SAND DUNES AND SALT MARSHES 



circled over the water, while the booming of 

 the waves formed a constant undertone. 



To old Ipswich folk the voice of the ocean 

 on the bar has interesting associations. 



" I love to think of old Ipswich town; 

 Harry Main — you have heard the tale — lived there; 

 He blasphemed God, so they put him down 



With an iron shovel, at Ipswich Bar; 

 They chained him there for a thousand years, 



As the sea rolls up to shovel it back; 

 So when the sea cries, the goodwives say 



' Harry Main growls at his work today: ' '' 



There seems to be no uncertainty as to the 

 crime but some diversity of opinion as to the 

 punishment, for: 



" On the bar of Ipswich, Harry Main, 

 Restless of heart and hand, 

 Through midnight tempest, rift or rain, 

 Is coiling a rope of sand. 



" Doomed for his sins to this vain toil, — 

 Blasphemous pirate he, — 

 For a thousand years to stand and coil 

 This cable by the sea." 



As the tide rose, the seals were crowded 

 together on one of the highest points of the 



172 



