The poem "The Inchcape Rock" (1802) written by Robert Southney is inspired by the legend of a pirate who removed the bell placed on Inchcape Rock by the abbot of Arbroath to warn sailors of the proximity of a sandstone reef. The bell was anchored to a buoy, so if the weather was mild, the waves would not stir the bell. Otherwise, the bell would warn the sailors of rough seas and the proximity of te coast.
The poem tells the story of Captain Sir Ralph the Rover, a pirate who plans to cut the bell from its fastening to the buoy. He is rowed by his sailors and after doing it, he watches the bell as it sinks and says that the next who comes to Inchcape Rock will sink and not bless the abbot of Arbroath.
Some time later, after plundering several merchant ships, Ralph the Rover sets sails to Scotland and arrives at Inchcape Rock in bad weather. Since the bell is no longer there to warn sailors, the ship strucks the rock and sinks. With his dying breath, Ralph the Rover says he hears the bell ringing from beneath the waves, implying that the Devil is swinging it, tolling for him.
The central idea of the poem is that bad things happen to people who do bad things. What goes around comes around.
