The William And Mary on Cigar Box Guitar

Time for a brand new song, hot off my presses - this is a tale of the Eastbourne lifeboat The William and Mary that in 1883 was rolled 5 miles over the downs to save the crew of the New Brunswick. Everyone was so proud of the efforts of the crew that night, but when the barque was towed in, it was the Newhaven crew who put in for Salvage and got over £300. The Eastbourne crew were none too impressed, as they were the ones who had risked their lives to save the crew. They put in a claim for salvage of the crew and got £120. However this is against the rules of the RNLI and they were all subsequently fired, leaving Eastbourne with no lifeboat crew for 4 years. What a fabulous story of the sheer determination and bravery of the crew and how they were repaid - it was just begging to be made into a song.