Wreckers, The (Smyth). Libretto by Harry Brewster; 3 acts; first performance Leipzig 1906, conducted by Richard Hagel.

Cornwall, late 18th cent.: At times of hardship, the people of a small Cornish fishing-village disable the lighthouse and lure ships on to the rocky coast so they can plunder them. The local preacher Pascoe helps them, but his wife, Thirza, is revolted by their behaviour. Together with her lover, Mark (who has abandoned his previous love, Avis, daughter of the lighthouse keeper, Lawrence), she warns the ships off. When their actions are discovered, they are captured by the villagers, walled up in a cave and left to drown as the tide rises.