====================================== S T O P - P R E S S ** B U M P E R ** PRE-MUTINY LAUNCH ISSUE +Special Contests +Free "KYDD for a Friend" Offer +Behind the Scenes ====================================== "THE BOSUN'S CHRONICLE" --- emailed to Shipmates around the world --- VOL. 3, ISSUE 10, OCTOBER 2003 Avast there - and welcome aboard from the Bosun of the Thomas Kydd Shipmates' Network! This newsletter is now read by Shipmates in UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, South Africa, Denmark, Belgium, Cyprus, Singapore, Portugal, Spain, Estonia, Ireland, Netherlands and Japan. (It's not always possible to identify the origin of an email address; if you're reading this in a country we haven't mentioned - do let us know!) 1) NEWS & VIEWS 2) ASK JULIAN 3) RECOMMENDED READING 4) BEHIND THE SCENES OF MUTINY 5) SALTY SAYINGS 6) WHO'S WHO 7) FEATURE 8) CONTESTS 9) NEW ON THE WEB ==================== 1) NEWS & VIEWS --- publishing happenings, author events --- +Last month we published Shipmate Reviews of MUTINY, ahead of the book's launch November 1. Here's what the influential UK publication "Publishing News" had to say: "Book four in the superior Thomas Kydd seafaring series sees our hero in 1797, now a master's mate, embroiled in the last days of the glorious Venetian republic and the Mutiny at the Nore, when 10,000 men in ships held England to ransom. Based on little-known historical fact, but the appeal of the story is in the telling, which is atmospheric, authentic and disclosed from the perspective of the ordinary sailor working his way up the ranks. Genre fiction at its best - predictable enough to appeal to readers of Patrick O'Brian and Bernard Cornwell but with sufficient originality to win great praise from the critics." +The Language of the Sea A number of readers have suggested including a glossary in Julian's books. This is something that has been seriously discussed with the publishers, but to include everything would make the books far too big. Julian's golden rule is not to make the understanding of any twist of the plot dependent on the exact knowledge of some sea phrase that he might use; the meaning, he believes, should be evident from the context. One reviewer recently talked about the use of such words in KYDD. "For many, one of the real stumbling blocks to learning about the Age of Sail is the terminology. You could turn to a dictionary, only to find the more arcane terms aren't listed ... Instead I'd like to recommend a maritime novel, 'Kydd', by Julian Stockwin. As Kydd learns about life at sea in a British warship, we are painlessly introduced to much of the traditional lingo of the eighteenth century sailing ship." "Elissa", the newsletter of the Texas Seaport Museum, August issue, page 5. A Companion to the Kydd series, which would offer a glossary and background information, is planned for the future. What other aspects would you like to see included? Email . +Earlier volumes in the Kydd series continue to generate praise around the world. ARTEMIS is listed in "MyShelf's Top Ten Reads for 2003". + The UK paperback edition of SEAFLOWER is released this month. ISBN 0 340 79478 X. +Ships in miniature For those model shipwrights among you there is a new publication "Warships to Workboats" - check out Shipmate Robert Squarebriggs' story on the half model he built of ARTEMIS. +Diary reminder. Cutty Sark If you're in London October 29, Julian is giving a talk aboard the historic "Cutty Sark". The event is from 6:30 - 9:00 and tickets may be requested via the Bosun. (A small charge of £2.50 will be made, redeemable against purchases of MUTINY on the night.) ===================== 2) ASK JULIAN --- a forum for Shipmates questions --- For this Bumper Issue, Julian answers two of your queries: Simon Phillips from Cardiff asked: "would you outline the different types and uses of ship's boats." Julian replies: "In Kydd's day, ship's boats were used for many purposes such as 'cutting out' attacks, carrying men and stores ashore, moving the ship by means of cables and anchors, communicating between ships and sounding shallow water channels. The four main types of ship's boats were launch, barge, pinnace and cutter - all had separate functions. The launch was the largest boat, and well equipped for carrying heavy loads. It was equipped with a windlass to assist in raising anchors and a davit, small wooden crane, for retrieving the anchor buoy. Generally the launch was rowed by 16 oarsmen, eight each side. The barge was narrower, and often longer than the launch and was mainly used for carrying naval officers ashore. It was usually rowed with 12 oarsmen, six on each side. The pinnace was slightly smaller than the barge and had fewer oars. Cutters were good sea boats. They were maintained in a state of constant readiness to provide speedy ship to ship communication. Ship's boats were designed for both rowing and sailing although some were more suitable at one than the other. Pinnaces and barges were used primarily for rowing, cutters were better at sailing. Some ships had other types of boats such as the jollyboat (essentially a small cutter) and a gig (a light, narrow boat, built for speed). Ship's boats did not function as lifeboats; they could not carry many crew and lowering a boat took too much time to try to save any unfortunate sailor who fell overboard. Most could not swim. If a ship needed to be towed, all boats were used. The English method of towing was to have the boats in single file ahead of the ship, connected with a tow cable. Becalmed ships sometimes had to resort to kedging - when the ship's boats were used to warp the ship from one position to another." --- Rob Youens of Thame, England, asks: "What does the term 'in ordinary' mean when a ship is laid up?" Julian replies: "In peacetime, most ships of the navy were laid up 'in ordinary' - moored bow and stern to buoys in rivers or harbours close to the yards. Their guns, stores and upper masts were removed and stored ashore. The upper deck was temporarily roofed over with timber to keep it dry. Sometimes the ship was rigged with windsails to help to air the lower parts of the hull and prevent timber decay. The term basically means 'in reserve' (we'd say 'in mothballs' today) and derives from the Latin 'ordinarius', meaning 'as ordered'. A ship in ordinary was manned by her standing officers, the gunner, carpenter and boatswain and by the purser and a cook. There were also a small number of servants. Parties of shipwrights and men went around the ships carrying out routine maintenance and pumping out bilges. It was a much easier time for those aboard than when at sea! A ship in Ordinary is not the same as a hulk, which was an old ship taken out of service and moored in harbour. (Hulks were used for barracks, prisons or as receiving ships for pressed men.) The establishment of the persons employed by the government to take care of these ships and their crew of labourers was also called the Ordinary. In 1784, when the navy had virtually returned to a peacetime routine after the American war, there were 243 ships in ordinary and 159 in commission. In 1801, there were 81 ships in ordinary out of a fleet of 945." Do you have a question for Julian. Email . There's a signed set of series postcards for every published question! Please put ASK JULIAN in the subject line. ==================== 3) RECOMMENDED READING --- books, magazines and journals about the sea --- Falconer's "Universal Dictionary of the Marine", Chatham Publishing. ISBN: 1861 762046 First published in 1769, the work was reprinted and revised several times. This is a reprint of the 1815 edition, the most comprehensive edition. Containing marine technology, data on technical aspects of shipbuilding, fitting and armaments, and the Navy's administrative and operational practices, Falconer is an invaluable reference book for modern enthusiasts of the age of sail. ==================== 4) BEHIND THE SCENES OF MUTINY --- the people and the places --- Before beginning to write MUTINY, Julian sat down with Kathy for a long planning session about the plot specifics and the location research that needed to be done - and the people who needed to be contacted. One of the things that soon became apparent is that the mutinies at the Nore and Spithead had virtually been untouched by nautical fiction writers. Julian saw this as an opportunity to bring to life through Kydd's eyes one of the most extraordinary events in English history. The list of cities providing the setting for the book began emerging - Gibraltar, Venice, Sheerness... Julian had spent several years of his boyhood in Sheerness and recalls finding sailors' clay pipes in the mudflats, but that was many years ago and as the main focus of the book takes place there, it was essential to go back. Kathy uses her journalistic background to ferret out local experts and Julian was delighted to meet David Hughes, a local historian with a wonderful depth of knowledge of the mutiny and the area. Many of the places the Stockwins visit may seem very exotic but Sheerness on a cold grey winter's day is no picnic. After walking along the sea front into a bitter onshore breeze for an hour or so there was no alternative other than to find the nearest hostelry for a warming tot of rum! Gibraltar provided a wealth of primary sources and many buildings from Kydd's time still stand. During their time in Gibraltar the Stockwins celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, cracking a bottle of champagne "on top of the Rock". But of all the locations they have been to so far, Venice is the one that stands above all the others because of its sheer physical presence. Making appointments with various historians and maritime experts proved quite a challenge for Kathy's very limited Italian. In Venice a local translator was hired to help with the work, especially at the Arsenale, where Admiral Lorenzo Sferra provided an insight into the state of the Venetian republic's navy in 1797. Devon research was comparatively straight-forward and mainly consisted of following the mouth of the River Erme up from the sea, digital camera in hand - ably assisted by David Sage, who not only drove the Stockwins to various sites but also provided a rich fund of local colour. But the question of dialect posed a challenge. A very helpful expert of historic Devonian speech patterns, John Germon, came to the rescue. At the end of each day's research, the Stockwins have a firm rule that they must download the photos they have taken and make sure all are properly labeled and sorted before they can relax. In the case of MUTINY Julian estimates he took over 600 pics. There's also boxes of photocopies of primary sources, reference books, nautical pilots and charts - stacked on top of each other they reach over several feet high. ==================== 5) SALTY SAYINGS --- what today's English owes to Jack Tar --- This month, by popular demand, a double helping of sayings whose origins are definitely salty +Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey Today, if we say it is cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, it is pretty damn cold! At sea, cannon balls were piled on deck beside the cannon pyramid fashion and retained in a brass ring called a monkey. If it became very cold, some of the cannon balls would topple over. It has been suggested that this occurs due to the different thermal coefficients of linear expansion of brass and iron - as the brass shrinks more quickly than the iron, the stack of balls become unstable. However the difference between the coefficients of brass and iron is very small and it is more probable that the cause is not due to the brass contracting more quickly than iron, it's the sea water pooling in the monkey, along with any water between the balls freezing and pushing the balls out of the monkey. +Three sheets to the wind A person who is intoxicated and out of control is said to be three sheets to the wind. Sheets are the lines of rope used to control the tension and position of the sails. On square-rigged ships, each sail has its own set of sheets so the sails can be controlled independent of each other. Sometimes the wind pulled the sheets out of a sailor's hands and the sails flapped. This was bad enough, but if three sets of sheets were loose, the situation was temporarily out of control. ==================== 6) WHO'S WHO --- bio details of the characters in the series --- Perrott Jabez Perrott is introduced in ARTEMIS. He was born at Goose Alley in the rat-infested squalor of Smithfield, London, in 1759, the 'year of victories' during which both Canada and India were finally wrested from the French. It was also the year in which future prime minister Pitt was born - and the aptly named ship-of-the-line 'Victory' was laid down at Chatham. His father worked fitfully as a porter. He lost his mother to gin and hunger before he could walk and his father later left him and a sister to survive alone as best they could. At nine years of age, Perrott left home, heading for the London docks. He secured a berth as cabin boy in a new slaver, and in the coming years he learned his sea trade in voyages from Liverpool to Guinea, Demerara and the West Indies. He volunteered for the Navy at the outbreak of the War of Independence and was aboard the Arethusa for her fight with Belle Poule and with Captain Nelson at San Juan. In nearly the last big action of the war, he was a quarter gunner in the thrilling chase in the Delaware which ended in his ship, Diomede, facing the big South Carolinan frigate South Carolina which unusually was armed with a ship-of-the-line's 32 pounders. Before the American surrendered, Jabez Perrott was carried below to the cockpit where his shattered leg was sawn away. Shortly afterwards the war ended and, like so many other sailors, his ship was paid off and he found himself cast ashore. He eventually found a situation in Brixham, mending sails and nets. He stayed with his half sister there, but on the death of her husband he had to leave. The outbreak of the French Revolutionary War saw Perrott eking out an uncertain living as a travelling handyman. The Navy had no use for him, there were no vacancies for cook, so he took to the road once more, keeping his memories to himself. In Guildford, miles from the sea, he was able to secure a temporary job as an assistant in a bookshop. ==================== 7) FEATURE Julian's Favourite Marine Artists - Geoff Hunt We conclude our survey of sea painters with someone who is probably Julian's favourite artist of the sea. When Hodder & Stoughton's then Editorial Director Roland Philipps announced that they were going to commission Geoff Hunt to paint the covers, Julian took a very deep breath. He had long admired Geoff's work, and was absolutely thrilled at the choice! Since that time, a friendship based on deep respect for each other's talent has developed between Geoff and Julian. Geoff recalls first reading through the manuscript of KYDD, and being impressed with a particular passage in the first chapter: "From a small opening near the waterline discoloured water dribbled on and on into the sea..." Only a man who knows ships and boats intimately could have written that sort of detail, Geoff believes, and feels that Julian brings this special element to all his books. After studying graphic design and then spending several years in advertising, Geoff became a freelance artist and designer. He was the art editor of "Warship" journal and the designer and typographer of many books on marine subjects. In 1797 Geoff sold his house and he and his wife sailed their 26-foot sloop "Kipper" to the Mediterranean and back over the course of twelve months or so. On his return, Geoff devoted himself to maritime painting. His work is highly acclaimed and hangs in galleries and private collections around the world. He is also known for his work as a book-jacket illustrator, notably the Patrick O'Brian series and now the Kydd series. Geoff is Vice-President of the prestigious Royal Society of Marine Artists. His studio is on the site of Admiral Nelson's house at Merton Place, on the outskirts of London. While Julian was writing SEAFLOWER he had Geoff's print "HMS Trusty in English Harbour, Antigua" hanging on the wall of his study. Julian says he drew inspiration from its glorious Caribbean colours and details of the harbour. Geoff irreverently signed it "All haaaands to sunbathe!" Julian also finds "Treason's Harbour", another of Geoff's prints, conveys a disturbing sense of menace and intrigue - and although the location was different, he hung it next to him when he was writing certain passages in MUTINY. The Bosun recently caught up with Geoff to ask him about the cover for MUTINY. "I felt the whole weight of the book fell upon the description of the mutiny aboard the anchored ships. The image of the red flag hoisted was an obvious idea, and I reinforced this a little by including the Union Flag thrown aside over the taffrail. I used the stern of a 64-gun ship, which could well have been 'Achilles' herself. As well as Julian's contributions of historic material I read for background James's and Clowes's naval histories." Examples of Geoff Hunt's work can be seen in "A Celebration of Marine Art: Fifty Years of Royal Society of Marine Artists" and "The Tall Ship in Art". His prints are available in the UK through and in the US from and Mystic Seaport Museum. A book featuring Geoff's art is scheduled to be released in the near future. Details will be announced in the newsletter when they come to hand. And look out for a special Geoff Hunt page in the website soon! ==================== 8) CONTESTS To celebrate the publication of the paperback of SEAFLOWER this month and the launch of MUTINY November 1, we've put together some great contests/prizes: Just select the one/s you would like to enter and email with the answer to the question. Please indicate which contest in the subject line. + WIN ONE OF FOUR PAIRS OF ABRIDGED AUDIOBOOKS OF SEAFLOWER & MUTINY In MUTINY, Where did "Achilles" anchor when she arrived at Gibraltar? + wIN ONE OF SIX SIGNED COPIES OF THE PAPERBACK EDITION OF SEAFLOWER Name an evolution described in chapter one of KYDD. + WIN YOUR CHOICE OF ANY TWO SIGNED HARDBACK VOLUMES IN THE SERIES What type of vessel is used in the escape from Venice? The first correct answers out of the hat on October 31 win the other prizes. FREE KYDD FOR A FRIEND! Just email the Bosun with the name and address of a friend you think would like to have a paperback of KYDD to read. We'll arrange to have the book sent to him/her with a note saying it's from you. This offer is restricted to residents of the UK and Ireland at the moment but we hope to extend it to other Shipmates in the future. ================== 9) NEW ON THE WEB Articles of War Olla>Links>Royal Navy History There's also a "Mystery Prize" contest... ---- On October 21, at one bell in the First Dog Watch, the anniversary of the death of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, Julian would like to invite you to take a quiet moment to toast "The Immortal Memory". Yours aye, THE BOSUN ++ Back issues of the newsletter downloadable from the website ++