Day 171/18. Memorial to fishing disaster, St Abbs

On the morning of 14 October, 1881, the vast majority of the fishing boats on Scotland’s North Sea coast were tied up in port. But skippers from Eyemouth, along with fishermen from other nearby ports Cove, St Abbs and Burnmouth, ignored the warnings and set out at dawn. By midday they were in the teeth of a severe storm for which their wooden boats were no match. They fled for the shelter of the port but many never made it. Their vessels either overturned or were dashed on the Hurkar Rocks at the entrance to Eyemouth harbour.
Hysterical women and children looked on helplessly as their menfolk were thrown overboard and swallowed up by the sea. Family members watched as their husbands, brothers and fathers drowned before their eyes.
The close-knit Scottish coastal community lost 189 men at sea in a single day.