The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas and Plundered Shipwrecks, from the 18th Century to the Present DayAn “entertaining” historical investigation into the scavengers who have profited off the spoils of maritime disasters (The Washington Post). Even today, Britain’s coastline remains a dangerous place. It is an island soaked by four separate seas, with shifting sand banks to the east, veiled reefs to the west, powerful currents above, and the world’s busiest shipping channel below. The country’s offshore waters are strewn with shipwrecks—and for villagers scratching out an existence along Britain’s shores, those wrecks have been more than simply an act of God; in many cases, they have been the difference between living well and just getting by. Though Daphne du Maurier and Poldark have made Cornwall famous as Britain’s most notorious region for wrecking, many other coastal communities regarded the “sea’s bounty” as a way of providing themselves with everything from grapefruits to grand pianos. Some plunderers were held to be so skilled that they could strip a ship from stem to stern before the Coast Guard had even left port. Some were rumored to lure ships onto the rocks with false lights, and some simply waited for winter gales to do their work. This book uncovers tales of ships and shipwreck victims—from shoreline orgies so Dionysian that few participants survived the morning to humble homes fitted with silver candelabra, from coastlines rigged like stage sets to villages where everyone owns identical tennis shoes. Spanning three hundred years of history, The Wreckers examines the myths, realities, and superstitions of shipwrecks and uncovers the darker side of life on Britain’s shores. “Bathurst, who won a Somerset Maugham Award for The Lighthouse Stevensons, offers a spellbinding tale of seafaring men, their ships and the ocean that cares for neither.” —Publishers Weekly “A fascinating, haunting account of pillagers, plunderers, and pirates.” —John Burnett, author of Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas |
Contents
3 PENTLAND FIRTH | |
4 SCILLY ISLES | |
Plates 116
| |
5 WEST COAST | |
6 ROYAL FISH | |
7 CORNWALL | |
8 EAST COAST | |
EPILOGUE | |
Back Matter | |
Back Flap | |
Back Cover | |
Spine | |
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Common terms and phrases
Adantic Ajay Alang ashore beach beachmen Bella Bathurst boat Britain British captain cargo century Channel Cita cliffs coasdine coastguard coastline Colquhoun Cornish Cornwall Corrievreckan crew crofts customs diving drowned Duncansby Head everything exacdy false lights fishermen fishing gale Goodwin Sands Goodwins hovellers Hugh Town islands Isles Jamaica Inn knew land lifeboat lighthouse lives Lloyd's London look loot mainland mariners maritime miles navigational never no-one Northern Lighthouse Board officers Orkney Pendand Firth pick pilots pirates plunder police Ramsgate Receiver of Wreck reefs remains river RNLI rocks round sail sailors salvage salvors Sands says Scapa Flow Scillies Scillonians Scilly Isles ship shipowners shipwreck shore side someone South Ronaldsay stand Stanton Stogdon story Stroma stuff Swona Thames there's things tide vessels washed weather whale whisky Whisky Galore wind wreckers