Hodder & Stoughton
"Royal Navy and Maritime Book Reviews" Provided by Rob Jerrard
Tars
The Men who make Britain
Rule the Waves
Edition: HB or PB
Author: Tim Clayton
ISBN: 9780340898024 or PB 978 0340898031
Publishers: Hodder &
Stoughton
Price: £20 or £8.99 PB
Publication Date: 04/10/2007 PB 2008
Publisher’s Title
Information
The extraordinary story of a close-knit
team of sailors (or 'Tars' as they were known)
At the cutting
edge of the eighteenth century navy
TARS is a
gripping firsthand account of life in the Royal Navy at its bloodiest and most
tempestuous phase, beginning in 1758. Through the lives of the main
protagonists - a small band of sailors from across the ranks - TRAFALGAR author
Tim Clayton paints a vivid picture of the navy and the era, from close-quarter
battles and roistering on the streets of London to the political decisions
that built up and knocked down empires.
In this death-or-glory era the navy became the main weapon of an aggressive and
power-hungry government, and fighting at sea was carried out at ever-closer
quarters and with ever-increasing amounts of firepower. Using never-before
published first-person sources, TARS takes us through these men’s daily
struggles as Britain navigated her course on the political map.
Review
TARS is a collection of a
first-hand account of life in the Royal Navy during a four-year period. The book contains some excellent diagrams
and photographs, some of which are in colour.
This is a story of the overlapping crews of two ships, Monmouth and
Dragon.
Chapter 3, 'Dead Men's
Clothes' reminds me that such a custom as the disposal of the property of a
dead man's effects was still the norm in the Royal Navy in the late 50's. I attended such a sale. Presumably by this time it may only have been
the uniform that was sold, but I can remember it clearly. People would bid, win and then hand it back
to raise more money for the widow.
'Dead
Men's Clothes'
'Tucked
into the ship's pay book in the National Archives at Kew was a brief memorandum
of the sale of the contents of senior master's mate, James Powell's sea chest.
The auction took place at sea ten days after the battle and a week after Powell
had died of his wounds at half past two on the morning of 3 March.
Account of Cloaths sold at the mast belonging to
James Powell Deceased
The time when sold: 11 March 1758
The sales included, inter alia :-
507 Edward Lunn To a silver watch, 4 shirts, 2
pairs stockings £4 10s
1084 James Reeves To a sword 7s 6d
1042 James Taylor To 32 shirts & pair Breeches
7s 6d
808 Amos Pitcher To 2 shirts 2 coats 2 waistcoats
10s 6d
770 John Radford To a shirt coat waistcoat breeches
& stocking 10s.'
What a wonderful find - a simple Royal Naval custom, which meant so
much to a widow in those days. Mind
you, here we are talking about a better-off member of the crew. No Ordinary Seaman would have owned some of
these items. James Powell was rated a
Master's Mate and as such he also took a one-tenth share of an eighth value of
any prize money.
In addition to this, there
was an Admiralty Bounty of £36 12s 2d. in compensation for his death and a sum
of £36 12s 2d was placed in Trust for his children. These sums were in addition to the money raised by the sale.
One amusing fact that the
author tells us is that the Chaplain was not always a member of the Wardroom
and if not would have to use the common heads over the bow instead of the
Officer's toilet over the stern, “for sure this answer would be wondrous odd,
shit with the common tars thou man of God”.
This is overall an
interesting and varied tale of life at this period. Wives did not fare well in the description of them on Page
89.
'As we have seen, a few Monmouths were genuinely married in relationships as settled as could be expected. Some of these wives possibly travelled to London to meet the ship, having learned from the newspaper or a letter that she was coming in.
Other seamen really did have had 'wives' in every major port. There were plenty
of women who would many a sailor, with or without a formal ceremony, for the
convenience of relieving him of some of his pay, and would then go on with
their normal course of life, in some cases marrying again when convenient. That
normal course of life might well involve prostitution, often in combination
with some other occupation. Most of the women who came to service the ships in
the port of London were pretty rough: quite a number of those desperate or
unlucky enough to be hanged at Tyburn claimed to be the wives or widows of
seamen. Many had migrated to London from elsewhere, especially from Ireland and
the western counties, and were improvising a living there. They were generally
pretty young. We know about one group of Hedge Lane prostitutes who were
questioned by the magistrate John Fielding in 1758, but it is impossible to
know how typical they were'. Not a pretty tale.
If you are interested in the Royal Navy of this period,
this is an interesting book to add to your collection.
Rob Jerrard
Thomas Kydd Series
Kydd
Edition:
Paperback Edition
Author:
Julian Stockwell
ISBN:
13:
9780340837818 ISBN 10: 0340837810
Publishers: Hodder &
Stoughton
Price
£6.99
Publication
Date: 11/10/2004
The Adventure of a Lifetime in the Great Age of Fighting Sail - Guns, Guts, Courage, Discipline, Death. The Year is 1793.
Publisher’s
Title Information
Thomas Paine Kydd, a young wig-maker from Guildford, is seized by the press
gang, to be a part of the crew of the 98-gun line-of-battle ship Royal William.
The ship sails immediately and Kydd has to learn the harsh realities of
shipboard life fast. Despite all that he
goes through in danger of tempest and battle he comes to admire the skills and
courage of the seamen - taking up the challenge himself to become a true
sailor. KYDD launches a masterly new
writing talent and a thrilling new series. Based on dramatic real events, it is
classic storytelling at its very best, rich with action with exceptional
characters and a page-turning narrative
Review
I must admit it took me a while to get into the story
because I was adjusting to the style of writing. This is the author's way of absorbing us into the language of the
lower deck and mostly uneducated seamen of 1793 e.g. 'You'll be slingin' yer
'mick here, being as you're afterguard.
Part-of-ship stays together so's yer can be found in the dark for a
shake - yer oppo's alongside yer, o' course.'
Seeing Kydd's look he explained, 'The man who does the same job as you
but in t' other watch.' Kydd nodded. He
probably had no idea what it meant, even the term oppo has changed over the
years, it now means a special friend.
You
have to assume that this is authentic - however added to this are lots of
nautical terminology and any reader including ex-Royal Naval seamen such as I,
would be advised to have a copy of 'A Sailors Word Book' by Admiral WH Smyth or
'A Sea of Words - A Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O'Brian's Seafaring
Tales'. Other books, which would
assist, are 'The Admiralty Manuals of Seamanship' often for sale on e-bay.
The story of young Thomas Paine Kydd (Thomas Paine
1737-1809) will certainly awaken the memories of any ex-Royal Navy Boy
Seamen. I am one of that 'Band of
Brothers', who the Royal Navy took as boys of 14, 15 and 16 between the years
of 1800 and 1956, still 15 in my
case. I certainly had empathy for
Thomas Kydd as he struggled to learn the ropes - remembering twelve months of
training at HMS St Vincent, climbing the mast, up at 5.30am to dhobey and being
treated as the lowest of the low on my first ships and sleeping in a hammock as
Thomas did. What a good sleep if you
'slung your mick' correctly. I had the
same problem as Thomas, being allocated very little space. On my first ship I slung my hammock above a
hatchway leading down to the Boys' Mess in a main passageway, which I also had
to scrub clean at 5.30am every morning.
This
is a gripping story of a young wigmaker, who was press-ganged into the 'Andrew'
from his hometown of Guildford. We are
told why the press-gang were so far up the Portsmouth Road (now the A3); taking
Thomas was illegal. The press-gang from the ships were issued with press warrants, These
forms, signed by the Lords the Admiralty, authorised the captain to appoint
lieutenants to 'impress seamen, seafaring men, and persons whose occupations a
callings are to work in vessels and boats upon rivers', a wigmaker would not
have fitted that description.
Finding
it tough he learnt the hard way and perhaps with those not familiar with this
genre instead of rushing though the book as the excitement builds, they would
be advised to move with him through the learning process with the companion
books I have mentioned and learn what a 'Spithead Nightingale is, (not to be
confused with a Spithead pheasant' ), or a 'Purser's Pound at 14oz', 'Soft
Tack' and 'Hard Tack' and how you 'Fleet the Messenger' and what 'Handsomely'
means. Incidentally even in 1958 we
still called the supply officer 'Father Famine'.
You
will also need a little French: 'Kydd advanced slowly, so focused on the animal
were they that the little girl was able to come upon them unawares. 'Qu' est-ce
que vous faites avec ma chevre?' she cried out, aggrieved. 'Sois calme, mon enfant! Renzi said, in a
soothing tone, removing his battered hat politely. 'Your little goat, my friend
thinks it has hurt its foot,' he continued smoothly in French. Even Nelson struggled with this language in
1783 he wrote, "I want to be proficient in the language, which is my only
reason for returning to France. I hate
their country and their manners".
This
is the story of a young man forced into a new world where he has to learn the
language of the sea, where what counts is
'Messmates before a shipmate, shipmates before a stranger and strangers
before a dog', or as we said 'one hand for me and one for the Queen' and
'always cut away from yourself or towards your oppo'.
The
test of a good book is not being able to put it down and Kydd passed with
flying colours. I have now started the
second book in the series - 'Artemis'.
Watch this space when Kydd moves, with a pierhead jump from OD to AB and
from a ship-of-the-line to a frigate!
Rob
Jerrard
Artemis
Edition:
paperback
Author:
Julian Stockwin
ISBN:
9780340837825
Publishers:
Coronet Books Hodder & Stoughton
Price
£6.99
Publication
Date: 2002
Our young Perruquier (Wig Maker) is certainly moving
fast. By the time of his pierhead jump
to the frigate Artemis, he has advanced rapidly from a landsman to Able Seaman,
eg 'one who is not only able to work, but is also well acquainted with his duty
as a seaman'.
It
was the first Lieutenant’s duty to rate a man.
During the course of his service in Artemis, Thomas is rated
quartermaster’s mate. Albeit junior, he
is in fact a Petty Officer and consequently moves Mess. Knowledge of the naval system is certainly
required when we are told that, "Mr Parry – 'as the deck, Evans has the wheel
and Kydd has the conn".
Young
Thomas is about on par with the likes of a 'captain of a part of ship'. In fact Renzi is raised to 'captain of the
mizzen top' at the same time, the mizzen mast being the aftermost mast. Thomas
might also mess with the cooper, gunsmith, sailmaker’s mate and
cook. As a captain of a top there is
some doubt if Renzi would have been paid as a Petty Officer. We are told by Brian Lavery in 'Nelson's
Navy, the ships, men and organisation 1793-1814' that the actual rank was not
established until 1806 and they were then paid the same rate as a
quartermaster’s mate.
Of
course it doesn’t follow that all former landsmen move as fast as Thomas. There are records showing landsmen taking
eight years to read ordinary seamen.
The
exciting life of Thomas Kydd continues; in the ship, after a fight with a
French ship they 'descry St Catherine’s at seven bells'. It must have looked as exciting to them as
the first blip of England on our radar set.
Thomas
is introduced to the King who seems to think that Guildford is a good place for
turnips and sheep, "Fine place f'r turnips, very fine! An' sheep too - prime
sheep, y'r Surrey cross.'this may raise a few eyebrows! He also met a Princess ('with a rustle of
material a vision in light rose and cream paused in front of him'), who
enquires, 'You lif on the schip all zer
time?' she uttered, in thick,
German-accented English.
'Puss
to show me your brafe schip,' she
begged, and smiled winningly'. We
always showed them our brave ship didn’t we?
As
a Portsmouth boy born and bred and a matelot at that, I am puzzled by one part
of the book; what were sailors of around 1800 doing on a 'run ashore' that took
them up Portsdown Hill part of the south downs,
the playground of my youth? (Photographed by me Feb 1960 from our garden. Sorry about the power lines) It is a steep road up to the summit, most of my generation never got beyond Commercial Street. Renzi however must have been made of sterner stuff. It was and still is a wonderful view from the top. It must have been an interesting journey in those days. In my youth there was still a farm at Hillsea on the right before the Coach & Horses Public House and my Grandfather born in 1873 told me when he was a boy it was all farmland.
Half
of me cannot imagine sailors in 1800 going on a drunken run ashore as far as
Portsdown hill to admire the view, however on reflection it always took all
kinds to make a Navy, what was it Admiral Cunningham said, "It takes three years to build a ship; it takes three centuries to build
a tradition". Many of us
did see beyond the pubs.
Without
wishing to spoil the story, our duo and shipmates travel to China and en route
Thomas experiences something I miss and have missed for decades now, 'time at
sea allowed a different quality'. I
have never felt it ever again anywhere - never that quality of tranquillity
during the morning watch alone on look out for instance.
The
nearest was night duty as a policeman in the City of London, This is better
explained by Detective Sergeant Alec J Comryn in his book, 'Your Policemen are
Wondering', Victor Gollancz 1947, 'The early hours of the morning, from two,
when he has finished his meal, to six, when he retires from duty, drag heavily
for the policeman on night duty....There is no sunrise yet even at this hour,
but a cold lemon gleam, breaking out all along the north-eastern sky, is enough
to dispel the darkness and light me home.
Presently the wintry sun rises, pale at first, but soon of enough energy
to spill a thin wash of light over snow-covered roof tops and down the sides of
houses. How clean and placid everything looks in the first few minutes of dawn. The grubbiest streets and houses are
transformed. And how brazenly, too, the
sun comes up as though, brand new, he were making his first appearance and knew
nothing of what had gone off during the night.
(By the way, to catch the sun in this deception you must prowl the
streets all night and be erect and alert ahead of him. It is not enough to rise early, for then it
is one awakener facing the other and you are easily outbluffed.)'
The
Crossing the Line ceremony brings back memories with all the usual fun, which
only the Royal Navy can do, you curtsey to Neptune on leaving harbour, but we
all know only too well what penalties await those who dare enter his domain
without permission. As an OD when I first
crossed, I know what it means to be addressed thus "Is this scrawny mortal
worthy of entry to my realm?" The
answer must have been 'Yes' because I have a certificate to prove it -
Taken 26th Feb 1959 on the way to Australia HMS Chichester.
First photo is PO Allan and the Buffer
'Been
there, done it, got the T shirt' as they say, twice in fact.
Kydd’s adventures continue.
Rob
Jerrard
Seaflower
Edition:
2004
Author:
Julian Stockwin
ISBN:
0340837837
Publishers:
Hodder & Stoughton
Price
£6.99
Publication
Date: Paperback 2004
Now the events of 13 April 1794 are relived as our story
opens with Acting Quartermaster Kydd being questioned about the loss of
Artemis, from the point of view of his duty of being bound to obey the helm
orders of the Officer 'o' the Watch.
Although
the title of this book is Seaflower, she does not figure in the story until
Page 197. However, it is worth the wait
as Kydd and Renzi serve in Trajan, a 74 ship-of-the line with the backward step
to AB - 'could be worse Cully, topman ain’t a bad start'! Mind you, very soon he is rated Petty
Officer again and a Quartermaster’s Mate.
His
Majesty’s cutter Seaflower is a fore-and-aft rigged topsail cutter, and because
of Renzi’s skill with the pen, the old crew are all present and correct
together, to the amazement of their Captain who cannot believe his luck - 'Kydd
caught a look of incredulity on his face', 'Seaflower now had a core of prime
han....' Bringing the old crew back
together in this manner may be a bit unbelievable, but it helps to keep the
series going.
Kydd
reflects on his career. A Quartermaster
to go any higher needs an Admiralty warrant.
Things
hot up when they take a prize - a Merchant Packet. No gun money, no head money, but a Merchant Packet had cargo,
which could be better.
Kydd’s
education continues as he learns chart work.
The three Ls 'Lead, Latitude, 'n', Lookout', which is similar to bowling
'Length, Line and Luck' but as he says to that is added a fourth, Longitude,
thanks to the invention of the chronometer.
'Now,
what we have there is a great circle. Nobody sails a great circle - we only
steer straight or th' quartermaster-o'-the-watch would be vexed. What we really
does is alter course a mort the same way once in a watch or so, an' that way we
c'n approximate y'r circle.'
Then
follows a boating adventure which has its low ebb with Renzi quoting Thomas
Gray’s (1716-1771) 'An Elegy Written in
a Country Churchyard'
'The
Curfew tolls the Knell of parting Day,
The
lowing Herd winds slowly o'er the Lea,
The
Plow-man homeward plods his weary Way,
And leaves the World to Darkness, and to me.'
Perhaps
he thought of Napoleon, as he would have continued later.
'Some
Village-Hampden that with dauntless Breast
The
little Tyrant of his Fields withstood;
Some
mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some
Cromwell guiltless of his Country's Blood.'
Hardy;
Thomas, not Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, Nelson’s Captain, took inspiration from
Gray,
'Far
from the madding crowd’s ignoble
strife,
Their
sober Wishes never learn’d to stray.'
Doud,
Renzi and Kydd come though it all, Doud as Petty Officer and our duo are now
Master’s Mates. After only four years
before the mast, Kydd is no longer a common sailor. Perhaps he is destined for the top?
'Youth
to Fortune and to Fame unknown:
Fair Science frown'd not on his humble Birth,
And
Melancholy mark'd him for her own.'
Rob
Jerrard
Mutiny
Edition:
Paperback
Author:
Julian Stockwin
ISBN:
9780340837849
Publishers:
Hodder & Stoughton
Price:
£6.99
Publication
Date: 2003
The
title of course gives a clue to the matter that takes up a large part of the
narrative, 208 pages in fact concerning the mutiny at the Nore. Kydd becomes involved in this and at its
conclusion is saved from the consequences of being involved. The historical facts are that it concluded
with its leader Richard Parker being hung.
In fact out of approximately 10,000 only 30 of the 400 who appeared
before a court were actually condemned to death.
Kydd
is at the start a Master’s Mate in Achilles,
a Warrant Officer, not a real officer as the author tells us. At this stage he reflects on the fact that,
'It was the pinnacle of achievement for a common sailor to have a cracking
Admiralty Warrant in his sea-chest'. He
is now above the Midshipmen who he messed with. His transition to a real officer begins you might say, with his
learning to dance. This reminds me of
dancing lessons on HMS St Vincent, when it was decided we boy seamen should
attend lessons run by a lady, who attended our establishment. Of course the only partners available were
other boys and it didn’t seem to progress much beyond a waltz. I understand therefore the comments by
Kydd’s male dancing teacher 'you look at the lady, not her feet - is she not to
your liking Sir?' One, two, three, one,
two, three...
The
author has introduced Kydd into the Nore Mutiny along with the chief delegate
Richard Parker of Exeter, a former Naval Officer who was elected "President of
the Delegates of the Fleet". The
problem with the Nore Mutiny was that one of their demands had been that
Parliament make immediate peace with France and whilst the leader of the
Spithead Mutiny had remained anonymous, Richard Parker was very much to the
fore and paid the price along with 29 other ringleaders.
The
Nore Mutiny began on HMS Sandwich and it could be said to have ended on her, as
Richard Parker was hung onboard on 29 June 1797 at 9.30am. It had begun on 12 May 1797 and involved 28
ships.
Kydd
comes through it all and is finally promoted Acting Lieutenant at the Battle of
Camperdown and ordered to take up a vacancy on HMS Tenacious which of course
places him back with his friend Renzi and he returns in a boat, 'Boat Ahoy! Aye
Aye, of course for an Officer and a big sigh came from the depths of his
being'.
Another
good story, full of excitement, but I don’t want to give it all away as Kydd
moves on to the quarterdeck - how will Renzi take it? You will have to discover for yourself!
Rob
Jerrard
Quarterdeck
Edition:
Paperback
Author:
Julian Stockwin
ISBN:
9780340832196
Publishers:
Hodder & Stoughton
Price:
£7.99
Publication Date: 2004
This
book begins with Kydd - Acting Lieutenant Thomas Kydd, being temporarily lost
for words. It's examination time and
often it's that feeling in the bowels - 'Come, come Sir an easier enough
question.... You must have seen a flying moor about a dozen times'. Fortunately for all of us, the author
explains what it is! After what must
have seemed an eternity in front of the Admiralty board, Thomas Kydd is
confirmed in the rank.
His
greatest fear is that he will become a 'Tarpaulin Officer' aft through the
hawse, staying a Lieutenant all his life, a fine Mess Mate, but plain in his
habits and staying onboard alone making friends with the bottle. What can he do to be one of them? Previously Renzi has pointed out, 'This does
require a mort of reflection'.
I
am sure that times have changed.
However, I remember in the sixties how the Duty Officer, when a cocktail
party was being held, always seemed to be an officer that came aft through the
hawse pipe.
Only
the other day an ex-Hostilities-Only (HO) Fleet Air Arm Rating told me how
Rating Pilots often missed a meal when on operations. Upon landing on the Carrier, Officers could always go the
Wardroom for a bite to eat, whilst a Petty Officer Pilot had to wait until the
next mealtime.
Kydd
pays his first visit to Falmouth. 'Kydd moved up and stood next to him. 'My first visit t' Falmouth, Mr
Hambly,' he said. 'I'd be obliged should you tell me something of the
place.'….The head turned slowly, eyes cool and appraising. 'A fine harbour, Falmouth, in the lee of the
Lizard, and big enough for a fleet. At
the beginning o' last year, you may recollect the great storm -'twas then four
hundred sail sheltered f'r three weeks in Falmouth without we lost one. Fine
port, Mr Kydd.'
'Then why doesn't we have
the Channel Fleet there instead of Plymouth?'
The master's expression
cracked into a smile. 'Why, now, sir, that's a question can't concern an old
shellback like me.' 'Th' hazards?'
'No hazards, sir, we have
nine mile o' ten-fathom water inside, Carrick Roads, and no current more'n a
knot or two.'
Why Plymouth? There are times when I have asked the same
question.
Kydd
is accused of sang-froid – he appears to be the Signal Lieutenant and we are
introduced to the methods of Communications in these days of sail, signals were
made
("Make a Signal" Naval
signals are made, not sent), by numbers. The old seamanship manuals will give you
some idea of the use of flags and the recently republished Seaman's Pocket Book
from June 1943 displays them in full colour (the Seaman's Pocket Book is
reviewed on this site). These are of
course the modern meanings, well modern by some standards.
In
this latest adventure Kydd finally makes it, he is finally the equal of Renzi
and his fellow Officers. How does he do
this, well a certain Madame Therese Bernardine-Mongenet, who departs with the
words 'Bonne chance Mon Ami', with Kydd not knowing how chance (luck)
has intervened yet again. Now at least
he has assez bonne chance in
the wardroom.
Kydd
is now his own man and Renzi tells him 'You don't need airs and my clever words
….my fellow go forth and conquer, know that you can match any gentleman for wit
and reputation and at last take your place in society'. Renzi concludes that Kydd no longer needs
him. Does he? For my part I have already started reading the next book
'Tenacious' to find out!
Rob
Jerrard
Tenacious
Edition:
Paperback 2006
Author:
Julian Stockwin
ISBN:
0340832223
Publishers:
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Price:
£6.99
Publication
Date: 2005
Tenacious was published in 2005, the Bicentenary of Nelson’s great victory of Trafalgar and this book is dedicated to Sir Horatio Nelson, "There is but one Nelson", Lord St Vincent.
In this adventure, Thomas Pane Kydd, Lieutenant Kydd meets
Nelson and is present at the Battle of the Nile (1798) and the Siege of Acre
(1799) (Akko-Israel) in Syria, where Commodore Sir Sidney Smith was helping the
defenders in Palestine to hold up the advance of Bonaparte’s army.
At
the Siege of Acre, although Nelson sent ships and supplies, he never once
visited this location in person. Many
believe the Nile was Nelson’s finest hour.
It
is a brave author who seeks to incorporate one of our greatest heroes into his
storyline, whilst at the same time introducing into it a comparative stranger,
but wait, why not? Who is to say a
Stockwin or a Jerrard was not present at the Nile or Acre? Why not a Kydd? Whatever their names, the list of those who were hero’s with
Nelson at all the actions is endless.
Here we live with Kydd, Renzi and the others when they lived through the
Battle of the Nile and the aftermath.
As
usual the author has done his research with Sir Sidney Smith and HMS Tigre
entering the story. HMS Theseus is
replaced for the purposes of this story by Tenacious. HMS Theseus was a 74 gun third-rate frigate, which also fought at
the Nile. Kydd, Renzi and the crew are involved
ashore, as was the case with the Royal Navy, landing seamen, marines and guns
whilst the two ships anchored off and used their broadsides to good
effect.
At
the end of this story, we find both Kydd and Renzi still alive at the top of
the ‘cursed tower’. As dawn broke,
Renzi, still stunned and shocked to find they had both come through it can only
say, ‘Brother’, as neither spoke another word.
Has
Bonaparte crept away in the night - is he finished? We who live in this century have the benefit of knowing, but in
our series, how will Renzi and Kydd fare?
Will they be present at Trafalgar, will they be in Tenacious or will
they step aboard one of the actual ships present - if so will it be a 74 gun or
something smaller like Pickle?
Just
one comment I would make is that of the spelling of the name for Napoleon Bonaparte who was born
as Napoleon Buonaparte, the second son of a Corsican family with dual Italian
heritage. The changing of the family name from Italian to French seems clearly
political.
Rob
Jerrard
Command
Edition: 1st
Author: Julian Stockwin
ISBN: 0340898550
Publishers: Hodder & Stoughton
Price £16.99
Publication Date: 2006
Publisher’s Title
Information
"Command is a watershed book in the Thomas Kydd
series. My hero has finally achieved
the majesty of his own quarterdeck, and his life will never be the same again.
It may seem an improbable transformation of a young perruquier of Guildford,
press-ganged into His Majesty's Navy less than ten years before, but historical
records tell us there were Thomas Kydds, not many admittedly, but enough to
tantalise a writer's imagination. It seems that in the bitter French wars at
the end of the Eighteenth Century, there were one hundred and twenty of them
who, by their own courage, resolution and brute tenacity, made the
awe-inspiring journey from the fo'c'sle, as common seamen, to King's officer on
the quarterdeck.
I remember my feelings when
I became an officer, having begun my sea career on the lower deck. And sometimes, I wonder idly, had I lived
back then, could I have been a Thomas Kydd? " Julian Stockwin
Jubilant at his advancement,
Commander Kydd fervently races to transform his little brig-sloop, with its
deserted deck and empty gun-ports, into an impervious man-o'-war. But before he
is able to truly test her mettle on the open sea, an armistice is declared with
the French, leaving HMS Teazer out of commission, and her unproven captain,
ashore, on half pay.
'Uniform blues and fighting
sword stowed, Kydd's petition for another ship is to no avail, until a merchant
ship company offers an unexpected opportunity to return to sea. Now captain of
a convict transport, bound for a penal colony in New South Wales - far from the
comfort of Teazer's cabin - Kydd's seamanship, ideals, friendships and humanity
will all be tested to the limit.
Command is a rip-roaring
adventure, full of the seafaring detail and historical fact that have made the
Thomas Kydd chronicles so popular.
Stockwin's passion for the fighting age of sail and his ardent
admiration for the men of the King's Royal Navy, provide a portrait of the time
that is hard to beat.
Review
The author in his note describes this as a watershed book in the series. Thomas Kydd, a young
Perruguier (Wig Maker) of Guildford, press-ganged into the Royal Navy, achieved
the Majesty of his own quarterdeck.
This makes him one of a very elite few who have taken that step. The first Captain’s orders he had ever seen
dealt sternly with his duty - 'To take, burn, sink and destroy such of the
King’s enemies as he came into contact with.
Hereof you may not fail as you will answer to the contrary at your
peril', perhaps a Nelson quote? 'Taken, burnt or sunk.'
As ever the author may have
you reaching for 'The Sailors Word Book' or something similar - 'A Purser’s
Moon' - a rush dip in an iron saucer, instead of a candle. Or alternatively described as a Purser’s
Dip. The Purser is often accused of meanness
as the ballad entitled, 'The Sailor’s Complaint' tells us in 'The British Tar
in Fact and Fiction' by Charles N Robinson Harper & Brothers 1909, page
416:-
The
feeling of the men towards both the purser and the boatswain is indicated in
the musical piece written by Sir William Davenant, where the helmsman of Sir
Francis Drake sings:
"Oh, how
the purser shortly will wonder,
When he
sums in his book
All the
wealth we have took.
And finds
that we'll give him none of the plunder;
At sight
of our gold the boatswain will bristle,
But not
finding his part
He will
break his proud heart,
And hang
himself strait i' the chain of his whistle.
As his
name foully stinks, so his butter rank doth smell,
Both
hateful to sailors, scarce good enough for hell
The
nation allows men what's fitting to eat,
But he,
curse attend him, gives to us musty meat;
But
bisket that's mouldy, hard stinking Suffolk cheese,
And pork
cut in pounds, and pork cut in pounds,
for to
eat with our pease."
Obviously this 'Command
situation' isn’t quite settled in Kydd’s mind because when a ship is sighted,
the Boatswain prepares to go aloft, "No, thank ‘ee’ Kydd said quickly, 'I’ve a
mind I’ see myself", the net result of which is the lookout aloft could not
believe the evidence of his own eyes.
Worse than that, Kydd then leaves his ship and takes charge of the boarding
party. This is in true Nelson spirit,
'Well! I have fought contrary to orders, and I shall perhaps be hanged: never
mind, let them - To Lt Col William Stewart 2 April 1801. 'If I had been censured every time I had run
my ship or Fleets under my command, into great danger, I should have long ago
been out of the service and never in the House of Peers'. Horatio Nelson.
I have to express some
disappointment with this book. Kydd
temporarily without a ship takes command of a merchant ship and his cargo are a
small number of convicted felons for the colonies, a convict ship. However there is little description given of
the actual voyage, other than that the adventure continues with Renzi trying
his hand at something different.
However, the story is still flowing and I look forward to its
continuation.
Rob Jerrard
The Latest Book
Kydd: The Admiral's Daughter
Edition: 1st HB
2007
Author: Julian Stockwell
ISBN: 0340898598
ISBN: Paperback 2008 9780340898611
Publishers: Hodder &
Stoughton
Price: £17.99 or £7.99 Paperback
Publication Date: September
2007, Paperback 2008
Publisher's Title
Information
A gripping adventure of smugglers, spies, love and
scandal, set in the West Country 200 years ago...
‘There was a warm stillness to the night. They were
trying to close the land in murky darkness.
A smugglers’ moon; a filmy crescent of light was just enough to make out shapes and
movement without betraying detail. That same stillness was robbing the ship of steerage just when it
was needed…. As many as Kydd could spare mould go with Standish and lie
concealed in undergrowth behind the long, Lizard–like Cudden Point overlooking
Stackhouse Cove ... Teazer left them to it, ghosted back offshore… An hour
passed in absolute quiet, the slap and chuckle of water and the creaking of
timbers in the slight swell the only sounds....’
Commander Thomas Kydd has sailed
with the Royal Navy in the perilous South Seas, against Napoleon's fleet in the
Mediterranean and to the edge of the known world in a convict ship to
Australia, but now HMS Teazer and her crew must
fight to gain control of home waters.
It's 1803: tensions are escalating
again between England and France and while the Royal Navy launches
reconnaissance, rescue missions and spies on the continent, French privateer
ships lurk around Cornwall and Devon's coastline - poised to intercept British
trade.
Posted to Plymouth to ensure safe
passage along the entire coastline between Portland Bill and the Isles of
Scilly, Kydd steers Teazer through the secret
bolt-holes of Lizard Point and Stackhouse Cove towards the rustic fishing
village of Polperro, hot in pursuit of the infamous privateer ‘Bloody Jacques’
as he vanishes between pillagings.
But another prize has caught
Kydd's eye on dry land - the hand of the Admiral's daughter, the exquisite and
determined, Miss Persephone Lockwood. As rumours of the unlikely match spread
through town, it looks like Kydd will finally get his foothold into high
society, but an unexpected infatuation with the rustic charms of Polperro
suddenly throws his aspirations into question.
Kydd's technical excellence and
daring is tested to the limit as Teazer braces herself for a
bloody showdown with Jacques, but the battle between heart and mind over
whether to marry for social gain or for love - and whether he is truly ready to
give up his first mistress, the sea - is one that Kydd must resolve alone.
From the clatter of joinery
work-shops and the rich stink of the pitch house in Plymouth Dockyard, to the
rickety antiquity of Cockside and all the coastal landmarks, like the rockface
of the Great Mewstone, the sprawling heights of Rame Head, the tiny ports of
Portwinkle and Looe and the ten-mile sweep of Whitsand Bay, Julian masterly
recreates the colourful past of Nelson's Southwest.
Kydd: The Admiral's Daughter is
the eighth novel in the series.
Review
In
The Admiral’s Daughter we find both Kydd and Renzi back in HMS Teazer. Whilst being interviewed by the Admiral (the
one with the daughter) Kydd is desperately seeking a command, when the Admiral
says, "There is one other in my gift, no one seems to take her. That’s probably because she’s a trifle odd
in her particulars, foreign-built, Malta I think" - "Sir her name’s not Teazer...
Sir - I’ll take her!"
The
story is off to a flying start as HMS Teazer is immediately despatched with war
against France once more imminent and once again like Kydd you will need your
French, 'C'est la guerre' not of course 'c'est la gare'. Memories of a recent TV programme where a
participant jumped in a taxi and said "Take me to the war!"
Something
totally alien appears on the horizon, certainly something that Kydd was not
trained for. The Admiral turns to his daughter,
"My dear Persephone may I present Commander Kydd". Poor Kydd, he tries his best at small talk with all the ladies
but it helps to know that Falmouth is in Cornwall not Devon. It reminds me of a Cornish farmer who said
after finding out that I lived in Devon, "There’s only one place worse than
Cornwall and that’s Devon".
As
well as the Royal Navy this is also a tale involving free trade. "Sir, are there any parts o’ the coast that
we should especially watch?" "Devonshire and Cornwall might be accounted as
having the worst rascals in the kingdom sir".
Being a resident of Devon I would like to say that the locals did not
carry out the latest incident of Free Trade at Branscombe, which shows how
times have changed. Mind you Dorset had
its fair share of smugglers, I am not sure if I should admit that some at
Chideock were called Jerrard.
Kydd
overcomes the smugglers. However he
doesn't get to grips with the female of the species and the twist in the story
may leave you wondering how the next book will develop. It cannot end here, Commander Kydd will
surely be promoted to Post Captain unless the Admiral, Admiral’s wife or
daughter have anything to do with the move!
It may be safer for him to stick with his first mistress, the sea.
Another
absorbing sea yarn.
Rob
Jerrard
The Author
Julian Stockwin was sent to
the sea-training school, Indefatigable, when he was fourteen. At the age of fifteen he joined the Royal
Navy, and after transferring to the Royal Australian Navy, he served for eight
years, and saw active service with a carrier task force. He retired a Petty Officer and later held a
commission as a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve in Honk
Kong. He now lives in Devon with his
wife.