Nelson & His World

May I send all good wishes for a happy Christmas and a peaceful new year to all members of the forum and their families.

I am grateful for the support of all the contributors who have helped to establish this new forum by making such lively, varied and interesting posts, and to the many Nelson enthusiasts who, I know, look in as viewers to learn and enjoy.

May the good ship 'Nelson's World' sail on into 2009 - crew in good heart, and no scurvy!

Tycho

(Anna)

Thanks to Mark Barrett for the Nelson reconfiguration.

Some Christmas Cheer - as if you needed it!

On a website that shall be nameless, I encountered a cocktail called Nelson's Blood, 'named in honour of Admiral Lord George Nelson'
but I think it's Our Man.

Nelson's Blood

5 parts champagne to 1 part tawny port

And on your own headache be it.

And a culinary Christmas treat - this is an early 17th century recipe for traditional mince pies which I encountered many years ago in the National Archive (then the Public Record Office); a little out of 'our' period, but the language is delightful.

For six minst pyes of an indifferent biggnesse

Take half a peck of the fynest flower, 2 lib. of Sugar, 2 lib. of butter, a loyn of fatt Mutton, with a little of a Legg of Veale to mynce with it, 2 lib. of Reasons of the Sunn, as many of Currons, of Cloves, Mace and Nutmeggs, one ounce.

Fot the Paist, mingle 1 pound and a halfe of Sugar with the Flower and breake in the Yolkes of six Eggs., then work it together with three parts of the two pounds of Butter. Sett on a litle water and lett it Seethe, then scym it and put in the 4th parte of the Butter, and when it is melted, scym it clean from the Water and work it with the Paist.

For the Meate, let it be seasoned with pepper, and mingled with halfe a pound of Sugar, the other Frute and Spyce, the Raisons must be stoned, and some of them mynced amongst the meate, the others put in hole, put in the Joyce of two Orringes and one Leamond, and the Ryne of them mynced smalle.

When the Pyes are filled, slyce dates and stick in the top, and when you sett them in the oven wash them over with the yolkes of eggs, and pynn them up in Papers.

From the State Papers, Domestic, James 1, (SP14)189.3 in the National Archive

Ah, so ‘a Prince of the Opera’ was unfair – it was Nelson who introduced Christmas decorations to Britain!

Nelson's Blood sounds a bit thin to me, but the minst pyes sound more like it.

I didn't think Christmas was until next week, but thank you, Anna - and Mark, and a Happy Christmas to all too.

Some of us send our Christmas cards in good time as we have other Christmas duties to perform......the Aga in our house is now a Minst Pye Foundry.

Wow, a seven day production run! We are all invited, then?

I am going to file the phrase 'of indifferent bignesse' for future use.






No sniggering at the back.

A Very Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year, from over here in a wet and windy Stockholm, to all. Congratulations to you, Tycho, for conceiving a great a great Nelson site. Long may it continue.

Like the Christmas Chelenk! Do the holly leaves twirl round when you press the berries?

Nice touch! How about the green sheepskin coat he wore at Copenhagen?

Peace.

Did he really wear a green sheepskin coat at Copenhagen? At least it would have matched the eyeshade.

I don't know, but has anyone noticed the idiosyncratic dress HN seems to have adopted sometimes out of uniform?

Green breeches, blue coat, yellow waistcoat, blue and white stripey stockings (when not wrapped up in vinegar and brown paper), green sheepskin coat.

Perhaps someone should have told him. Or perhaps being 'almost blind' meant being 'colourblind' as well. He had great excuses, although Beau Brummell would have keeled over in shock.

A fantastic website Tycho. Best thing about 2008. But no quiz!!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Hey, Fiddler, you were joking about the green coat at Copenhagen, weren't you? If not - PLEASE tell us more!

Nelson is supposed to have had a green coat when he was a little lad, and made the local kids work the village pump so he could sail his boats - but I think that's been questioned.

Re: quiz. How am I going do a quiz when everybody here knows everything and I don't know nuffin? Perhaps I could have a volunteer to compile one next year?

Yes, it's been fun over the last year - thanks again to everyone for support.

Here's a possible festive (seasonally spurious) connection as we approach Christmas week...

Wasn't it Prince Albert who introduced the Christmas tree to Britain, bringing a little sparkle to grim Victorian parlours?

Wasn't it Prince Albert who ended up buying Nelson's Trafalgar coat (for the nation of course)?

Perhaps the coat and the Christmas tree are one and the same? With the chelengk twirling merrily on top.

Wonder if Her Majesty would have been amused?

Enjoying the Christmas spirit, Mira?

Of course Nelson wore green at Copenhagen! Not sure about the sheepskin, though! But he is described as wearing a green boat cloak or a green loden waterproof coat, either of which would be made of woollen cloth.

But we don't have to wait for Prince Albert. A man wearing a green boat cloak and a chelengk could easily be confused with a Christmas tree. And it was Queen Charlotte that introduced the Christmas tree to Britain.

Tycho, why do you need to know the answers before you set the questions?

Dash it, that's the Christmas tree theory blown to bits. I'm blaming it on the sherry in the trifle.

As for a quiz - it's not yet too late - I'll PM a couple of 'Christmas spirit' fuelled ideas across - along with a few thoughts on a prize - and see what's possible.

Strangely enough, I did happen to meet a very convincing Christmas tree out walking his dog in the rain this afternoon.

No Tycho, no joke! Well, yes, joking (kinda) about reopening Photoshop. Not about the coat.

From Dudley Pope, The Great Gamble, Nelson at Copenhagen pp 417-418:
Danish Lt Jocum Muller comes aboard the Elephant during the action after surrendering his own ship the Hayen. He observes Nelson as being


Pope's footnote to this: "Kalmuks were worn by a Mongolian tribe and made of sheepskin and astrakhan..."

So on a more serious note, this would have been Nelson's truce-writing attire.

And how about the "old checked surtout"? From the same volume, p. 319, Midshipman Millard of the Monarch states he



(The cruelty of the young...)

What color check, I wonder. Mira, you're right, this man had some funky attire. I like the sweaters, though.


Gretchen

Honoring the Return of the Light - with lake-effect snow here on the Niagara Frontier!

Fiddler - many thanks for that illuminating post! Off to check Dudley Pope on abebooks!

Mira - please press ahead with the quiz - can't guarantee to answer before Feb 23rd or thereabouts. I am in an isolated farmhouse in Wales using a breakdown-inducing, coke-driven (i.e.broadbandless) computer, and much 'Christmas spirit' is required (how can you tell?) to soothe the nerves.

Tony - your question sounds like something the Duchess in 'Alice in Wonderland' would have asked.