Psalm 104 ...

... was chosen by the seafaring and nature-loving Prince Philip for his funeral and he requested that it be set to music by William Lovelady. I don't think I've come across it before. As I too have been a bit of a seafarer and am a nature lover, I've tried to tie in some of the images I have taken today to the service.

And birds make nest amid the trees.
The trees the Lord has made are full of vigour,
The fir tree is a home for storks;

A stork has been seen recently at Hall Marsh, very near here. They bred in the UK last year for the first time in 606 years. No stork but I got a cormorant, a swallow and a blue tit in a crab apple tree. 

I also loved The First Lesson from Ecclesiasticus 43. 11-26

Those who sail the sea tell stories of its dangers, which astonish all who hear them; in it are strange and wonderful creatures, all kinds of living things and huge sea-monsters.

My monsters are mirror carp.

The poignancy of the occasion was magnified because of the pandemic. It was desperately sad to see the Queen sitting alone. My father would have loved the lone piper and the Fell ponies. I thought the coverage by the BBC was well-judged with a commendable lack of commentary.