Tales Of Those We Have Lost

There once was a poor man, who lived in the town

He took to the river and it dragged him down,

Every a mystery, till this fine day,

Why old Elijah, washed up the bay . . .

We try to draw on tales that connect to our past and those of our ancestors. The song, "Down in the bay" is inspired by an event that happened to my great great grandfather, Elijah Harris. There is a bit of poetic license to the lyrics but its our impression of what happened, and that's all the matters. Nothing is really known about why Elijah Harris was lost at sea, until his body was found washed up on Chesil beach.

The "young lad" in this song was my great grandfather, Bill Harris, Captain of the Dartmouth ferry, called The Mew. He led a colourful life and sadly did lose his father to the sea.

I managed to unearth the following clip from an Episode of the Onedin line called "The Wind Blows Free" Bill Harris, in the photo above can be seen bringing James Onedin in to the old quay at Bayards Cove in Dartmouth.