GROWING Up in Stornoway, James Alexander Riach accompanied his parents to church on Sundays.
The service was normally preceded by one for the fishing men and their families. This poem comes from his son Alan's "Afterword" to his father's memoir, The Captain's Log: From Conway and Clan Line to Trinity House (Grimsay Press).
SANKEY HYMNS
What did they know of reverence,
the sailors' congregation? In Stornoway
they gathered, an hour before
the regular service
began, and filled the wooden pews and raised
their voices in mass praise. Resolve
of hardihood was theirs. Let reverence be left
to those more pious worshippers
who occupied the space left vacant when these men
went down to the sea to their ships, once again.
It's not a skill that's needed, catching fish.
Accuracy, yes. And Strength. A physical fact so prevalent
the eyes and voices of these men reveal it
every moment. Thinking was too slow for them,
reverence unhelpful.
Let them stand in Stornoway,
and sing to God to help them live and work.
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