The inspiration for this image I have in my Etsy shop called 'Marina Jane' was inspired by the poignant story of  Jane.  A story I learnt about twenty or more years ago that comes to my thoughts from time to time as I explored the coast and learn more about its hidden stories and truths. Her name 'Marina' was one of fondness which reflected how she arrived in the locality as a child.

Marina Jane was found one morning in an open boat that had washed ashore, she was lying in the bottom of the boat, disheveled, and under a cover was her dead mother, there was no sign of anyone else having been in the boat and the oars were missing. Nobody near or far knew who she was or where she had come from. She knew her name was Jane, and she was taken in and eventually adopted by a local family who raised her into a fine young woman with a love for nature and animals. She married a local man call William Park, and between them they set about creating a future for themselves, they rented a small holding a mile away from the shore.

Together they worked the small subsistence farm, growing crops and keeping a few goats, it was hard work to make ends meet but they manage for a couple of years. Then times became hard, money for rent had to be spent on other necessities and they started to fall behind with their rent payments, eventually William was forced to take a job as a deck hand on a ship to raise money for their needs.

This was a common practice in those days, ships were always looking for crews for a voyage as they plied between local ports as well as to Europe and across the Atlantic to America. William signed on for a four month passage, they figured this would bring enough money in to keep the farm going and invest in their dream. Jane was left to keep things going until William returned from the voyage. They both knew this was the only way they could solve their problems, so with heavy hearts they parted, Jane went to the quay to watch his ship sail.

Four months past and William did not returned, several more months and still no word of him, Jane struggled on with the farm in the believe he had been delayed by bad weather. After another two months she was unable to to keep it going any longer, with a years rent owing, no money coming in and no sign of William, the landlord evicted her from the farm, fortunately the family that had raised her took her in and kept her safe.
As the months passed, Jane began to change, she knew in her heart William would never abandon her and that he would return and she would be there waiting for him. This belief became her obsession, she  would spend her days on the shore, waiting and looking for his ship. She was so obsessed with the need to be there waiting for him that she built herself a small shack out of stones and whatever driftwood she could find along the shore, and this became her home while she waited for William.

One winter afternoon, the weather turned exceptionally bad, it was so severe that the local fishermen fearing for their boats went to the shore and dragged them a hundred yards inshore, out of reach of the ocean. A huge storm was brewing, the fishermen begged Jane to come with them as they feared for her safety. However, she insisted on staying, in case William would arrive and she would not be there to meet him. Reluctantly, the fishermen against their better judgement, respected her decision and left,  then as twilight fell the leading edge of the storm arrived and stayed throughout the night.

In the morning the storm had passed leaving a trail of havoc in it wake, thatch had been blown off cottage roofs, boats had been destroyed and seawater had flooded some areas. There was no sign of Jane or her home, it had completely vanished, washed away without a trace. The ocean that had brought her to this shore had claimed her. It is believed William lost his live in a shipwreck off the Scottish coast, Jane was never found.

In 1907, William Clarke Robinson from Glenarm published a book of poems and dedicated one to her called ‘Marina Jane’ in it he said: ‘The hungry sea had claimed what first it gave; She doubtless joined him after severance long; And o’er them both, beyond the broken wave, The sea wind sings its ever plaintive song.’