Grace Darling, Heroine of the Farne IslandsFarningham, Marianne
History
Grace Darling, Heroine of the Farne Islands
Farningham, Marianne
Darling, Grace, 1815-1842; Women heroes -- England -- Northumberland -- Biography
be the first to acknowledge that her courage has deserved them."
Many a laugh, we may be sure, had the lighthouse-family over such
articles, though there can be no doubt that the good sense of Grace
caused her to take advantage of every lesson taught to her, whether by
words of praise or blame. We cannot, perhaps, exalt her deed too
highly, but it should always be borne in mind, that she would have been
just as good a girl if the "Forfarshire" had never been wrecked on the
coast of the Farne Islands. Grace was heroic already, but the
catastrophe brought her qualities of courage, endurance, and humanity,
to the front. One feels glad to know that all the praise did not make
her other than the humble British girl, though few, perhaps, could pass
through such an ordeal of adulation unscathed. The flatteries had,
however, a ludicrous as well as a touching side, as may be seen from
the following extract. Hero-worship leads to the hoarding of many
things, including bark of trees, stones, mortar, old rags, and hair;
and it is little wonder if Grace found the latter tendency rather
inconvenient.
"Grace Darling's name is now as well known throughout the island as
Queen Anne's; and to tell people of the decease of the one is about as
necessary as to warn them of the living glory of the other. Grace is
the admired of all admirers, and far is it from us to wish her grace
diminished in men's eyes, or herself less a darling than she is at
present. But the enthusiasm of gratitude and idolatry is becoming
somewhat alarming. We know not how the persons who, principally by her
intrepidity, were saved from the wreck of the 'Forfarshire,' may feel
towards their 'good angel in the hour of fate,' but every body else
seems to think of her as one to whom they owe the life of some being
related to themselves by blood, and inestimably prized by affection.
The universal feeling in this case shows us how truly
'One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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