Hard to say Good-bye!

It is with a nostalgic twinge that I come to the end of a twenty-one book journey, following Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey and the crew of the Surprise. Books penned by Patrick O'Brian from 1969 to 2004, these stories of nautical fiction were really something to look forward to. I started, of course, with the first, Master and Commander, after I saw the film of the same name. Actually, the movie was a joining of the first book to one that O'Brian wrote in 1984 (The Far Side of the World). I love that film, especially because it is a real look into how it was on board a vessel of those times. It is not romanticized or subject to Hollywood's all-too-dangerous artistic "license".

The books are the same. Not dumbed down. The vocabulary is filled with full-on naval terminology for how to sail, which sails are used, the protocols of the Royal Navy, etc etc. The dialog between the characters is typical of how they spoke at that time: the formality of address, the courtesy, the hierarchy.

The final book is a partial book, because O'Brian passed away in 2000. "The Final Voyage of Jack Aubrey", or  "21" as it is lovingly known, was not published until 2004 (hence the dates above). An interesting bit about the book is that it is not only published in text, but at the side of each of the three chapter pages, you see O'Brian's hand-written version, before editing, and finalization. He hand-wrote all the books.

The stories, as they always say, are truly better than the movie (in this case, if that's possible). The characters are developed over time, and the friendship of the Captain and the Doctor, which is really at the heart of the stories, is so very real. The Captain, though a true leader and commanding authoritarian while on the high seas, is a bit unsophisticated and emotional on land. Aubrey is totally loyal to his duty and the Crown. The Doctor is a physician which is something very much more than a surgeon, or pill-pusher. He is analytical and a bit mysterious, and plagued by some medicinal demons. And, he is a spy for the British government, and a secret sympathizer of the rebel Irish cause. They are the ying and yang of their times. They are one-another's conscience. I love them, and will miss their adventures.

I will have to start the series over again one day, but meanwhile, they have travelled forth, and now made landfall on my bookshelves.

Gieve's and Hawkes: Tailor to Naval Stars!

The other day I saw a photo of a wonderful item auctioned at Bonhams, London in June of 2012. The item, a bicorn hat from a Royal Navy officer along with its tin transit case, and a pair of epaulets. Though a bit worn and faded, here it was, a piece of history, in all its glory. Though you can't see it, the lining of the hat is distinguished by the "London" maker's mark that features the Prince of Wales plumes. The inside of the tin is lined in red velour. The lot sold for $351.

But one of the most interesting things to me was the gold stamping on the case, "By Appointment/ Gieve's Ltd./London/and/Portsmouth.

I looked up Gieve's and found that it was a bespoke gentleman's tailor founded in 1771, located at #1 Savile Row, London."Bespoke" is defined as clothing specifically made to order. Gieve's, or Gieve's and Hawkes, as it later became, is one of the oldest continual bespoke tailors in the world! It holds a royal warrant, and these days, also sells ready-to-wear items.

Back in the day, even King George III was a customer. The first store was located on Brewer Street, then moved to Piccadilly in 1793. By the early 1800's another store was included, in Portsmouth, the main naval port of England. The tailor at the Portsmouth location, Mr. Meredith, was the person who tailored the uniform of Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson! And, that's saying something! Nelson, with the winning of the Battle of Trafalgar, has been elevated to god-like stature.

Other customers include Winston Churchill, the Duke of Wellington, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, David Beckham, and Diana, Princess of Wales.

In 2007, Robert Gieve died, the fifth and last generation of the family to serve G&H. In 2011, the Saville Row store was completely refurbished, and in 2012, it was sold to Trinity Ltd, continuing to expand in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The days of Gieve's and Hawkes is far from over. Ahhh...if the walls could speak!
When you get a chance, check out the link below. Of course, G&H has a larger site, but I think you'll find the military section interesting. Take a look at the swords! Very sharp, indeed!


http://www.gievesandhawkesmilitary.com/home.html

Crown Royal

Doing some further reading on the feeding of the British Royal Navy, I came upon an interesting little symbol: a crown, "GR" and arrow. Come to find out, it was the symbol used for stamping government property.

By the way, the "broad arrow", or pheon, is the type of arrow with a flat barbed head, and traditionally used in heraldry in England. With the establishing of an Ordinance Board back in King Henry VIII's time, government property was stamped with the "King's Mark", in this case the arrow. Known as "crow's feet" to sailors, it is one of the oldest trademarks still in use for the original purpose.

Further, the pheon was carried before the king by the sergeant-at-arms, hence the idea of protection, and guarding. The Crown obviously is a royal sign, and the GR stands, in this case, for King George III (George Rex).

Funny how much significance is conveyed in a small space.

N. A. M. Rodger, who wrote, "The Wooden World", makes mention of the exorbitant cost of salt, cured meat, dried peas and fruit like raisins, and cheese, at the time, and so rationing was extremely important, as was the protection of these goods. So much so that even the hard tack biscuits were stamped as property of the Crown!


Below see some examples of government property. Can you see the crow's foot?!

Something to chew on!

I recently finished watching the Hornblower series. I'm quite sorry it's over now. They are great stories, and really well-portrayed. And so, I continue in my British naval history mode.

Today I was looking into some information on what captain, officers and crew ate when setting off to sea.

I found a very interesting account in a book by Janet MacDonald, Feeding Nelson's Navy, published 2006.A good deal of previous accounts show life at sea, as far as eating is concerned, tantamount to being in a severe prison, with stories of starvation and rotten food for crew, while the captain and his officers dined in unrepentant splendor. MacDonald begs to differ, having done some new and striking research.

She shows how the sailor diet could actually be better than what he might have ashore, and of better nutritional value as well. She remarks that the reason for the great mutinies of 1797, with food a major grievance, was more the abuse of

the system, not the food itself. But the system of distribution was a logistic marvel for the times. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy fed a fleet of over 100,000 men, in ships gone for months and months away from home.  

It was the British Navy that almost totally eradicated the dreadful disease of scurvy, by 1800. That's a major accomplishment in itself. The idea that citrus (limes in this case) had a profound healthy effect. We so know this today, downing copious qualities of Vitamin C at the drop of a Kleenex!!

Though there was no real preservation of food as we know today (refrigeration and canning), the Victualling Board was able to generally provide enough food to serve the needs, including the packing of meat, brewing of beer, and baking of biscuit.

Of course, once on board, these foods were strictly controlled and distributed as fairly as possible. And, she comments, that in many cases, captain and officers took lesser cuts of meat, and allowed crew to have the heartier. After all, they were the one's who needed the strength for hard labor.

Everyone got daily rations of beer to drink, as water in casks went bad very fast. And of course, there was the daily tot of rum, a treat for good behavior.

MacDonald points out that some captains kept gardens ashore along their assigned cruising lanes to supply the crews with vegetables.

This is not to say that life on board was easy or a romp in the park. Discipline was strict and swift, to keep the wooden world functioning properly, but new research gives the food issue some new information to chew on!  Makes me want to read MacDonald's book!

Slainte!

Happy St. Paddy's Day! In honor of the day, we will speak about Waterford Crystal, the famed Irish crystal manufacturer!

The origins of the company date back to 1783, when George and William Penrose started the business, producing extremely fine flint glass. Flint glass is highly refractive optical glass, and by its nature reduces color defects. It is very nearly perfect, and clear.  The Penrose's company closed in 1851, but that time, the glass was world-renown.

Much later in 1947, a Czech immigrant established his glass works in Waterford, and as skilled crystal workers were not available in Ireland, he imported European workers. It was good for Ireland's depressed economy, and eventually the company was taken over by the Irish Glass Bottle firm. Waterford is located at the south east of Ireland, a port town.

The company has had many incarnations, eventually having to close its doors in Waterford by the mid-2000's, but was bought up by Wedgewood. So, you can still purchase the beautiful, highly facetted glass. I chose Waterford for my own crystal pattern, and though there are many interesting and quality glass companies to buy from, I have never regretted choosing this distinctive, and sturdy (I might add) crystal. My mother chose Waterford, and my daughter chose it too for her household. I am always happy to see it sparkling away on their tables as well as my own. The pattern we all love is "Lismore".

So, for the good of the day, I would suggest a nice Irish Whiskey, poured into a nice Waterford tumbler, and a toast, "Slainte!"

Honor, Duty, King and Country!

With the Olympics over, and my favorite television series done for the season, I found myself headed for my video library to find something decent to watch. Most of television is worthless. The myriad of channels that some folks carry don't offer anything worthwhile.

And so, I decided it was time to see a good A&E series I had purchased a while ago. The Horatio Hornblower adventures, wonderful sea stories originally written by C.S. Forestor, adapted for television, and well-done, I must add. I have read many of the books, and the series faithfully recreates the stories of the young mid-shipman on his way to a naval career. By the time the series ends, Horatio is a lieutenant in His Britannic Majesty's Royal Navy (the navy of King George III).

It is the time of the tall ships, and the blockade off the Channel, the Revolution in France, the code of honor and duty to King and Country. I just love this stuff. And, I love historical fiction, where the characters are placed in and among actual historic figures and situations. You get a feel for the times from a human perspective.

The best of the action takes place on HMS Indefatigable, which by the way, was a real ship of the line, built in 1761.And this particular ship was a 64-gun third-rate, Ardent class. It had a long career with several distinguished commanders throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She took over 27 prizes, and it and its crew received the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 for its service. It's first commander  from 1794 to 1799 was Sir Edward Pellew, who is the Captain in the films, Hornblower's superior officer. Admiral Pellew was the 1st Viscount Exmount, a commander of courage, leadership and skill, a paragon of determination. Horatio learned from the best!

I recommend the series. It puts me in the mood to read another of the Hornblower series. There are 12 original stories, the first written in 1937, and some collections thereafter as Forestor continues to flesh out Horatio's earlier days and the times. Horatio is a parallel in personality to the young and promising Horatio Nelson. Yeah, the more I write here, the more I'm inspired to go to the bookstore!    

The Red Carpet Dilemma

It's always fun to watch the Oscars! I love the film industry. When I was growing up, I couldn't think of anything better than enjoying a great movie. If it was really good, you were lost in it for the duration, and carried it with you for days or weeks or years thereafter. The best of films have that kind of effect.

But besides the competition for the Best Movie, Best Actress, Best Song, there is the RED CARPET! The gowns and the jewels and the hairdos are generally all wonderful, though the A-listers always have a little something more going on for them.

It got me to thinking about how one of the 18th Century A-listers might approach the style game!

Of course, in the mid to late 1500's Queen Elizabeth I had the style thing completely down. She manipulated her public persona to the ultimate level of "Gloriana", becoming more than a person, but a goddess of sorts. Her famous Rainbow Portrait, painted in 1600, in the last years of her life, show her ageless. Her hair, makeup, the gown, the jewels all help to depict her as something beyond a woman, or even a queen. No one was allowed to see her without full makeup, hair, clothing. Gloriana was an icon.

For the 18th Century, the style maven that comes to mind is Marie Antoinette. Once she came to power, as the new wife of the crown prince, her true function was to produce an heir, but once that was accomplished she was "free to do her own thing", as they say. And, she did. She didn't invent fashion, but promoted new radical trends to stretch her public persona.

She favored 3 foot high powdered wigs, bosom enhancing bodices, ankle-baring skirts, the "robe a la polonaise" . Anything for shock value.

Of course, she took things a bit too far, developing her image not as someone to emulate, but of someone who cared nothing for her subjects, or by today's standards, her fans. Think today how precarious it can be for a celebrity to lose favor. If a celebrity dresses extravagantly, but shows that she cares about the little people, gives generously to charity, is shown serving rice porridge to the poor, embracing AIDS victims (remember Princess Di), then she can do as she pleases. If she is selfish and self-centered, it's not long before she falls from grace, ie Paula Dean, Brittany Spears, Lindsay Lohan.