BURY MY BONES
WRITING a song to bring life to an old soul
“MY BONES WERE EXPOSED BY THE WIND & EROSION,
BURY MY BONES LOOKING OVER THE SEA.
THEY QUESTIONED WHO I WAS WITH THEORIES & NOTIONS,
BURY MY BONES SO I CAN BE FREE.”
EXCERPT FROM ‘BURY MY BONES’
Illustration by Anupa Gardner
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN SOUL
In 2022, Ann Reynolds, Strategic Historic Environment Senior Officer (Rural Environment) at Cornwall Council was alerted to the discovery of human remains on the coast path overlooking Newtrain Bay in Trevone, Cornwall, located in Section 04 of Cornwall National Landscape (AONB).
Dr. Richard Mikulski, Senior Archaeologist, Cornwall Archaeological Unit, was called in to excavate the Trevone remains, dating them to between 1580 and 1790, and identifying them as belonging to a man who had likely been a seafarer.
The remains have provided intrigue and investigation. With sensitivity, Cornwall National Landscape took the opportunity to explore the fictional life of the mystery male using art and storytelling as a mechanism for connection.
Gareth Rees - photo by Rebecca Rees Photography
'Son of man, can these bones live?' Ezekiel 37:3
Cornwall National Landscapes commissioned local author, Gareth Rees, to create a fictional, sometimes fantastical account of the mystery man's life - taking into account some of the forensic information that the archaeologists were able to provide.
Inspired by the biblical quote from Ezekiel, Gareth produced Give Him a Little Earth, a 'long story' that attempts to bring the Trevone remains back to life, at least in print.
'Four spirits assemble on a clifftop in Trevone, Cornwall to witness the excavation of a grave site. Each, wishing to stake a claim to the bones within, has a story to tell.'
Designed by Luke Thompson at Guillemot Press and illustrated by Anupa Gardner, this limited-edition hardback edition is a beautiful object printed by Palace Printers, Lostwithiel, Cornwall.
You can order a signed, numbered copy of ‘Give Him A Little Earth’ by clicking here
For a taste of what to expect, listen to Gareth reading an extract from Give Him a Little Earth by
CREATING A SHANTY
In the early stages of the project Gareth and Cornwall National Landscape decided that a sea shanty could be an interesting and appropriate companion piece to the commissioned book.
Gareth happened to mention this to mutual friend and sound supremo Rob Simpson. Having worked with Rob for years with Fisherman’s Friends gigs and performances, my name was the first to pop into his mind and he quickly facilitated getting us together to talk about the project.
I was aware of the unearthing of the skeletal remains as it all took place just a mile and a half away from my hometown.
Over a cup of tea or two Gareth explained to me his initial ideas for the book he’d been commissioned to write. The thing that captured me immediately was that Gareth’s stories would be told by four ghosts as they watched the bones being excavated. Each would claim to know who this unidentified soul was and ultimately no-one would know who he really was.
The initial studies of the skeleton showed that this unidentified soul had lived at some point in a 210 year period of time. This meant that we could look at every possible life this man had lived, how the sea had played a part in his life, what he may have seen in his life. The most intriguing thing to me was that despite the information that we knew about our ‘character’, what we could be told about him by science and discovery, there was only one person who truly knew who he was and what he experienced and felt. Ultimately, our hero had taken his secrets and his name with him to the grave, no ghosts could truly tell us who he was.
As I spoke with Gareth I was drawn to the fact that this body had been carefully buried overlooking the sea, in a resting place carved into the clifftop. Whoever had discovered him had purposely placed him just feet from the Atlantic Ocean where he had likely spent most of his life, and now through coastal erosion he had been revealed to the world. His bones had been taken from his place of rest and exposed to the world. These bones would be studied before being sympathetically reburied with a headstone memorial in Padstow at a later date….
…. Buried twice. Once overlooking the sea and once to be free once more to rest.
That was it, that was the hook. Most shanties follow a call and response format and I had just found my response.
“Bury my Bones looking over the sea…… Bury my Bones so I can be free.”
Our teacups ran empty, I bid farewell to Gareth, thanked him for considering me for this amazing creative project and told him that I’d get to work on plotting out the song after I returned from the upcoming tour leg with Fisherman’s Friends which would commence the next day.
Usually, when I write a song under my own steam it can take an age to formulate. While I may essentially know what I want the song to say, what its core message, emotion or tone will be, it may take a while for me to build the overall story arc. This was the first time I had been asked to write a song to a brief. The bones (no pun intended) were already there for me to flesh out. I knew this soul would be buried overlooking the sea, a place he knew well and there were so many events that he could have experienced through the timescale in question. Wars, hardship, violence, smuggling, isolation, solitary conditions, class struggles all set within a mile or so of his final resting place. I loved the idea that, while the song would present all these possibilities, only our hero knew the life he had led and the name he had been born with.
I stepped onto the Fisherman’s Friends tour bus (sounds more glamorous than it actually is) fully intending to partake in the usual start of tour conversations that we have but all I could think of was the recurring phrase…..
“Bury my Bones looking over the sea…… Bury my Bones so I can be free.”
My notepad came out as we drove through Delabole, ideas, sketches and basic lines were scribbled down. I explained the project to a few fellow band members and was met with the same sentiment from each of them….
“That sounds perfect for you. You love your depressing songs!” It’s true. In fisherman’s Friends it’s a running joke that I’m the ‘Master of Melancholy’, the ‘Titan of the Tearjerker’ and the ‘Lord of Lament’. I do sing some of the sadder songs of the sea and a lot of what I write, while tinged with optimism, has a melancholic thread running through it.
By the time the bus passed Exeter Services the notepad had been replaced by my laptop and I began to cut, paste and re-order rudimentary lines and rhymes. By the time we hit Taunton I had the first draft in place, the tune finalised and I put the laptop down for a while to re-join the Fishy conversations.
Our gig was taking place in Grimsby so after soundcheck I disappeared into a dressing room at the venue and, armed with a guitar, recorded a rough demo to send to Gareth. He was delighted with my idea and with the exception of two words nothing has changed from that rough demo. I sat in my home studio after the Fisherman’s Friends tour leg was over and set to work recording the song in full.
Simple guitar, piano, my son’s pipe drum that he plays on May Day, a raw lead vocal and reverb heavy harmonies.
The single version of ‘Bury my Bones’ is ready for the world to hear. I may well refine the production of the song in the future to release on my next album but I’m delighted with how this writing project has gone.
So click one of the players below to listen to the song. I hope you enjoy it.
Listen up.
Why not click on one of these embedded players to listen to ‘Bury My Bones’ or you can find other services that stream the song by clicking here
THE LAUNCH EVENT @ TREVONE
On an appropriately cold and blustery evening, just a few hundred metres from where our unknown soul was unearthed, Cornwall National Landscape hosted an evening of storytelling and live music with the aim of raising awareness of this fascinating story as well as raising money to fund a fitting memorial to all unidentified storm washed people.
Firstly Ann Reynolds gave us an interesting insight into the discovery of the skeletal remains as well as new information gathered by the archaeological team that help us to understand more about our unknown sailor’s life.
Gareth read an excerpt from his book, ‘Give Him a Little Earth’, to the gathered 100-strong audience. Just one of the four possible lives that our hero could have lived and a great tease to the rest of limited hardback release which is still available to buy.
Then it was time to sing ‘Bury My Bones’ in front of a live audience for the very first time. The sun had gone down, the wind began to howl and the shanty rang out around Trevone Bay. It all added to the melancholy tone of the song, I couldn’t help but imagine how many more undiscovered, storm washed souls could hear the song as it carried out past the clifftops and into the oncoming rainstorms on the horizon. I then continued the set with a collection of my self-penned songs looking at Cornish life and history. All very appropriate for an evening that had it’s mind very much in days gone by.
Charlie Noordewier took the audience inside to finish the evening with some beautiful songs and by the time we all headed home we had raised over £1000 to go towards a lasting memorial and Padstow RNLI.
