Of the some sixty books written by C. Northcote Parkinson, his Richard Delancey series of nautical adventures is still a favorite among many aficionados of Georgian nautical fiction. Of course, Parkinson is best known for his “Parkinson’s Law” – that “work expands to fill the time available.” In his book of the same name from 1957, he predicted that one day the Royal Navy would have more ships than admirals. It has apparently finally happened. Continue reading
“Ignorance of the crosscatharpins is not necessarily fatal. Explanation almost certainly would be.”
Patrick O’Brian.
The cliché goes that there are two types of people – those who believe that there are two types of people and those who don’t. There are no doubt many more than two types of types of readers of nautical fiction. Nevertheless my guess is that as it applies to jargon, there may indeed be only two types.
“ON A DREARY AUTUMN EVENING when the clouds hung low in the heavens and the masts and yards of the tall men-of-war in the harbour were obscured by a chill drizzle of rain, there was no more inviting spot in Portsmouth than the taproom of Will Tunn’s Cheerful Tortoise.”
And so begins James N. Hall’s Doctor Dogbody’s Leg, in which Doctor Dogbody, a retired Royal Navy surgeon, sits by the fire at the Cheerful Tortoise with a glass of old Port Royal rum and over a series of nights recounts how he lost his larboard leg. Every night he tells a completely different story about how he came to lose his leg, each more outrageous and hilarious than the last. Continue reading
ELISSA is a three-masted, iron-hulled sailing barque built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland by Alexander Hall & Company. Under various names, rigs and owners she had a 90 year carreer carrying cargo. She was purchased by the Galveston Historical Foundation 1975. She was extensively refurbished through 1982. Since then, she has been dockside in Galveston when she is not sailing.
Though Hurrican Ike did serious damage to the dockside museum buildings and shops, except for blown out sails ELISSA apperas to have weathered the storm without damage. Continue reading
Nairne’s Barometer used by Captain Cook
In working on my book Evening Gray, Morning Red, I found myself using metaphors referencing barometers. “The glass was falling”, suggesting a storm, or a “rising glass” suggesting clear and dry weather, seemed perfectly apt language for a nautical novel. The problem was, the novel is set between 1768 and 1772. Were marine barometers common in the period? Did they even exist? I had some research to do.
The invention of the barometer is usually attributed to Torricelli in the mid-1600s, though the “weather glass” or “thunder glass”, a water barometer, is said to have been developed by Gheijsbrecht de Donckere in the 16th century. In England in 1695 Daniel Quare patented a marine barometer, which never seems to have caught on.
Archival Post: For the most recent news on HMS Pickle click here.
OK, not the original HMS Pickle but a replica built in 1995. For only £350,000.00 (US$626,640) you too could own a replica of the historic schooner.
For those not familiar with the Pickle, she was the first ship to bring the news of Nelson’s great victory and tragic death at Trafalgar back to England. Continue reading
Photos from a cruise on HMS Bounty a number of years ago.
-
- Main course and topsail
-
- Looking up at the main top
-
- Dusk, looking forward
-
- Light Air
-
- View from the Main Yard
-
- Cathead
-
- On the yard
-
- Sunset
-
- An Hour before Dawn
-
- Sunrise
-
- View from the Main Top
-
- Dusk
If by good fortune you missed the “International Talk Like a Pirate Day”, just as well. If you managed to pass the day without a single “Aargh” or “Shiver Me Timbers” congratulations.
I have a rather good sense of humor and some might say a quick wit. (And some say half-wit, but be that as it may.) Nevertheless, I am revolted by those who confuse piracy with cute colloquialisms, funny hats and the occasional parrot. Piracy is about murder and theft. Not too unlike terrorism, though in most cases with less justification. Continue reading