The Horn of the Beast (Part Four)

PART IV: The Horn of the Beast

No sooner did he hear these words,
Gilliat away did turn
To fit his sloop and set his sails,
His lady’s love to earn.

He set his course along Les Banques
And through the rocks steered true;
At Kidormur aghast he saw
A man admired the view!

For there the waves had worn some steps
Up to a polished seat –
But not for little was that throne
Known as ‘the Horn of the Beast’.

The breakers there burst like banshees
Upon the water’s rise:
At times the ocean is as fatal
As a woman’s eyes.

He waved, he wailed, then close he sailed
As up the tide did creep,
And at the rock his fears confirmed:
The man was fast asleep!

He took the stranger’s foot then shook
And woke him with the shock,
“Now climb aboard,” cried Gilliat,
“Or perish on this rock!”

Aboard the sloop, the black-clad man
Explained he was a priest
But new arrived, who had not known
The dangers of ‘the Beast’.

At dock he said, “You saved my life!”
Handing over a bible;
They bid farewell not in the least
Suspecting they were rivals.

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The plot thickens! With the introduction of a new character in the shape of a priest, Hugo's tale takes another twist here. Likewise, with its silhouette and shadows, Charlie's illustration has a wonderful sense of mystery about it...

The Princess and the Dragon (Part Three)

PART III: The Princess and the Dragon

Four years flew as the young girl grew
And bloomed just like a flower,
And with each year that fluttered past
His heart more in her power.

He spent his days with fishing nets
Upon the brimming sea;
By night he crept across her lawn
To play pipes beneath a tree.

Alone at sea he dreamed of her
Then watched her in her bower;
Day after day, night after night
His heart more in her power.

She seemed sunrise in human form,
Her coming shed a light,
And should she but choose to smile – why!
His joy was at its height.

Her uncle scarce could let her go,
His garden’s prettiest flower:
Lethierry kept her safe at home,
The princess in his tower.

But he had won his fame at sea
And felt at home with fish;
In town at pains, on deck at ease,
The breeze still made him wish.

And so he launched a ship of steam
Which made him rich on land:
His second niece to Deruchette,
He named the boat Durande!

But steam was sin to island folk,
A beast of omen dire –
They saw a volcano belching smoke,
A dragon breathing fire…

So when one day that ship of steam
Was lost in fog and mist,
They said it brought the wrath of God
That such a thing exist.

“To speak of steam means long ago –
How links this with your crime?”
So spoke the priest, but thus the voice,
“All will be clear in time.”

News arrived that most had survived
Saved by a passing ship:
The pillars of Les Douvres held
The steamer in their grip.

The crowds soon ran to Lethierry
To tell him of his boat,
Which trapped between the Douvres
Only Heaven underwrote.

He heard how waves had thrown the boat,
Then came the strangest fact:
Though twenty feet above the sea,
The engines were intact!

No sailor spoke of salvage –
It would only leave two wrecks:
No ship could anchor off those rocks,
No crew would risk their necks.

Beside the uncle sat his niece –
Then, taking hold his hand,
Said she: “I’d gladly marry he
Who could bring back Durande.”

At this, Lethierry leaped and shrieked:
“The engine still has life!
Save the machine which made the steam –
My niece shall be your wife!”

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'The game is afoot!' as Holmes might say... this part really sets the plot of Hugo's tale in motion. This is also one of my favourite illustrations from the exhibition: I think the cool colours really capture the mood of the harbour in winter. More images and verses every couple of days from now until the opening: stay tuned!

Extra Invites

For those of you who received a flier at the Victor Hugo music festival last night, simply email speak@soulofthesea.co.uk with your name and any extra guests and we will add you to the list for the opening night... look forward to seeing you!

In the meantime, more verses and illustrations coming tomorrow (Saturday). Stay posted!

The Devil's Henchman (Part Two)

PART II: The Devil’s Henchman

They said his mother came from France –
They said she fled the blade –
They saw she brought a baby son:
Of him they were afraid!

She reared him in a haunted house
Among empires of spiders,
But anything that she did need
The Lord did there provide her.

They said the boy was Satan’s son
And his mother Satan’s bride,
Though she raised a fine young man
Till death took her from his side.

She left her son a trunk which had
Inside a wedding dress
To be a gift from her above
His chosen wife to bless.

The girls all said they hated him
Though they thought him handsome –
He stood as proud as any mast
As ever graced St Sampson’s!

But till that morn with Deruchette
He had not sought a bride:
His first love was his fishing sloop,
The buoys of the ocean wide...

He knew the Creux, the Alligande,
The Tremies and Sardrette,
The oval Anfre, triple Rousse
And white ball of Corbette!

They said that he had sold his soul
To sail that sloop so well,
And all the fish he hauled aboard
Had swum straight up from hell.

They said his skill with wind and tide
Made him the devil’s henchman:
No pilot like him island-wide
And worse – he was a Frenchman!

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This is the second part, following on from The Word in the Snow: here, we discover the islanders' distrust of Gilliat due to his mother's arrival from France after the Revolution. Charlie's illustration perfectly captures the whispering gossips of St Sampson's... and special thanks must go to our rugged model for Gilliat, Ed Bois! More coming in the next couple of days...

The Word in the Snow (Part One)

PART I: The Word in the Snow

This all began one Christmas morn
When snow lay on the ground:
The island like an empty page,
The bells the only sound.

Behind a maid, a fisher came
As through the snow she led;
From time to time she twisted round
Or blithely turned her head…

So bending at her slender waist
A word in snow she wrote –
Then with a glance and flick of hair,
Away the maid did float.

The fisher trudged in heavy boots,
Each print a dungeon lock;
And when he stumbled on the word,
His legs were clamped with shock.

There gazing on those strokes in white,
His heart was set aflame:
The word he read a message sent –
The letters spelled his name.

From then, the fisher Gilliat
Did dream of Deruchette:
His name there writ upon the snow
He never would forget.

But by the spring the butterfly
Had fluttered back to play:
The winter snows seemed long ago,
His name melted away.

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As promised, a preview of the first of Charlie's illustrations! This is the first section in the ballad after the Prologue, describing how the fisherman Gilliat fell in love with the beautiful maid Deruchette. Stay tuned for more previews of the illustrations and the ballad in the coming days...

The Prologue

PROLOGUE

The priest in his confession box
Was all alone that night
When the footsteps on the flagstones
Fell loud as hammer strikes.

They pounded through the open nave
Until they reached the door;
Those steps echoed inside the box
And shook it to its core.

The priest was all alone that night
As slowly he slid the screen,
Revealing through the grille a shape
Too shadowed to be seen.

“Forgive me, father,” said the shape,
“Against the Lord I’ve sinned.”
The voice whispered so low it seemed
The air itself had thinned.

“Tell me, my son, what you have done:
Your soul shall be absolved.”
But through the grille, the shape stayed still –
The heart of the priest grew cold.

The candles quivered in their stands;
At length the shape did speak:
“My story you must hear before
Forgiveness I can seek.”

The voice, the grille, that shape so still –
Inside the priest felt locked:
He watched the candles flicker like
The ticking of a clock.

“Then tell your story,” said the priest
Aware he had no choice:
He listened captive at the grille
And so began the voice…

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This is the opening of the ballad, set in a church confessional box. We were lucky enough to count with the services of Father Michael Hore of St Joseph's to give a really authentic voice and presence to this part in the film. The Prologue and the Epilogue of The Soul of the Sea are new additions to Victor Hugo's original tale and one of the main reasons we felt that it was more appropriate to give the ballad a slightly modified title to the novel The Toilers of the Sea. I hope that they will provide an interesting path into the past for new readers: after all, the priest is hearing the story for the first time too...

In the Press again

We are in the Press again today - at the bottom of the Arts page - a nice photo of Pete who quite literally stands out of the page, and some good comments from volunteers both young and old(er).

Tomorrow I'll be publishing the Prologue here, followed by the first part together with the first of Charlie's illustrations on Saturday. Stay posted!

Poster and Invites Ready

We've finished the poster to promote the exhibition! A big thankyou to James Colmer, our graphic designer, who's really excelled himself with this one.

The illustration, which shows Gilliat wrestling with the devil fish in Part X, will also form the backdrop for the invitations. Charlie has painted another 15 pictures to tell the story alongside the ballad, some of which we'll be previewing here over the next few days. Stay posted! If you were a reader at the weekend, there'll be an invite in the post for you in the next few days.

In other news, Pete and Magnus have returned to the Town Church under cover of darkness to film the prologue and epilogue with Father Michael: these scenes will be candlelit and have quite a different atmosphere to the main story...

A Big Thankyou

A big thankyou to everyone who took part in yesterday's filming at the Town Church.

The readings were of an incredibly high quality given the tight schedule within which volunteers had to prepare their verses. We had close to 50 volunteers and it was terrific to have such a variety of ages, faces and voices: it really brought the story back to life.

Stay posted this week for some previews of the illustrations in the exhibition as well as the poster which will be going up around the island to promote it.

Next week I will be posting some excerpts from the ballad so people can get an idea of the different sections of the story ahead of the opening evening on Friday 3rd October.

All readers are of course invited to the opening and welcome to bring family and friends. If readers bringing extra guests could let us know, this would be a big help in staying on top of numbers and refreshments:

speak@soulofthesea.co.uk

Lights, Camera... Action!

We are all set now for the recording of the ballad at the Town Church this Saturday, sponsored by the Guernsey Arts Commission.

Magnus has been surveying the church this week with Pete Root from Paul and Peter Productions and they have found some great spots for readers to perform.

At the latest count, we have close to 50 volunteers to read, which is fantastic news. Special thanks go to the many readers who have phoned up to lend their voices after reading the coverage in the Press or hearing it on the radio. It's been inspiring to hear people's connections with the novel and memories of reading Toilers. Les Beaucamps High have also provided a welcome boost to our numbers with around 20 students participating. There are a couple of starlets from La Mare De Carteret High coming down too.

Thanks too to Richard De La Rue of the International Victor Hugo festival who is plugging us in his newsletters. In return, we are encouraging those interested to pick up a leaflet at the church ahead of next week's wonderful music festival in the island.

Stay posted next week for photos of Saturday's reading, the exhibition's poster, and some excerpts from the ballad.

A la perchoine!

In the Press / On the Radio

'The Soul of the Sea' is featured in today's Guernsey Press. The story is on page 16 of the paper, leading the arts coverage.

Magnus will also be speaking on BBC Radio Guernsey tomorrow (Thursday) at around 10.15am.

We are currently seeking islanders to come forward to take part in our film of the ballad: you can find more details in the post below.

To register your interest, send an email with your name and age to:

speak@soulofthesea.co.uk

Deadline to register is Monday 8th September.