In this week’s Grammy recap post (which you can read here) I wrote a bit about the record rainfall that had inundated California and how it impacted the ability of organizers to even hold the awards ceremony in the first place. I’m a firm believer in climate change. I know that we have always had storms of note all throughout history, but to me, the evidence seems quite clear that not only are we still having severe, damaging storms, but we are having them more frequently, in greater variety (earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, drought, fires, etc.) and at a greater human and financial cost than ever before. This point was further driven home this past weekend when my home island of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia received the largest snowfall in their recorded history at 150cm and more in some areas. The snow that fell and the drifts that formed from the wind were so high and so dense that it made snow removal a tiresome, tedious and almost impossible task. Having roads made passable so that essential workers at hospitals, nursing homes, fire stations, etc., could get to work was made a priority. Unfortunately, the rightwing Conservative premier of the province turned down a request from the mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to declare a provincial state of emergency which would have allowed her, as mayor, to access extra funding and resources to deal with this most unusual weather event. After the Premier of Nova Scotia turned down her request, the mayor declared a local state of emergency anyway. In reply, the premier deemed the mayor’s actions to be nothing more than a publicity stunt. Playing politics in an emergency situation was not what Cape Bretoners needed from their provincial leadership, but at least they knew where they stood and who they could rely on for help in troubled times. As it turned out, who they could rely on most was each other. As the week has unfolded, I have read story after story of Cape Bretoners working tirelessly to ensure that essential workers were able to get to their places of work, that animals in shelters and on farms were rescued and cared for and that those in need such as the elderly, the homeless and the disabled were checked in on and not forgotten. I have always been proud to be a Cape Bretoner and am even more so during times such as these. Cape Bretoners are good people, through and through. This post, for what it is worth, is for them.
As many of you may know, the late, great Stan Rogers was one of the finest folk singers this country has ever produced. (I have written about his life and career in a previous post that you can read here). In addition to singing songs that have become part of the Canadian musical canon, such as “Barrett’s Privateers” and our unofficial national anthem “The Northwest Passage”, Rogers is also famous for a song called “The Mary Ellen Carter”. This is a song about resilience in the face of hardship and deprivation. It is a song about hopefulness and perseverance in troubled times. Most of all, it is a song that helps to stiffen the spines of those whose backs are bent from endless toil as the lyrics cry out for the listener to rise again like the Mary Ellen Carter. The story of “The Mary Ellen Carter” is a fictional one but one whose appeal is universal. It is a story of the sea and those who sail on her and those who live by her. In the song, a ship called the Mary Ellen Carter founders off the rocky coastline and begins to sink. The crew work frantically and tirelessly to salvage whatever useful materials they can before the ship sinks completely. However, in the course of their salvage work, they begin to develop a sense of hopefulness that the ship can not only be salvaged but that it can actually be saved, repaired and refloated, fit to sail the seas once again.
“Rise again, rise again!
Though your heart, it be broken and your life about to end
No matter what you’ve lost, be it a home, a love , a friend
Then like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
Rise again, rise again!
Though your heart, it be broken and your life about to end
No matter what you’ve lost, be it a home, a love , a friend
Then like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.”
This song was one of Stan Rogers’ most popular tunes. Its message of never giving up no matter what life throws at you is one that resonated in the hearts of all who heard it. When Rogers was alive, he played it at almost every concert he gave. Since his death, this song has been sung in his memory as the closing song at many folk festivals across the whole of the land. It has become a standard in the very best sense of the term. But the popularity of the song is not its most important characteristic. “The Mary Ellen Carter” has even saved a life!
The story of how that happened revolves around a sailor out of New England named Bob Cusick. He was the Chief Mate (or first mate) on a ship called the Marine Electric. One night as it was fully loaded with Virginian coal bound for Massachusetts, the Marine Electric found itself caught in a gale. Not unlike what happened to the more famous Edmund Fitzgerald, the Marine Electric began taking on water after midnight. By two in the morning, the bow of the ship was under water. The crew abandoned ship not long after. Wary of being sucked down into the depths of the ocean as the ship went down, Bob Cusick began to swim as far away from the ship as his arms could take him in the freezing cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately for him, he came upon an overturned liferaft and managed to climb aboard. Even though he was out of the water, he was soaked and started to freeze from hypothermia. It would be hours still before the sun rose and Coast Guard rescue teams would be out searching for survivors. Bob Cusick felt his life force ebbing away from him with each passing minute. He was about to close his eyes and let go of the struggle when suddenly the words to the chorus of “The Mary Ellen Carter” flooded his mind. “Rise again, rise again!” Bob focussed on those words and began repeating them over and over again. Each time that he did, he saw the words forming in his mind. As he repeated the chorus, his mind became clearer and a steely resolve formed in his heart. Soon he was singing the words out loud, his breath forming fog before his face. In time, he felt renewed and revived and sang the words as loud as he could. He kept on singing “The Mary Ellen Carter” even as he saw the Coast Guard helicopter coming in the distance. He sang the chorus as his rescuers hovered above him and lowered a harness to lift him up to safety. When he made it safely back to land, he told anyone and everyone who would listen that the message contained in a song called “The Mary Ellen Carter” helped to save his life. All told, Bob Cusick was one of only three crewmen from a crew of forty who lived through the night. In the video link below, you can hear Bob Cusick share that story in his own words.
Bob Cusick’s story is evidence of the remarkable power of Stan Rogers’ message of hopefulness in the face of adversity that is contained in the song “The Mary Ellen Carter”. It is this message that I send to my fellow Cape Bretoners as they work together to return to their normal lives. I know in my heart of hearts that you will all be OK in the end. But for now, while many of you are still not OK, let the words of Stan Rogers warm your own hearts. While you may only have each other for comfort, as it turns out, that will be all that you need and far more than enough. If those of us from away could be home with you we would, in a heartbeat. But in lieu of that, I send you all this message of hope and resilience. Keep on digging. Keep on helping each other. It is inspiring but not surprising to watch Cape Bretoners rise again. Good luck to you all.
The link to the video for the song “The Mary Ellen Carter” by Stan Rogers…complete with an introduction by Bob Cusick…can be found here.
The link to the official website for Stan Rogers can be found here.
The link to the official websites of the Nova Scotia SPCA, The Canadian Red Cross, The Salvation Army and the United Way of Canada…should you care to make a donation in this time of need…can be found here, here, here and here. ***Note: these organizations are ones that I thought of off the top of my head. If you know of other charitable organizations doing good work back home, feel free to add them to the list in the comments section below.
The link to the video for the song “Rise Again” by The Rankin Family can be found here. ***Unfortunately, there appears to not be a lyrics version.
While this song is different in its subject matter from “The Mary Ellen Carter”, it is also an appropriate song to play at this time because it speaks to the spirit and sense of community that has always existed in Cape Breton due to the ups and downs of living by the sea, working in the coal mines and so on. Cape Breton Island is a beautiful part of the world that is populated by hearty souls. “Rise Again” by The Rankins is the proof, in song.
***As always, all original content contained in this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2024 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com