The sailor who did not return - Graveyards #2

Another in our new series on Graveyards. This head stone, at St Mary's Cemetary, South End, bears mute testimony to George Urquhart, master of the barque Shepherdess who drowned off Cape Recife in 1859. This was before the Cape Recife lighthouse was built. Cape Recife has some treacherous currents and reefs and has claimed many a ship that has ventured in too close to shore. These days with instant worldwide communications, it is hard to imagine what it must have been like for the families of these sailors, waiting sometimes years to know if their loved ones are alive or not.