Kind Christians, all pay attention to me,
And Miss Mouat’s sufferings I’ll relate to ye;
While on board the Columbine, on the merciless sea,
Tossing about in the darkness of night in the storm helplessly.
She left her home (Scatness), on Saturday morning, bound for Lerwick,
Thinking to get cured by a man she knew, as she was very sick;
But for eight days she was tossed about on the stormy main,
By a severe storm of wind, hail, and rain.
The waves washed o’er the little craft, and the wind loudly roared,
And the Skipper, by a big wave, was washed overboard;
Then the crew launched the small boat on the stormy main,
Thinking to rescue the Skipper, but it was all in vain.
Nevertheless, the crew struggled hard his life to save,
But alas! the Skipper sank, and found a watery grave;
And the white crested waves madly did roar,
Still the crew, thank God, landed safe on shore.
As soon as Miss Mouat found she was alone,
Her mind became absorbed about her friends at home;
As her terrible situation presented itself to her mind,
And her native place being quickly left far behind.
And as the big waves lashed the deck with fearful shocks,
Miss Mouat thought the vessel had struck upon a reef of rocks;
And she thought the crew had gone to get help from land,
While she held to a rope fastened to the cabin roof by her right hand.
And there the poor creature was in danger of being thrown to the floor,
Whilst the heavy showers of spray were blown against the cabin door,
And the loosened sail was reduced to tatters and flapping with the wind,
And the noise thereof caused strange fears to arise in her mind.
And after some hours of darkness had set in,
The table capsized with a lurch of the sea which made a fearful din,
Which helped to put the poor creature in a terrible fright,
To hear the drawers of the table rolling about all the night.
And there the noble heroine sat looking very woe-begone,
With hands uplifted to God making her moan,
Praying to God above to send her relief,
While in frantic screams she gave vent to her pent up grief.
And loud and earnestly to God the noble heroine did cry,
And the poor invalid’s bosom heaved many a sigh;
Oh! heaven, hard was the fate of this woman of sixty years of age,
Tossing about on the briny deep, while the storm fiend did rage.
Oh! think of the poor soul crouched in the cabin below,
With her heart full of fear, cold, hunger, and woe,
And the pitiless storm of rain, hail, and snow,
Tossing about her tiny craft to and fro.
And when the morning came she felt very sick,
And she expected the voyage would be about three hours to Lerwick,
And her stock of provisions was but very small,
Only two half-penny biscuits and a quart bottle of milk in all
Still the heavy snow kept falling, and the sky was obscured,
And on Sabbath morning she made her first meal on board,
And this she confined to a little drop of milk and half a biscuit,
Which she wisely considered was most fit.
And to the rope fastened to the cabin roof she still held on
Until her hands began to blister, and she felt woe-begone,
But by standing on a chest she could look out of the hatchway,
And spend a little time in casting her eyes o’er the sea each day.
When Wednesday morning came the weather was very fine,
And the sun in the heavens brightly did shine,
And continued so all the live long day;
Then Miss Mouat guessed that land to the norward lay.
Then the poor creature sat down to her last meal on board,
And with heartfelt thanks she praised the Lord;
But when Thursday morning came no more food could be had,
Then she mounted a box about seven o’clock while her heart felt sad.
And she took her usual gaze o’er the sea with a wistful eye,
Hoping that some passing vessel she might descry,
And to the westward she espied a bright red light,
But as the little craft passed on it vanished from her sight.
But alas; no vessel could she see around anywhere,
And at last the poor soul began to despair,
And there the lonely woman sat looking out to the heavens above,
Praying to God for succour with her heart full of love.
At last the Columbine began to strike on submerged rocks,
And with the rise and fall of the sea she received some dreadful shocks,
And notwithstanding that the vessel was still rolling among the rocks,
Still the noble heroine contrived once more to raise herself upon the box.
Still the Columbine sped on, and ran upon a shingly beach,
And at last the Island of Lepsoe, Miss Mouat did reach,
And she was kindly treated by the inhabitants in every way that’s grand,
And conveyed to Aalesund and there taking steamer to fair England.
The Adventurous Voyage of the Columbine
[From a Special Correspondent]
Our special correspondent, telegraphing from Aalesund last night, gives some interesting particulars of the adventurous voyage of the smack Columbine, with its solitary passenger, from the Shetland Isles on Saturday, 30th January, till its stranding on the coast of Norway on Sunday morning, February 7th. The woman Mouat, he says, who was in the cabin at the time the accident occurred to the captain, by which he was knocked overboard and drowned, thought from the noise and shouting which followed that the small craft had struck on a rock. She attempted to climb the ladder to ascertain what had happened, but it fell, and it was some ten minutes before she could replace it. She was filled with terror when she heard the seamen going off in the boat without her, and she screamed for them to come and help her; She was quite ignorant of the death of the captain. On putting her head above deck she could see nothing but waves; and when the yacht began to drift further and further away to sea, she was almost filled with despair, and gave herself up for lost. She passed a terrible night. The sea was running high; the furniture in the cabin rolled about, and she got drenched by the smack shipping water. The rough weather continued for three days, during which the poor woman continued sitting in the cabin holding on by a rope from the roof until her hands were quite blistered. Her only food during this trying period was two biscuits and a quart of milk, which she finished on Wednesday morning. She knew there were provisions in the forecastle, but the swaying of the boom and the pitching of the vessel made it impossible for her in her weakly condition to reach them. On that day the weather moderated, and her hopes of being rescued revived. She had, she says, committed herself entirely into God’s keeping, and was thereby greatly comforted. A spirit of resignation took possession of her, and she was not afraid. She climbed the cabin steps and thought she saw land. On Thursday the weather was mild, and she watched the compass from the steps. The course of the smack was south-west, and on Friday it was north-west. That day the land was plainly visible. Being very thirsty and having nothing to drink she moistened her lips with salt water. On Saturday there was a very heavy sea, and from the hardships she had gone through she became very weak, and felt that with the wet her limbs, and especially her feet, were becoming quite benumbed. She, however, crawled up the steps to watch with great, anxiety the drifting of the smack towards the land. At midnight it grounded, and her position was one of greatest danger. The waves broke over the stern, and to add to the terrors of the situation, the mast, with a crash,went by the board. She was very thankful when daylight dawned. The stranded yacht was discovered on the Sunday morning by some fisher boys, who heard her shouts, and ran for assistance. Two men came and waded through the boiling surf at great risk, and gallantly rescued her. They made a rope fast to the yacht, and by means of the communication thus established the woman, in a very weak state was landed safely on shore. The men deserve great praise for bravery. Lepsoe, where the yacht grounded, is a small islet at the entrance to the Wolde Fiord, and ten miles from the mainland. Mouat was carried inland for about a mile to a farmhouse, and was put to bed, and kindly cared for. She remained in a sleepless and fevered condition until Wednesday, when she had so far recovered as to be able to be removed to the house of an Englishman – a maker of cod liver oil. Since Monday she has been at Aalesund, and has been attended by a doctor. Her benumbed feet are getting easier, and it is expected that she will be able to leave soon for Scotland. The captain’s watch, it seems, was in the cabin of the yacht, and that she kept going the whole time of her perilous adventure. She has been supported by the kindly people by private benevolence, but part of the outlay the Consul is expected to repay. The smack has been beached pending Consul’s instructions.
The Scotsman, 19th February 1886
Further Reading
- Betty Mouat – Shetlopedia’s detailed article on the lady and her famous voyage.
- Betty Mouat’s Lone Voyage, a Miraculous Survival – Another account, this time from Scotiana
- Betty Mouat’s Böd – You can now stay in Betty’s former home.
Books
- The Lone Voyage of Betty Mouat – Roderick Grant’s book about Miss Mouat’s adventure, published in 1973
- Drifting Alone to Norway – Another book about Betty, and others who suffered the same fate
