<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> T H E B O S U N ' S C H R O N I C L E The official Ezine of the Thomas Kydd Shipmates' network <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> June, 2008 Avast, Shipmates and anchors aweigh! 1 DISPATCHES 2 BOOKSHELF 3 THE GEORGIANS 4 THE DRAW OF KYDD 5 SALTY SAYINGS 6 CONTESTS 7 SPANISH LADIES 8 ASK JULIAN ==================== 1 DISPATCHES + Out and about To promote the launch of the UK paperback of THE ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER Julian has been signing copies of the book around the country. You can catch up with him at a number of venues this month: + Saturday June 7, The Torbay Bookshop + Saturday June 14, Waterstones Yeovil + Saturday June 21, Waterstones Newton Abbot Full details on the website. If you can't make it on the day, you can call the store with any requests for Julian to sign a book and then pick it up later at your convenience. And due to many pleas from Kydd memorabilia collectors, we now have some more Postcards Packs available. These contain an assortment of Kydd postcards plus two new Kydd bookmarks. If you'd like a Pack, just send a first- class stamped addressed envelope to Julian Stockwin, PO Box 76 Ivybridge, Devon, PL210XH (UK residents). If you live overseas there is a small charge payable via Paypal for postage. Email Admin@julianstockwin.com for details. + THE PRIVATEER'S REVENGE taster Chapter one of book nine is now on the website and Julian was tickled with this feedback from one Shipmate: "It's SARTIN, SARR...the new book be a WINNER!!!... in the C.S.Forester tradition! I can't WAIT to get my hands on it, me peepers workin' o'er the bounding verse, off to the 19th century of seas, sails, sounds, and salty-life only dreamt of in the wasteland of video- this, and TV-that." + Wooden Boat Festival coming Down Under Held every two years in Tasmania, on Hobart's historic waterfront, the Australian Wooden Boat Festival is a four-day celebration of maritime craft, art and heritage. The event is now the biggest event of its kind in Australia and well worth a visit if you are Down Under in February 2009. And if you can't make the actual event there's an excellent newsletter subscribable via the website. http://www.australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au/index.htm l + Memories Following the item on Stephanie Eacott, the pioneering female shipwright we featured in last month's issue, a number of you emailed us with various dockyard reminiscences. Among them was Jenifer Faulkner, whose husband was a shipwright apprentice in Devonport Dockyard. Jenifer recalls him being caught out early on, too, by the dockyard tradition of having a joke at the expense of young apprentices. Jenifer's husband was sent off to get a lefthanded screwdriver. + Don't miss an issue! If you change your email addresses don't forget to register your new address so you won't miss any issues of the Bosun's Chronicle. Just go to Julian's website to send us the new one. And while we're talking email addresses, we've had a few problems recently with Shipmates not receiving their newsletter due to Bosun@Julianstockwin.com not being accepted by their service provider because a white-list spam filter has been put in place and only those specific nominees listed on it get through. If you have any problems receiving the Chronicle in the future, this might be the cause!s + Kydd goes back to school Bill Payne runs Bliss Sailing School in Japan, and has recently added the Kydd series to his official recommended reading list for students wishing to immerse themselves in nautical lore. + New limited edition Kydd Collection print In October, Art Marine is planning to publish the original painting created by Geoff Hunt for the cover of THE PRIVATEER'S REVENGE. Limited edition prints are available of all the Kydd covers. www.artmarine.co.uk + Intrepid sailors! A big salute to all the participants of the Transat 2008 International Yacht Race which set off from Plymouth on May 11. The event, perhaps the toughest of its kind in the world, places great demands on both skipper and boat in a solo race against the prevaling winds from Plymouth west across the North Atlantic to the US. http://www.theartemistransat.com/ ==================== 2 BOOKSHELF Here's some more of your personal recommendations for great sea books, both fiction and non-fiction. + Maj (ret) Stephen Lent: One of my favourite nautical books was "Cameron, Ordinary Seaman" by Philip McCutchan. + Doug Brooks: A great read is "Fitzroy" by John and Mary Gribben, the remarkable story of the commander of HM sloop "Beagle" that took Darwin on his voyage of discovery. + Ian Hewes: I enjoyed "Marked for Misfortune" by Jean Hood, which tells the tale of the wreck of the "Winterton" off the coast of Madagascar in 1792. Keep them coming... =================== 3 THE GEORGIANS Black Dick Howe one of the great figures of British maritime history, he spent sixty years as a professional sea officer serving with great distinction during the War of Austrian Succession, the Seven Years War and the War of American Independence, among others. Howe was officially Admiral Lord Richard Howe of Langar Hall, but to the sailors of the Fleet he was always just "Black Dick". There have been a number of explanations offered for this, his swarthy complexion being one. The fact that he was said to never smile unless a battle was about to begin may also have earned him the nickname! While Admiral of the Channel Fleet Howe was unpopular for his "shyness" [the eighteenth century term for not being seen to be sufficiently aggressive against the enemy]. This was an unfair accusation against Howe, however, who was having to spread his resources very thin. Nevertheless, at one point the officers of his own ship declined to drink his health at their mess. His chaplain was outraged at the insult and when called on for a toast, said: "Gentlemen I give you the two first words of the third psalm" and glasses were of course raised. The words were "Lord! How..." After the Glorious First of June, when Howe became the nation's hero for his masterful defeat of the enemy at the first major Fleet action of the Revolutionary War, this toast became a favourite throughout navy. As Julian mentions in MUTINY, after negotiations broke down during the Spithead Mutiny in 1797, Howe successfully mediated the end of the uprising. Despite being nearly 70 years old, and suffering from gout, he did not hesitate to take up the personal plea from Lord Spencer to save the Fleet. Of a taciturn and reserved manner, Howe will be remembered for his great courage and legendary calmness. Once, when informed that ship was on fire he merely observed: "If that be the case, we shall soon know it." =================== 4 THE APPEAL OF KYDD What particularly draws readers to Julian's books? Two shipmates on opposite sides of the globe offer their views: + Dan Fisher, a former sergeant in the United States Marine Corps: "Over the past few months I have been glued to the Kydd series. Presently I am well into MUTINY. Thomas Kydd is the type of character we all long to be. A strong young man willing to try the unknown, be recognised and taught by old hands, make mistakes and grow in his trade. Kydd's adventures have much in common with my own service in foreign lands. I relate to him completely." Dan was very pleased to learn from Julian that Kydd finds he owes his life to the Royal Marines in THE PRIVATEER'S REVENGE. + Peter Wells, in New Zealand: "I am working my way through the Kydd books and I cannot wait until I am on board the train bound for work or home so I can read again. I think Thomas brings out the noble adventurer in all of us with Renzi supplying the logical side we all hanker after. I also appreciate the deeply fascinating, historically-based stories the books tell." Peter's grandfather ran away to sea at age 13 and his great grandfather sailed on tea clippers. Inspired by his rich salty heritage, Peter himself writes nautical short stories. Let us know what you think sets Julian's books apart. ==================== 5 SALTY SAYINGS Fall foul of Today, if you fall foul of someone, you are rubbing him or her up the wrong way and headed for trouble of some sort. The origins of this phrase are definitely salty. To fall foul of something at sea means to become entangled with it, such as an anchor becoming fouled by something on the sea bottom. And if a ship has a "foul bottom" her way through the water is seriously impeded by seaweed and barnacles growing on the hull. ==================== 6 CONTESTS Emails to Bosun@Julianstockwin.com Deadline: end June. + Last chance to win an advance copy of THE PRIVATEER'S REVENGE! If you're feeling frustrated with the wait for Julian's next book, here's an opportunity to get your hands on an advance proof copy of THE PRIVATEER'S REVENGE, months ahead of the official publication date in October. We have twelve copies to give away! To go into the hat, just email your name and full postal address. + There are also two mystery sea prizes up for grabs this month. Here's the question: What number in the series will THE PRIVATEER'S REVENGE be? ==================== 7 SPANISH LADIES In THE ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER when Kydd sings "Spanish Ladies" Admiral Lockwood is delighted, but Lady Lockwood impales Tom with a look of venom. "Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain For we have received order to sail to old England But we hope in a short time to see you again. (chorus) We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors, We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas; Until we strike soundings in the Channel of old England: From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues (end chorus) Then we hove our ship to, with the wind at sou'-west, my boys Then we hove our ship to, for to strike soundings clear; Then we filled the main topsail and bore right away, my boys, And straight up the Channel of old England did steer. So the first land we made it is called the Deadman, Next Ram Head off Plymouth, Start, Portland and the Wight; We sailed by Beachy, by Fairly and Dungeness, And then bore away for the South Foreland light. Now the signal it was made for the grand fleet to anchor, All on the Downs that night for to meet; Then stand by your stoppers, see clear your shank- painters, Haul all your clew garnets, stick out tacks and sheets. Now let every man take off his full bumper, Let every man take off his full bowl; For we will be jolly and drown melancholy, With a health to each jovial and true-hearted soul. There were several variants of this song, as is often the case with material largely passed on by word of mouth. Sea songs in Kydd's day were generally of two types - shanties, sung aboard merchant ships as a means of coordinating hard physical labour (the Royal Navy worked in silence), and forebitters, recreational songs sung by sailors around the forebitts in their spare time. "Spanish Ladies" describes a voyage from Spain to the Downs. Unusually, it was originally a forebitter, but then it was adopted by merchant seamen and used as a capstan shanty. We'll have more on the background of some of the sea songs Kydd enjoyed in future issues. ==================== 8 ASK JULIAN This question to Julian has been raised by a number of Shipmates recently: "Was there a real Tom Kydd on which the Kydd books are based?" Julian replies: "When I first started thinking about a series set in the Age of Fighting Sail other authors in the genre wrote through the eyes of Naval officers issuing their orders from the quarterdeck. But I was drawn to another side of the Georgian Navy, the much- maligned lower deck and the common seaman. With my own sea experience, both as a foremast hand, and later as a lieutenant commander, and also my training as a psychologist, I believed that in many ways the real hero of the day was not the officer in his gold lace, but Jack Tar. I also was fascinated by the opportunties for social mobility in the Royal Navy in the eighteenth century. In a very rigid society, the Navy was basically the only way for someone of low birth, but with talent, and in receipt of some luck, to become a gentleman! As I delved more deeply into the period I started to piece together some incredible statistics that fired my imagination. Records from two centuries ago are not precise, but they do give definite trends. During the 22 years of the bitter French Wars probably 600,000 seaman served their King and country. Of those, some 200 or more made the incredible transition from the lower deck to becoming an officer. The odds were huge - 1 in 2500 - but it did happen! And of those who made the quarterdeck, possibly 16 became captains of their own ship, and six achieved flag rank. And some of these had been pressed men! So much for the image of the press-gang taking the dregs of society... As I digested these statistics I began to see I had the genesis of the Kydd series. I would take as my hero a man forced into the Navy who would eventually achieve the professional pinnacle of the Service. My books would chart one man's life from pressed man to Admiral. But what kind of man could have made this incredible journey against huge, almost insurmountable odds? I had the names of some of them, but generally there was little else. The historical record of their Service career detailed some of their heroic exploits but what kind of men were they? Was there some common element that enabled them to rise above their peers? How did they cope with such a change in their circumstances? It became a fascinating challenge to conjecture their personal qualities, to try to put myself back in time, to ask if I could have been one of those men. Thomas Kydd is not based on any one man, but is a composite drawn from the real-life historical heroes below, and my own personal experiences at sea. + After Nelson and Hardy the two most important people in 'Victory' at the Battle of Trafalgar were both from the lower deck: John Quilliam, first lieutenant, and John Pasco, signal lieutenant. + Provo Wallis joined the Navy as an Able Seaman in 1795, and when he died in 1892 was an Admiral of the Fleet. + James Clephan was a pressed man who was promoted to the quarterdeck from the lower deck. In his case this was in recognition of his role in a desperate cutting- out expedition in 1801. + William Mitchell, who incredibly lived after being flogged around the fleet (500 lashes), went on to achieve a King's commission and eventually the rank of Admiral. + George Westcott overcame a humble birth to become captain of 'Majestic', fighting with Nelson at the Battle of the Nile. and Admiral Benbow, Captain Cook and Captain Bligh - all rose above lowly origins ..." =================== Coming next month - Black Tot Day, powder monkeys, a chance to win the new audiobook of KYDD superbly read by Christian Rodska - and the usual favourites... Yours aye, THE BOSUN ++ Download back issues from the WebSite ++