5th April 2020
The Churchward household is now well and truly in lock down mode at the present time due to the horrible virus that is causing massive worldwide problems. This presents a good opportunity for me to write lots more songs which will hopefully keep Lord Zarquon busy. I've just finished writing another song which is about Isaac Merritt Singer who owned Oldway Mansions when it was built in the 1870s. It's not certain but quite likely that his last wife was the model for the Statue of Liberty. It was designed by the French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and I think his mother was the model for the initial sketch with the last wife and widow of Isaac Singer being the model for the final design. Isaac made a fortune from his patent of a sewing machine and I've called the song Patent 8294.
I have also written another song after reading a book about the history of Torbay. Found out that there was a shipyard in Brixham that built a replica of the Mayflower which then successfully sailed across the Atlantic in the 1950's. So here are the lyrics for another song of mine
The Brixham Mayflower
In Plymouth Massachusetts a special ship arrived
And a warm welcome would not be denied
Lining the dockside was a cheering crowd
And I heard that their cheers were very loud
Such a triumph for Upham's shipyard
The ship sailing on when a storm hit her hard
With English oak and canvas sail
Mr Charlton's vision would prevail
In Plymouth Massachusetts a special ship arrived
And a warm welcome would not be denied
Lining the dockside was a cheering crowd
And I heard that their cheers were very loud
She'd been launched in the pouring rain
Beautifully crafted with axe and plane
Christened with a gold loving cup
In the harbour to bring her good luck
Another interesting thing is that one of the owners of the shipyard built and owned a ship which kept on winning a Regatta each year. His vessel won it so many times that in the end he was asked not to enter her for the race anymore. This was before the First World War. The vessel was called the Ibex and was sunk near Berry Head in 1915 by a German submarine which also sank 30 other trawlers.
Here are two links to my song about the 1620 Mayflower on USA based websites:-