I don’t know about you, but I find these fall photos below, of the Mariners’ Memorial I took in scenic Grand Bank, as Halloween-ghostly as they are eye-catching.
The story behind this memorial is one of tragedy and loss, a familiar one for many who live on this island of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic. The Widow’s Walk played a part in this story.
From the Town of Grand Bank’s website:
“This is the Mariners’ Memorial: a life-size female figure and a water and beach rocks “shoreline” containing the names of the mariners who were lost at sea. The woman represents and exemplifies the virtues and strength of character of thousands of Newfoundland wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters who had to endure the loss of their men. She is standing alone on the widow’s walk staring in the distance. Her body is full of tension, anticipation and premonition of tragedy. Like a withered tree, she remains there eternally expecting those who will never return.”
Pictured below is the Alphaeus Barbour House, right here in Newtown, Newfoundland and Labrador where I live. You can see the widow’s walk on top. The Alphaeus Barbour House at the Barbour Living Heritage Site is a historic three-story Queen Anne Revival home.
The widow’s walk name comes from the romanticized story of fishermen’s wives who climbed to the roof to watch for their husbands’ ships to return from sea, frequently in vain if the ship was lost in a storm.
Of course, the widow’s walk had its practical purposes. Historians indicate they also served functions such as fire suppression: they provided fast access to the roof and chimneys from the attic. Widows’ walks were also used for port observation: fish merchants, shipowners and sea captains used them to look out for incoming and outgoing harbour traffic.
Today, however, I am highlighting its Halloween-ghostly meaning.
The Widow’s Walk
…I walk around the roof at night,
Up above my home
Waiting for his ship to sight,
My husband to return.
The townsfolk they all think I’m mad,
“His ship’s gone down,” they say.
Sunk she was, all lives were lost,
Buried ‘neath the waves.”
But still I wend my way around, the walk above my home
Between the ocean and the moon,
A widow, now, alone.
For though I know his ship’s been lost,
Sunk beneath the sea
On certain nights, his ghost returns, and keeps me company…
~ excerpt credited to A. A. Rubin
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To see more of my photos from historic Grand Bank, NL, click here.
*RDP Prompt: EERIE
