In 1912, the Morrissey made a record run between Portland, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia with Capt. Harry Ross aboard that inspired a ballad, sung by many a Grand Banks fisherman. Sailing in stormy darkness from Portland to Yarmouth, the ship logged two hundred miles in twenty hours, reaching at times a speed of sixteen knots and carrying only her foresail for the last eight hours. Frederick William Wallace, a writer and photographer, was aboard the schooner on that cold December night. He wrote the ballad and an account of this voyage that appears in his book, Roving Fisherman.
"Storm along! an' drive along! Frederick William Wallace 1913 Capt. William E. Morrissey, the Morrissey's original captain, died in Publico, NS, on January 28, 1913 at the age of 68. He had retired from the sea to run a hotel in Publico. March 14, 1914 |
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