Nelson & His World

Apart from getting drunk, how did sailors, officers and men, while away monotonous, off-duty hours at sea?

In addition to drinking, there was also self-made entertainment such as dancing, singing and play-acting. Anthony Gardner mentions fake 'battles' where midshipmen charged each other with bayonets. On one occasion he was cut on the thigh, but 'all in good part'.

Brian Southam mentions in 'Jane Austen and the Navy' a young midshipman who lost himself in books; many officers appear to have been well-read.

Robert Graves, in his poem '1805' writes about Nelson:

He would dare lecture us Sea Lords, and then
Would treat his ratings as though men of honour
And play at leap-frog with his midshipmen!

Is there any record of Nelson (or anyone else) playing leap-frog aboard ship?

Carving whalebones was known in whaling ships. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrimshaw and French prisoners of war (ashore) became adept model makers. Were there any similar talents to be found aboard RN ships?

What about knotting and those wooden cases you see of sample knots in whitewashed rope?

http://hypermedia.educ.psu.edu/k-12/shi ... knots.html

check the bit after the 3rd picture -
"Of Knots, it is necessary that I speak..." A Naval Repository, 1762

Cheers, MTS

Hi Emmteeyess,

A welcome to the forum from me.

I'm not sure about the cases with knots being made at sea. I may be wrong but my impression is that they were made ashore, either by seamen on leave or retired and were more a thing of the nineteenth century merchant navy. If you think about it, they would also have been pretty fragile, were of some size, and most had a glass front. Not the most conducive article to be made on the rough and tumble of the gundeck. There was also the question of stowage, since this was limited and most men would have only had a bag in which to put their belongings.

Anna,

I don't know about Nelson playing leapfrog with his midshipmen, but Robert Graves would seem not to think much of the ordinary seamen in implying that they were not men of honour. Nelson obviously thought otherwise!

Kester:

re: the poem '1805' - Robert Graves isn't expressing his own view in the poem; he adopts the snooty voice of an Admiralty high-up ('us sea lords') who disapproved of Nelson, and saw his easy manner with ordinary sailors as over-familiarity with undeserving underlings, yet he has to admit in the last line, 'He made the whole fleet love him, damn his eyes'!

Doubtless there were all sorts of "gambling related" activities.

I know I read once of a gambling session where a sailor ended up betting every last stitch of clothing. He lost and ended up stark naked. Presumably some kind soul stepped in and helped him out.

The cartoon below depicts a scene below decks on a naval ship and I am sure there would have been betting on the outcome of this fight. There were special rules and you can see how each of the antagonists is roped to the back of the chest so his reach is restricted.

Anna,

Yes, of course you're right, it's the 'snooty lords' who are to blame!

One pastime similar to scrimshaw was engraving coins, sometimes to commemorate the man's ship, but often as a love token for his sweetheart: Below are (magnified) photos of one I have. The anchor and compass/dividers shows that it was from a sailor, and the message on the other side is obvious: that when he returns (presumably with some prize money) they will settle down together in a quiet little country cottage. This must have been a common theme for seamen, and appeared in Nelson's own letters.

I think the engraving is quite artistic in a way - note the shading on the tree trunk and the smoke from the chimneys passing in front of the trees - and remember the images are maginified!

Some engraved coins have superb renderings of ships in full sail, and often the amazing level of detail in the sails and rigging show that it has been done by someone with an intimate knowledge of the ship.

The expert on sailors' engraved coins is Sim Comfort, and I can thoroughly recommend his book 'Forget Me Not'. Here is an image of a number of superb examples from his collection (dating from the mid 18th century onwards): http://www.simcomfort.demon.co.uk/_borders/MSJpeg02.jpg

The book is privately printed and rather expensive, but it contains lots of superb photos, and remarkably detailed research. In some cases he has succeeded in tracing the name on a token back to the man in the ship's muster. Details of the book are here: http://www.simcomfort.demon.co.uk/forgetmenot.htm

This form of love token was also used by transported convicts.

Tony

That's something new I have learnt today. I had never even heard of these "love tokens" let alone seen one!

Just one thought.

Do you know the Compasses to be a Naval symbol.

I understand the notion from their use in navigation but I always associate them with the Freemasons (albeit usually in conjunction with a Square).

MB

My immediate thought was it was a Mason's compass too - but I wonder if the anchor is a stylised square. Judging by the quality of the other artwork I'm sure he could have etched a more 'anchorlike' anchor. (?) So perhaps it is a secret Mason's symbol when the two are put together.

Cheers, MTS

The square and compasses together were Masonic symbols. The compass was also symbolic of carpenters. I believe. Could this pair of compasses, together with the anchor, symbolise that 'I Cradock' was a ship's carpenter? Just a thought.

Thanks for the info, Tony! Another new and delightful area of knowledge.

Folks

Sorry to go off on this tangent but I thought it would be interesting to post up this image of a medal for the Nelsonic Crimson Oakes - which has all sorts of masonic symbols built into the design.

They were a Friendly Society who were not part of the Freemasons but seem to have aligned themselves with them - as I believe other groups did around that time.

As you see the medal has both the compasses and an anchor.

I am not drawing any conclusions from this - but just thought it might be of interest.

It's only 200 years ago - but there were so many things going on back then that we no longer fully understand!!

MB

Compass dividers were not specifically a naval symbol to my knowledge, but they were used every day on board ship to measure distances on charts for navigation. I think in this context the most likely symbolism of both the anchor and compass dividers is safety and constancy - the compass dividers for safe navigation home again. Obviously that's just my guess, and as you all point out there are plenty of other possibilities - known and unknown.

However, I think it is a mistake to look too hard for freemasonry in everything! Although having said that, there are one or two examples with definite masonic symbolism.

Sim Comfort's collection has one featuring compass dividers, top left in this image: http://www.simcomfort.demon.co.uk/_borders/MSJpeg02.jpg It's definitely a sailor from his dress, pointing unhappily to his empty sea chest, and the inscription is 'Keep within Compass Yarmouth' (although Sim incorrectly, I am sure, suggests it is 'Keep within Compass Your mouth'). The reverse shows a woman (also unhappy), the word 'Remember', the initials 'ES' and the date 1796.

If you want symbolism, take a good look at this one at the National Maritime Museum! http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explor ... ID=MEC1688 Obverse: A sailor leaving his ship standing on a quay with his wife pointing the way to the church, the sun shining above. Legend: 'JOHN AND MARTHA CROUCH'. Reverse: The bearded head of Father Time with wings above the ears, the moon above; a globe, books, speaking-trumpet and compass dividers. Legend: 'TIME IS, TIME WAS, TIME'S PAST'.

The National Maritime Museum has quite an extensive collection.

Here is one commemorating the birth of Jane Glass on board HMS Niger on July 10th 1802: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explor ... =1#content

It is well worth exploring the collection: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/search ... ls&SortBy= It's fascinating trying to guess the stories behind some of them.

Between the NMM & Sim Comfort's collection there is an interesting series of five coins from the first (no matter what the NMM say) HMS Foudroyant. They are all obviously engraved by the same artist, and show the Foudroyant with various different combinations of sails set, and with various different men's names. The artist clearly knew the ship well, and presumably took commissions from other crew members, no doubt paid in tobacco and grog. Here is one of them: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explor ... ID=MEC1641

And here is one with definite Masonic emblems: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explor ... ID=MEC1665

This one has a nice little verse and a beautifully depicted parting: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explor ... ID=MEC1666 - A halfpenny. Obverse: a sailor holding his sweetheart's hand, a tree above, stern of a ship in distance. Reverse: Two hearts pierced with arrows. Inscription above:
'Faithful my love
Sincere my heart
Shall never Rove
till death us Part'.

(Make sure to use the enlarge button to view the detail on the coins.)

The Times today has an article on an exhibition 'Wool Work' in Compton Verney, Warwickshire, which displays embroidered pictures by 18th and 19th century mariners who were masters of the art. Rachel Campbell-Johnson observes that 'their pictures, beautifully stitched, bright with flags and paying close attention to such details as number of gunports or complexity of riggings are a revelation, not least in the case of John Craske, an invalided Norfolk seaman who took such embroidery to expressive new levels.'

Unfortunately, the article had no illustrations of embroidered pictures as its main focus was another exhibition by the naif painter of seascapes, the retired mariner Alfred Wallis. I had a quick look at the NMM website to see if they had any but, apart from a mid-19th century embroidery of the SS Great Britain, I couldn't find any illustrations - though the NMM has a collection, as the textile conservationist mentions in this link:
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/about/the-organiza ... ola-yates/

There are some lovely examples here though:

http://www.vandekar.com/stock.asp?subCat=Woolies

It's interesting that she refers to 18th and 19th century mariners. I have been under the impression that these dated from the mid-19th century onwards. Can anyone point to an 18th century example?