Is the song "Mabel Grey" by Brown Bird an allusion to a real ship?

Question

The song [Mabel Grey, by Brown Bird](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E81QKkid4o) contains peculiar lyrics. The lyrics are awfully specific about what happened to this ship, which is a common pattern I see when a song is referent to a real-life event. It's reminiscent of Barrett's Privateers, in that it appears like it could be referring to a specific event, and is written in the form of a historical allusion.But, while Barrett's Privateers is fictional, it contains the details needed to tell a full story. Mabel Grey here seems to be a snapshot of some existing story - its descriptions are both cursory and rather specific, leaving a great number of holes for the listener to either fill in, or, alternately, understand within a pre-existing context.That leads me to wonder if the Mabel Grey was a real ship and person. There certainly have been both ships and people named "Mabel Grey" (or, Gray). Notably, two schooners that wrecked have borne the name: [one sunk on March 11, 1904, off the coast of California](https://books.google.com/books?id=FqKACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=mabel+gray+schooner+sunk&source=bl&ots=UKTGFmZomQ&sig=H3aamc91-ET02pTLCYsn5S-2hpU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4x5Tx0PbUAhVjImMKHXoyDi0Q6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&q=mabel%20gray%20schooner%20sunk&f=false), and the other [has an entry on ShipIndex, but doesn't seem to have any other public information](https://www.shipindex.org/ships/mabel_gray). These are my best guesses as to where I would start. But I really have no clue.Is this song referring to a real event? If not, is it new fabrication, or does it refer to something else?

Answer 1

Hello there, :)

I would be glad to give you the answer.

Answer. According to an interview (link) with surviving band member Joe Fletcher, "Mabel Grey" is in reference to a actual ship of the identical name, but become written by the overdue David Lamb and information about the inspiring shipwreck are unknown by using anyone besides likely Lamb's wife.