The inspiration for my short film came from the tragic event of the Lifeboat disaster in 1928 and because its based on true events, I needed to deeply research into the story so that my contextual knowledge will be accurate.
I bought this book to help me fully understand the tradegy behind my short film.
Below are some extracts from the book...
"The Mary Stanford Of Rye" - Meet On The Ledge
When Master John Stanford of London town died
They read out his will, and his legacy spied
It said take this bequest for to build me a craft
So that with it my name shouldn’t die
And give it to the RNLI
They read out his will, and his legacy spied
It said take this bequest for to build me a craft
So that with it my name shouldn’t die
And give it to the RNLI
So they fashioned a lifeboat
of Liverpool Class
Thirty eight foot from her stem to the aft
And a close-reefed mainsail
on a twenty foot mast
And to grant the last wish of his life
Named it Mary, after his wife
of Liverpool Class
Thirty eight foot from her stem to the aft
And a close-reefed mainsail
on a twenty foot mast
And to grant the last wish of his life
Named it Mary, after his wife
She went into service in 1916
And sixty three times
from the boathouse she screamed
‘cross the shale of Rye Bay
through the teeth of the storm
And into the mouth of the waves
All sailors lives for to save
And sixty three times
from the boathouse she screamed
‘cross the shale of Rye Bay
through the teeth of the storm
And into the mouth of the waves
All sailors lives for to save
CHORUS
Johnny come home, they all sing from the pier
On the 15th day of November each year
And one day the sea she will give up her dead
And home will come young Johnny Head
Home will come young Johnny Head
Johnny come home, they all sing from the pier
On the 15th day of November each year
And one day the sea she will give up her dead
And home will come young Johnny Head
Home will come young Johnny Head
Now young Johnny Head
had just turned seventeen
And to serve on the lifeboat was
young Johnny’s dream
His father was the coxswain
his brother in the crew
And to serve he was willing to die
On the Mary Stanford of Rye
had just turned seventeen
And to serve on the lifeboat was
young Johnny’s dream
His father was the coxswain
his brother in the crew
And to serve he was willing to die
On the Mary Stanford of Rye
On November 15th
with the storm at its height
The Alice of Riga was losing her fight
Seven miles from Dungeness
she was drifting and lost
And the crew prayed and cried to the moon
That’s when they heard the maroon
with the storm at its height
The Alice of Riga was losing her fight
Seven miles from Dungeness
she was drifting and lost
And the crew prayed and cried to the moon
That’s when they heard the maroon
It was four in the morning when young Johnny Head
On hearing the signal he leapt from his bed
With his father and brother they ran like the wind
That whipped up the furious waves
For there were lives to be saved
On hearing the signal he leapt from his bed
With his father and brother they ran like the wind
That whipped up the furious waves
For there were lives to be saved
CHORUS
To haul out the lifeboat took blood, sweat and tears
It took them two hours
Must have seemed like two years
Exhausted and spent, they set her afloat
And into the barbarous waves
Rowed Mary to Alice’s aid
It took them two hours
Must have seemed like two years
Exhausted and spent, they set her afloat
And into the barbarous waves
Rowed Mary to Alice’s aid
It was 6.45 when the shoremen lost sight
of the Mary as she pitched out into the night
And at 6.51 the coastguard he rang
saying stand down your lifeboatmen brave
For the Alice is already saved
of the Mary as she pitched out into the night
And at 6.51 the coastguard he rang
saying stand down your lifeboatmen brave
For the Alice is already saved
Nobody knows, from that day to this
Why the coastguard got word at eleven past six
But the message he kept forty minutes or more
While seventeen brave men of Rye
Rowed into the tempest to die
Why the coastguard got word at eleven past six
But the message he kept forty minutes or more
While seventeen brave men of Rye
Rowed into the tempest to die
INSTRUMENTAL BREAK
It was almost noon on that terrible morn
And the families and launch crew had waited since dawn
When suddenly somebody pointed and cried
And there in the surf and the spray
The Mary Stanford she lay
And the families and launch crew had waited since dawn
When suddenly somebody pointed and cried
And there in the surf and the spray
The Mary Stanford she lay
Her body was battered
Her keel was upright
No close-reefed mainsail
No crewman in sight
Her keel was upright
No close-reefed mainsail
No crewman in sight
They hauled her ashore and they knelt round and prayed
Then gazed out again at the main
And the tears they ran like the rain
Then gazed out again at the main
And the tears they ran like the rain
Then one by one the sea gave up her dead
First Willie Clark, then young Jimmy Head
Then Albert and Rob, the two Cutting boys
And three from the Pope family
And nine more sons of the sea
First Willie Clark, then young Jimmy Head
Then Albert and Rob, the two Cutting boys
And three from the Pope family
And nine more sons of the sea
But young Johhny Head
He never came home
He never came home
He lies out somewhere in the ocean alone
His comrades lie buried in the churchyard at Rye
And they keep him a space for his bed
One day they’ll find Johnny Head
His comrades lie buried in the churchyard at Rye
And they keep him a space for his bed
One day they’ll find Johnny Head
INSTRUMENTAL BREAK
So the next time you sail around Hastings and Rye
Look to the distance and keep out an eye
And if you see a young man from the RNLI
Standing guard over the foam
You’ll know that Johnny’s come home
Look to the distance and keep out an eye
And if you see a young man from the RNLI
Standing guard over the foam
You’ll know that Johnny’s come home
CHORUS
