Nelson & His World

The National Portrait Gallery had a marketing campaign recently and Lord Nelson was at the forefront along with other, more modern luminaries such as the footballer Rio Ferdinand. I was amused to see that the advertising 'blurb' describes him as a 'nauseous sailor' in the quote below. I think they mean 'nauseated' -'feeling sick', rather than 'nauseous' - 'causing sickness', 'disgusting'. Or maybe they don't!

National hero, Nautical genius, Nauseous sailor
Horatio Nelson spent much of his life at sea. He joined the navy aged twelve, became a captain at twenty and was made admiral at thirty-nine. For much of his naval career he was at the front line in the thick of battle. In 1793, he lost his sight in one eye in a successful attack on Corsica and in 1797 he lost his right arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. During these years at sea Nelson also fought a personal battle with chronic seasickness, a condition which plagued him throughout his life. In a letter to his lover Emma Hamilton in 1851 he wrote: "I am so dreadfully sea-sick, that I cannot hold up my head!" Nevertheless, through his inspirational leadership and audacious tactics, the British fleet won many key victories and his death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 enshrined him as a national hero. This final victory is commemorated by Nelson's Column, just a stone's throw from the Gallery in Trafalgar Square.

Online Oxford English Dictionary (the full version of the OED, available through your public library if you're lucky, as we are here in the county of Devon) has several meanings for nauseous, including 'offensive', 'repellent', 'loathsome', all of which are not right! But they also say 'of a person, the stomach, etc: inclined to sickness or nausea; squeamish'. So NPG is let off the hook! And that's quite a catchy statement they've used - also good to see that Nelson still tops the polls.

Lesley

http://www.adkinshistory.com

Many thanks for the correction, Lesley. That'll teach me to be a smartypants!

I didn't bother to check in my Shorter Oxford as it meant a trek to the bookroom where these volumes, as well as other hefty tomes, Bibles, etc. are kept in what is known in the family as 'The Church and State Corner'. Instead, I relied on a cheap dictionary by my desk that I usually use only to check spellings. (Yeh, yeh, I know about spellcheckers on my PC, but I have more faith in books.) I'll be more diligent in future.