crew - brave fellows indeed - caught Lady Lennox - and by the way, she acted like a heroine - and lifted her into a boat which came alongside. There was a bit of a panic, but not much. All the crew of Valkyrie are swimmers - an unusual thing with all yachting crews - and the most of them took to the water. They were all picked up.

“Valkyrie is insured through Mr. Watson. And, by the way, he was beside the tiller, too, but where he went I don’t know. I, too, left the boat when I saw it was hopeless that she could float; but thinking that I might after all do something to save her, I jumped back. However, before one had time to speculate she heeled over. I saved myself again, and, to my horror, I saw the ship that I had taken across the stormy Atlantic go down in a sea that a small boat could have lived in. I cannot praise too highly the men who rendered us assistance from other boats. We were a good way out, and while it was fortunate that the boats were there to rescue us, still the accident has proved that in racing the competing vessels should have more scope, and not be hampered with looking out for the doings of other boats than those they are competing against.

“I must say, on reflection, that I don’t think I was particularly excited, although we were all more or less so. I reiterate the chances of Valkyrie were never better for a victory than they were this day. Satanita has received such damage that she will not be able to race during the Clyde Fortnight anyway. As to the crack American boat, she was at the other end of the line. She was reaching in at the time of the collision, and was quite a quarter of a mile away. The hole Satanita knocked in Valkyrie would be as big as that window, and you can realise for yourself the nature of the disaster when the crash was fair in our middle. Satanita’s bow went right into our main cabin. Valkyrie lies in at least 20 fathoms of water, and I don’t see how divers can work at her, for I understand they can’t do anything under 60ft.

“ I don’t know what is the value of the belongings I and the crew have lost. Anyway £60 won’t pay me for everything of mine that’s down. In a word Valkyrie was not responsible for the disaster; that’s one thing sure. There was a crew of 37 of Valkyrie, and they were, indeed, a sorry spectacle when they came ashore. Though wet to the skin, half-a-dozen of them looked to Brown, the injured man. they carried him away shoulder high.

“ Lord Dunraven is not saying much about the accident. He is, as I already hinted, keeping remarkably cool. He is the guest of Mr. John Henderson. The mate and I go back to Hunter’s Quay to-morrow, where we are to see his lordship. The most of the crew by this time are off to their homes. Now,” and looking at his watch, “I’ve given you more than a minute. Goodnight!”

AN ENQUIRY WILL FOLLOW - A question has been raised as to whether a public investigation will take place into the circumstances attending the sinking of Valkyrie. We learn that the usual course followed in regard to such occurrences is that a report is sent by the Receiver of Wrecks to the Board of Trade. This document will be considered by the nautical advisers of the Board, and if in their opinion the circumstances demand investigation, an inquiry will be ordered by their solicitor, Mr. C.D. Donald, the local representative of the Board.

A rather delicate complication is brought into the case by the fact that, while the four great yachts were registered, and ought, therefore, to have been in charge of their captains, they were, as a matter of fact, put in charge of amateur steersmen. This state of matters was due, of course, to the terms of the race. But the Board of Trade do not, as we understand, recognise any such club rules in the case of registered yachts, and if an enquiry be held the respective captains will be put upon their trials for their certificates. At first sight this may seem rather hard, but if it were otherwise - if captains of registered vessels were to be allowed to hand them over to the management of irresponsible amateurs - it would inevitably lead to the greatest dangers and abuses.

RAISING OF VALKYRIE - Valkyrie is being raised. On Tuesday pontoons were placed in position, and she will probably be docked this week. She is less damaged than we believed. She is insured for £8,000, and the Glasgow underwriters have undertaken to lift her.”

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Following a court case Satanita was found to be responsible for the collision and the owner liable for damages.

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ESSEX COUNTY STANDARD - Saturday 17 November 1894 - “IN MEMORIAM- The death of Mr. Brown, from injuries sustained in the collision between the yachts Valkyrie and Satanita in the Clyde will be fresh in the recollection of our readers. As a mark of respect for the memory of the deceased the owner of the Valkyrie (Lord Dunraven) has just caused a handsome marble memorial to be placed over his grave in East Donyland Churchyard. A marble memorial has also been placed over the remains of Mr. Walter W. Roper, late of H.R.H the Prince of Wales’s yacht Britannia who with a comrade was drowned whilst attempting to reach the yacht in a small boat on a stormy night.”

[The story of the drowning of Walter Roper & James Simons, the Mate of the Britannia, on 25 August 1894 at Portland, was told in many local papers in that area and also in The Times].

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PAST TIMES & PASTIMES by LORD DUNRAVEN

Pub; Hodder & Stoughton, 1922. p.43,44,45.

"In 1892 I built Valkyrie II, and raced her the following year. In the same year Britannia, almost a sister ship, and by the same designer, was launched for the Prince of Wales, and she was my principal and most dangerous antagonist. That rivalry occasioned the only disagreement I ever had with the Prince of Wales."

"I forget exactly what the disagreement was about. I think that little Carter who sailed Britannia, presuming a bit upon the obvious fact that no one would like to run down the Prince of Wales, forced me about when I was on the starboard tack. All that my skipper, Bill Cranfield, said about it was, "Well, I am sorry for that. I am afraid I cannot ask the Prince of Wales to tea the next time he comes to our village."

"But to return to Cranfield. "Our village" (Rowhedge) was in the eyes of the inhabitants thereof a unique institution. These East-country men from Brightlingsea, Rowhedge, and thereabouts, are, to my mind, the smartest yacht sailors in creation, and, as a crew, give little or no trouble - quiet, steady men; but insular to an extreme. Not to be able to talk English was to Cranfield (my skipper) equivalent to congenital idiocy. "Would you mind coming on deck a minute?" he would call down the skylight to me in some Mediterranean port. "Here's a feller a-hollering and shouting- I cannot understand a word he says." He had no opinion of French yacht sailors, or of French bread, which as a fact is far better than ours. "There they sits all day," he would say, "at their caffs a-drinking sour wine; and, as to their bread, why there's nothing to it!"

Lying in Civita Vecchia I sent the crew up to Rome in watches. They were not in the very least impressed. I asked Cranfield what he thought about St.Peter's. "Oh well, it is very large and fine," he said, and after a pause, "but there's a little old church in our village they do tell me..." And "What do you think of the Coliseum?" - "Very big, but it's been let get awfully out of repair. Now close to our village there is..." A steady, reliable race of men, very slow to move, but in an emergency quick as lightning. During a long spell in the Mediterranean no one except the caterer ever wanted to go ashore, except once at Mentone, when they all asked for leave, put their best kit on, on top of their working clothes, and, in a boiling hot sun, walked solemnly to the cemetery, stood in silence round the grave of a pal from "our village" buried there long ago, and as solemnly walked down to the ship again. I loved them for it."

p.45.

THE AMERICA CUP.

"Valkyrie II had to give up racing early in the autumn of 1893 to get her jury rig fitted to cross the Atlantic to race for the America Cup that autumn.

When I got to New York I found my crew in a condition of physical demoralisation. They were unaccustomed to the climate. The weather was very hot, and New York can be about as hot as a place I know. The people were very hospitable; and New York was not dry in those days. Being thorough Britons, and not feeling very well, they naturally deemed more beer and more beef to be indicated, and adopted that method of cure. It did not answer, and I had to put them on a severe diet. That, and a course of Valkyrie cocktails, did them a world of good. Valkyrie cocktails were of a nauseous black-dose description, concocted in large cans, and served out daily."

"Valkyrie II did not win the Cup. She returned to the Clyde in the spring of 1894, and raced at home that year. She was sunk by Satanita at Hunter's Quay on the Clyde in July. I was at the helm steering close-hauled on the starboard tack; Satanita was on a broad reach, and under a press of sail would not bear up to pass astern of me, and charged right into me about midships. The impact was terrific; Satanita had her bows stove in, but her overhang forward saved her, and she floated. Valkyrie II had a huge hole torn in her, and sank in about four minutes. Most fortunately, the collision occurred at the start, close to a number of vessels, and plenty of help was available; and the spars all held. Nothing came down from aloft. Most of the crew jumped overboard. The ladies were unceremoniously thrown down below when collision was inevitable, and pulled up again and got safely into boats. Valkyrie II was forced end on into a steam-yacht, and I and one or two others got on board her over our bowsprit. One of my hands, poor chap, had his thigh badly crushed, and died in hospital. It was a dreary, drizzling, cold day, and, of course, we lost everything except what we stood up in, and were a rather miserable crowd; but Mr.Henderson (the builder) and his good wife took every care of us, and, well- Scotch hospitality is proverbial. The most indignant man in my crowd was my steward. "I was in my pantry," he said, "just cleaning up, when in comes this here vessel right into my pantry." He had a pretty close call too, for the doors were jammed. We were not used in those days to collisions and sinkings."

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