Eyemouth disaster

The misfortune of Eyemouth was a storm disaster that occurred on October 14, 1881 off the east coast of Scotland and in particular concerned the port town of Eyemouth. It is considered the most serious disaster in the history of the Scottish fishing and as "Black Friday " (English Eyemouth 's Black Friday ) in the city's history of Eyemouth.

On this day, which began on the east coast of Scotland with sunshine, a cloudless sky and calm sea, with no obvious signs began shortly before noon an exceptionally strong hurricane that killed 189 residents in this region Fischer. Among the victims were 129 fishermen from Eyemouth and about one-third of the male population of the place. 73 women from Eyemouth lost her husband and her father 263 children. 19 boats, about half of the local fishing fleet, sank or destroyed due to the tides caused low water levels during the storm on their return to the rocky coast of the city, in many cases, within sight of the waiting relatives of fishermen and residents of the city. Only 30 victims' bodies were found later. One boat crew to endure two days at sea and reach the port after the storm has succeeded.

A country-wide fundraising campaign resulted in the subsequent period the high for that time sum of 54,000 pounds sterling, out of all the affected families pension payments could be granted. A planned before the disaster developing the urban harbor a deep-water port, through which may be the number of victims would have been significantly lower, has not been realized due to the loss for the urban fishery. At the misfortune to remember a fabricated granite memorial stone in the form of a broken sail mast and in the six affected fishing villages of Coldingham, Eyemouth, Burnmouth, St. Abbs, Cove and Musselburgh each monuments of bronze, the women and children show that look out on the lake. In the local museum of Eyemouth is a tapestry with the deceased fishermen and boats unfortunate name.