The Bitter End

The Bitter End

by

It has all the makings of a great detective story, clearly up to the standard of the Hercule Poirot or Inspector Maigret.  And we don’t have to go to some exotic place like London or Paris—it all happened right here!!

The story, set in 1924, begins with an abandoned boat found drifting off Turn Point in Washington State.  Blood is spattered everywhere and there’s no sign of her crew or the booze she was carrying.  The boat, the Beryl G, was Canadian and, as was found out later, had been boarded by pirates near Sidney Island.  The captain and his son were brutally murdered, tied to the boat’s anchor and thrown overboard.  The mystery seemed almost unsolvable, save for a blood-spattered cap and a camera found on board.   

Enter a disgraced detective, Inspector Cruikshank, who’d recently fumbled a high-profile murder case in Vancouver and had retreated to Vancouver Island. 

Inspector Cruikshank (drawing by Jean Marie Benoit)

Like a bulldog, Cruikshank pursued the registration number of an American boat caught on an undeveloped photograph in the camera—M 493.  After a lot of undercover work, a bit of cajoling, and some good detecting, Cruikshank was finally able to nab the culprits and, for him at least, the story ended happily.  

Not so much so for two of the three pirates who were hung.  For more details see https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/politics-law/inspector-cruickshank-the-case-of-the-beryl-g

   or the book The Case of the Beryl G by Eric Newsome: Orca Book Publishers, Victoria, B.C., 1989.

Owen (Cannonball) Baker (right) on his way to Vancouver for trial

This song by Bruce Coughlan, The Bitter End, does a wonderful job of bringing this story to life.

See tillersfolly.com for a virtual treasure trove of songs about BC’s history.  The Bitter End is but one of a wonderful series of history-based works by Bruce that bring our life on the coast to life. Bruce has recently compiled his historically-based songs and media and created a “Stirring Up Ghosts” website (https://stirringupghosts.ca/). He’s now reaching out to museums, heritage sites and authors who would like to contribute to the story.  A good example is “Chatham Reach” where author Brian Antonson contributed some text and images, and I linked to his website. https://stirringupghosts.ca/chatham-reach (TR).

Listen Here
Chord Chart

Song Lyrics

The Bitter End

©

In the days of Prohibition, through the tides of the Haro Straight
Rum boats ran illicit cargoes under cover of the night
The small time operator facing danger at each turn
From the pirate and hijacker, the Coast Guard and the Revenuer

It was the keeper of the Turn Point Light
Who first found the Beryl G
Drifting upon the morning tide, a grisly sight to see
From her deck down to her cabin the signs of blood in every place
What had become of her cargo and her crew, he could not find trace

But if you sail on “Rum Runner’s Row”
It’s danger you will find
For the sharks that lurk these waters, they’re of the human kind
And let there be no illusions, you will never know a friend
From a pistol to the gallows and all the way to the bitter end

Harry Sowash, Owen Baker & Charlie Morris made a plan
That they would rob the whiskey runners
Disguised as US Customs men
So they combed the San Juan Islands in search of opportunity
Until just off Sidney Island where they spied the Beryl G

They shot Wm Gillis where he stood
When they knew that he was dead
That’s when they cut young Willy Jr. down with a blow to his head

Oh, if you sail on “Rum Runner’s Row”
It’s danger you will find
For the sharks that lurk these waters, they’re of the human kind
There is murder and deception and on this you can depend
It’s a short step from the gallows all the way to the bitter end

It was the keeper of the Turn Point Light
Who first found the Beryl G
Drifting on the morning tide, what a grisly sight to see

Now they say that Charlie Morris got life in prison for his crime
Harry Sowash & Owen Baker were to pay with their lives
To sail that sea of sorrow with the hangman for a friend
Just a short step up the gallows and on their way to the bitter end

So if you sail on “Rum Runner’s Row”
It’s danger you will find
For the sharks that lurk these waters, they’re of the human kind
And let there be no illusions, you will never know a friend
It’s a short step from the gallows all the way to the bitter end

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