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.

Give me a hand!

Today I looked at manicures in the 18th Century. Hands do so much, and generally do not receive the treatment they deserve. They not only do utilitarian things, but the artistic as well. They allow us to play the piano, the guitar, the violin, the clarinet, frankly practically any musical instrument. They pick up the paint brush, and look at the marvels we have that grace our museum walls. They have sculpted, they have written. They massage, they type, they sew, they help us to feel the world around us.

And what do we do for them? Well, some people get weekly or monthly manicures, but most of us have them relegated to the position of slaves, doing our bidding, without a "how do you do?!" Doing housework, using cleaning fluids, waxing cars, going without gloves in the cold, inflicting an occasion burn at the stove, and the list goes on and on.

I love my hands, though, not for their beauty, though once they were quite the thing, if I do say so myself. But today I love them because they are my friends, and they remind me of my family. I have one hand with fingers that remind me of my Dad's, and both my hands look more and more like my Mom's, and she and I are both inclined to the arts. I always loved her hands, and now I understand why. She has used them to create, and they show that endeavor! It's a beautiful thing.

But how did people treat them in the 1700's. Well, I looked at manicures of the times, and found that nails were oiled and buffed with suede until they gleamed. Generally, a very fine abrasive powder was used for the buffing. Sometimes the oils were lightly tinted or scented, but nail polish was not used until the 1920's, and then came the loud, roaring reds along with white or pink moons left unvarnished at the base of the nail. The French manicure, by the way, originated in the 18th century in Paris. French manicures are designed in a way to resemble natural nails with pink color on nails and white color on tip of nails, but seen very seldom at that time.

Actually, there were paints used going way back to ancient times, but in the 18th Century, they were en vogue, not for the elegant. Gentle ladies did not use their hands for utilitarian purpose, except to wave a fan, or apply a dab of perfume, or play the lute, or pianoforte. Women, however, used them to clean clothing, wash children, make bread, harvest crops, etc etc but they never would be thinking of care of the hands, no less a manicure.

There exist many lovely manicure grooming kits and tools from the 18th Century. Some have little picks, tiny scissors, files, and of course, buffers. Some of the best are of sterling silver, with gold or ormolu. And I would gather your ladies-in-waiting did the work. There's always a "slave" involved where the glitterati abound, today or yesterday.

Sportsmanship: A Lesson in Civility from George Washington

I watched the Olympics last night to see the ladies skating long program. Of course, they all are excellent, and as perfect as can be. The scores reveal judging only 10th of points apart! They have all labored over many years to get to the Olympic ice. They all have technical skill but it is the deliverance for a performance that will be remembered. Some of these women have such grace and maturity. I felt the Korean girl expressed this. An Olympic gold champion from the Vancouver games, she was trying for back to back wins. This was her last performance, and she was beautiful with such civility. New girls are coming on all the time, some so very young - sixteen or seventeen. They will have their day, but you can see greatness. They are from many nations, including our own, the USA. But then there are some like US Ashley Wagner, who could learn a less from George Washington in civility and grace.

In 1744, Washington published a dissertation of the rules of civility and decent behavior in company and conversation. Thought the list goes on and on, here are a few that come to mind for Ashley. She is an excellent skater, but she is a winer, complaining that she didn't like the early short program scores, grimacing, thinking she was better than that, and then last night she made a huge display of herself when she completed her program, patting herself on the back, so to speak. Then the scores came, and she was displeased. Today she criticizes the judging. Give me a break. I'm sure these girls know how to play the game, having skated for years. I'm sure the home field has an advantage, but if you're, you're great. If you are transcendent, it shows.

So, here goes, Ashley:

1) Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.

2) Show not yourself glad at the Misfortune of another though he were your enemy.

3) Superfluous Complements and all Affectation of Ceremony are to be avoided, yet where due they are not to be Neglected.
4) Take all Admonitions thankfully in what Time or Place Soever given but afterwards not being culpable take a Time & Place convenient to let him him know it that gave them.

5) Let your Conversation be without Malice or Envy, for 'tis a Sign of a Tractable and Commendable Nature: And in all Causes of Passion admit Reason to Govern.

6) Think before you Speak pronounce not imperfectly nor bring out your Words too hastily but orderly & distinctly.