THE CAULKING OF THE WRECK OF 'ANN OF SUNDERLAND'... (My new poem inspired by Martinus Rørbye's painting, 1847...)

 The Caulking Of The Wreck Of ‘Ann of Sunderland’…

(Inspired by Martinus Rørbye’s painting, 1847…) 

Beached and listing, its hulking carcass towering above

Shipwrights and meagre wedges, the Ann of Sunderland, a skeletal,

Shell of a schooner maybe has its timbers caulked and filled.

Or is it being broken up there, its wood recyclable in Skagen?

It had run aground at Skagen but local fishermen strove

To save both crew and its London bound cargo of grain, vital

To deter wreckers from Kattegat’s bay, eager for any gleanings spilled

And the cargo of wheat was sold, proving valuable in Skagen…

  

Pete Ray

23rd October 2024…

In November 1846 the vessel set out for London from the Prussian port of Stettin, which is now in Poland but a violent storm grounded it whilst crossing the bay known as Kattegat, Jutland, which separates Denmark from Sweden.

The crew and the cargo of grain were saved by local fishermen from Skagen…

There is a difference of opinion, however, whether a schooner that size would be caulked in the manner illustrated.

It might easily be subject to a break-up, apparently and the wood subsequently salvaged…