Nelson & His World

Discussion on the life and times of Admiral Lord Nelson
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 Post subject: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:42 pm 
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Location: Salmo, British Columbia, Canada
Not having found a thread on the subject, I am sure that people will have stories to share.

No doubt the pet-lovers who belong to this forum will have a high percentage of their pets bearing names of nautical characters. My contribution is three pets, two of whom are that way by coincidence rather than by our design.

The first is our great Pyrenees (aka Pyrenean mountain dog) whom we adopted as a youngster for farm duties, which mainly means in these parts keeping away undesirables such as coyotes and Jehovah’s witnesses. We named her Emma, Lady Hamilton because of her beauty, her amiable disposition and her potential to grow into a Big Girl. In this last respect she certainly is, and weighs in at 95 pounds.

The other two are cats. We rescued an orange kitten which had been attacked by an owl. Owls here are big enough to carry off a small cat. She had a large claw wound on the bridge of her nose and another close to her ear, both of which were bleeding heavily. We packed them and she received veterinary treatment next day. Slowly she healed and we named her Kismet Owlsbane. A very nice couple adopted her, but five years later that were unable to keep her because of an allergic child. We always offer to take back such cats so she was returned to us with a generous donation.

Along with her was her companion, a very handsome and elegant brown tabby by the name of Nelson. Despite having been de-clawed by a previous owner he sticks up for himself with much spirit and the other cats give him a wide berth. He is full of character and the name seems very apt.

Please share!


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 Post subject: Re: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 8:54 pm 
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I'm surprised Sylvia hasn't told you about her amazing cat Nelson! Maybe she will add something in due course.

Our only pet with a naval connection was a goldfish my daughter had many years ago. He rejoiced in the name of Benbow, after Admiral Benbow, who, I believed then, had lost his legs in action, and was therefore, like the goldfish, legless - in the anatomical sense, rather than the figurative one. (For non-English viewers, 'legless' is an alternative term for 'drunk'.) However, I then discovered that Admiral Benbow actually lost only one leg. ('Lost only one leg' sounds terribly callous, but you know what I mean.) But Benbow the goldfish retained the name of the naval hero, and swam on to a ripe old age, surviving many attempts of the cats to treat themselves to a piscine delicacy.

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 Post subject: Re: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:12 pm 
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I am sorry for the delay in reacting. Yes, I have a cat called Nelson. It is a brown Burmese cat. Most people who met him, think I named him after Nelson Mandela for that reason. Nelson is a cat who is very friendly to visitors. He always comes to meet them in the hall, and then charms them by sitting on their lap and purring very loudly. His favourite place however is on the shoulders or wrapped around the neck of one of my sons. He can even take him outside in that position, without Nelson leaving his shoulders/neck.
Anna/Tony, can you find a way to make this picture smaller. I think it is too big/large for this page, but I cannot change it into a smaller one.
Thank you in advance.
Sylvia


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 Post subject: Re: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:18 pm 
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Location: Salmo, British Columbia, Canada
Thanks for sharing, Anna.

I just recalled another story. Our late-lamented border collie was named Willoughby.
Whether there is a connection with the great Nesbit Josiah Willoughby (the Immortal) is hard to say, but this is my take on it:
The dog was named after me, since Willoughby is a middle name.
I was named after my uncle, the WWII hero Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, VC.
The name first appears in my family when my gggfr Joseph William gave the name to one of his sons.
My theory is that Nesbit Josiah, who it seems knew Joseph's father, is the origin.
Both Nesbit and Joseph senior were granted their pension for wounds on the same day.
They both carried out evangelical work, and I have seen newspaper reports that they were present at some of the same meetings of the various sailor's benevolent societies.

Is it possible that the childless Nesbit was avuncular towards Joseph senior's children, prompting Joseph junior to name a son in his honour?
Joseph senior certainly did this in the case of his son Henry Gambier Bazalgette, who died in infancy.
He had no more sons, so perhaps his dying wish was that his son would honour a man whom he would otherwise have honoured himself?

Anyway, that is as far as I have got with this and it sounds just about possible.
Willoughby isn't that common a name and it's hard to see where else this line is likely to have come from.

Just seen your post, Sylvia, as I was posting this.
What handsome fellows and a lovely photo.
Oddly enough, my Nelson, if I pick him up, also immediately crawls up and drapes himself on my shoulders, round the back of my neck.


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 Post subject: Re: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:15 pm 
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Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Chas,

We have three cats, who all came to us from the local cat home (where my wife, having initially been a volunteer, is now chairman and all in the space of two years.)

We initially saw the mother cat and her three kittens, at the home. Due to the fact that there was no room for them on any of the wards, once they were out of quarantine, we took pity on them and took them all home. We had just lost our former cat and were looking for a new one – but hadn't really banked on taking on a whole family! (The background was that they had been found in a skip, but a phone call tipped off the home as to their whereabouts. It is thought that it may have been the former owner who phoned the home, so at least they had the decency to do that!)

Anyway, after about twelve weeks (the recommended time that kittens can be taken away from their mother) we returned two of the kittens to the cat home, and from where they have been happily re-homed. We retained the mother cat and one of her kittens. They had all had names from Disney, the mother cat was called Nala (from the Lion King), and the male kitten Baloo. We didn't particularly like Nala so we, or rather I, renamed the mother (wait for it) – Emma. Lotta had to agree though that she is a pretty cat, has a tendence to put on weight – and has a lot of 'attitude'! Baloo is still Baloo and has grown now, although he is still like a kitten in outlook!

Our third cat, Pippi (named after the Swedish book character, Pippi Longstocking, and from the fact that she is ginger tabby) came to the home from a situation where there were many cats living in bad conditions with a woman in one flat. As is usual in these situations, she didn't look after them properly and they were actually quite neglected. Anyway the authorities found out and the cats were taken away many, including Pippi, going to the cat home. She was very thin and her coat was rough and matted and she was very frightened. (The former owner is still trying to get the cats back, but there is little chance there since Pippi was given her name by the home, and they have scrubbed any records they had – in order to protect the innocent! We have also officially bought her.)

When we took her home initially the other cats, especially Emma, took great aversion to her – Baloo taking his cue from mum, rather from any real dislike. (They are now the best of friends although Baloo is still occasionally trying to 'make babies' with her, even though he hasn't now the wherewithall, and Pippi has been spayed!) After about two years Pippi is accepted, although she sometimes still has to remember her place in the pecking order (at the bottom) and is still a little wary of Emma on occasion! It took some time before she would allow us to stroke her and even now won't let us pick her up. She is very lady like in everything she does, although she does snore, which usually makes us laugh!

We treat them as indoor cats in the winter (in the flat) and outdoor in the summer (at the cottage). We'll be going out to the cottage in June for the summer (?) which they'll enjoy – Emma and Baloo will be chasing mice, Baloo will be getting stuck up trees waiting to be rescued, and Pippi will be frightened of falling leaves – to name but one! It's getting warmer now (at last) and they're getting a bit restless (aren't we all) and the flat balcony has its limitations.

I'll try and post a few pictures of which, thanks to my better half, we have a few hundred!

Sylvia, beautiful cats – and I like the picture the size it is! :D

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 Post subject: Re: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:57 pm 
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Sylvia your cats are truly gorgeous. The name 'Nelson' does seem to suit cats, I think.

I don't have any pets at the moment, but I play a hunter in World of Warcraft (I'm a bit of a geek, can you tell?), who has tamed two beasts to fight by her side - a spirit wolf I've named Nelson and a sabre cat called Bronte... does that count? :wink:

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 Post subject: Re: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Fri May 04, 2012 12:51 pm 
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Stretching the topic a bit - a contemporary of Nelson's who had a pet with a Nelsonian name was - unsurprisingly - his devoted protegé, William Hoste.

Tom Pocock notes in his biography of Hoste, 'Remember Nelson', that Hoste wrote to his brother while he was 'sweating in the tropics' at the naval station of Goree in the Cape Verde Islands, 'Perhaps at this moment you are skating over Tittleshall pond, or freezing with cold over one of your favourite duck ponds.' William went on to describe his own rough shoots at Goree, when he and his officers and his old dog Brontë - named after Nelson's Sicilian title - shot 'wild turkeys and guinea fowl by the dozen.'

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 Post subject: Re: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 11:18 pm 
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Location: Salmo, British Columbia, Canada
Thank you for posting your pets and their stories and pictures.

I didn't ignore them - I have read ans enjoyed them a lot.

I somehow think though that by mentioning Emma the pyrenean farm dog I precipitated something.
A week after I started this thread Emma ran out into the gravel road seeing off an invading stray cat and must have been hit by a speeding truck and killed instantly.
There wasn't a mark on her so it must have just clipped her. Of course the truck didn't stop - they don't in these parts.

Still, she is at peace now but we will always miss her.

Maybe it was for the best, because she had had three cruciate ligament operations and would no doubt have been crippled in later life.


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 Post subject: Re: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:17 am 
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I'm so sorry to hear about Emma. I can imagine how you feel. I've had many pets over the years, and the partings never get any easier.

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 Post subject: Re: Nelsonian pet names
PostPosted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:22 am 
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Location: Salmo, British Columbia, Canada
Thank you, Anna. I know you understand.


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