Happy 4 July to my friends across the big pond! :-)

I haven’t posted cartoons from the 18th century for quite a while, so I thought you might enjoy the following one. It was made in support of America’s independence, and while it’s political incorrect up to the nines, it seems to be a rather spot-on look at the political situation back in 1776…

Mother Britain: “I’ll force you to Obedience, you Rebellious Slut!”
Daughter America: “Liberty Liberty for ever Mother, while I exist!”

Last Minute Tall Ship Tip: See the Krusenstern (Kruzenshtern) at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Look at the beautiful Крузенштерн (or, in German, Krusenstern). Many of you will known her as Padua, though – built in Bremerhaven/Germany in 1926, she’s a native “Fischkopf”. 

If you’re anywhere near the

Massachusetts Maritime Academy on 5 and 6 July

you can admire her in all her beauty!

Sail Massachusetts announced today that KRUZENSHTERN, the famous Russian tall ship, will make a port visit to the Massachusetts Maritime academy in Bourne on the Cape Cod Canal on July 3rd. The Academy will host the Class A vessel from July 3-6th.

And you’ll be pleased to hear that the tours are free!

Exciting Events: Tall Ships in Northern Ireland and Maine (USA)

I wish I was two people and could attend both of these events! Mark the dates in your calendards for July and August!

TALL SHIPS ON COURSE TO RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITIES

“The port of Belfast will be transformed to host the grand finale celebrations of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge from August 13-16 when thousands of people are expected to flock to both sides of the River Lagan for the massive four-day festival.”

On the other side of the big pond, one of my favourite maritime museums has something great to offer, too. Every Canadian’s heart should beat faster upon reading this news:

TALL SHIP VISIT: SCHOONER BLUENOSE II

“In conjunction with our Net Worth Fisheries exhibit, the replica of the famed Grand Banks fishing schooner BLUENOSE II will be docked and open for tours July 5th,6th , and 7th. Generations of Atlantic Canadians have grown up with stories of the Original Bluenose Nova Scotia, her Captain Angus Walters and Bluenose II.”

Check out their other summer activities as well!

Talking about the Maine Maritime Museum: I can only recommend once again Chris Hall’s excellent blog,

NEWS FROM THE ORLOP

I can’t praise it enough. Interesting, educational, but most of all, lots of fun!

Resource: RE-ENACTMENT OF 18th CENTURY NAVAL LIFE IN THE UK

Here it’s raining cats and dogs, which is rather frustrating, as I planned to go swimming. Well, tomorrow then! If you’re as stuck at home just like me today, the following links might be of interest to you. They will be included in the next update of “Molly Joyful’s List Of Useful Resources”, and who knows – by then, you might already be out and about re-enacting!

RE-ENACTMENT OF 18th CENTURY NAVAL LIFE IN THE UK
(special thanks to “Grymm” for these)

Just how awesome is that?! It goes without saying that I’d join any of these within a heartbeat, ignoring my ship-phobia, if I had the chance!

THE SENIOR SERVICE

Senior Service is a historical re-enactment group, whose members aim to accurately portray members of the Royal Navy during the mid-eighteenth century, together with civilians of that time whose lives and trades were associated with the sea. We are one of the member groups of the re-enactment society Lace Wars, through whom we mainly participate in events commemorating the 1745-1746 Jacobite Rebellion and in other events linked to British history during the 1740s and 1750s (for example Britain’s colourful smuggling history).

THE HISTORICAL MARITIME SOCIETY

The Historical Maritime Society is a UK based historical research and re-enactment group recreating the Royal Navy.

Our main area of interest is the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These were the exciting times around the year 1805 when Britain was threatened by Bonaparte and only the Royal Navy could prevent invasion from across the Channel. 1805 was the year when Britain’s greatest hero, Lord Horatio Nelson***, sailed off to his fatal encounter at Trafalgar. Our aim is to educate and inform about shipboard life in the time of Nelson, and to have fun doing it.

*** Miss Collingwood begs to differ:

RE-ENACTMENT OF 18th CENTURY GENERAL LIFE

LACE WARS – THE SOCIETY OF 18th CENTURY RE-ENACTMENT

Lace Wars is made up of a number of regiments depicting both military and civilian life during the 18th Century.

Specialising in the period 1740-1760 and in particular the Jacobite rebellion, we stage events throughout the year at a number of historic sites in the UK.

THE MANNERED MOB

The Mannered Mob is the 18th Century Re-enactment Group that portrays civillian life between 1730 and 1760. We represent all levels of society from high to low, and our membership consists of both men and women who are primarily interested in civilian rather than military life in the mid 18th century.

PIRATES, BEWARE…

THE UK PIRATE BROTHERHOOD

The Brotherhood was founded as a Yahoo E-group in 2002 in order to enable Pirate Re enactors to communicate with each other.

There is obviously a limit of daily pageviews for the forum of that website if you’re not a member. But from the little I saw, it would be well worth joining.

And to make sure we’re not becoming to UK-centric, here’s one for you folks in the USA:

THE PIRATE BRETHREN PIRATE RE-ENACTORS

If you find this historical approach to piracy appealing we are always looking for new members. No experience is needed, just a willingness to learn, an open mind and above all… a desire to HAVE FUN!

Word to that!

TV Tip: “Garrow’s Law” – 18th century legal world comes to life (BBC)

This sounds very promising; even if the series itself shouldn’t be as good as I hope (my trust in Aunt Beeb is still strong…), we can certainly expect a lot of information and historical details. The preview reads to me very much like Channel4’s “City of Vice”, which I loved.

Here’s what the BBC has to say:

Fighting for justice…
18th century legal world comes to life in
Garrow’s Law

“(…) Andrew Buchan (Cranford, Party Animals), Alun Armstrong (New Tricks, Little Dorrit) and Lyndsey Marshall (Rome) star in a new four-part legal drama inspired by the life of pioneering barrister William Garrow on BBC One.

Garrow’s Law is set in the Old Bailey of Georgian London against a backdrop of corruption and social injustice and is based on real legal cases from the late 18th century.

Each one-hour episode begins with the investigation of a case sourced from the Old Bailey archives from the day, from rape and murder to high treason and corruption, and follows Garrow (Buchan) and his associate Southouse (Armstrong) working to uncover the truth or fight for justice.

In an age where the defence counsel acted in the minority of cases, the young Garrow championed the underdog and pioneered the rigorous cross-examination of prosecution witnesses that paved the way for our modern legal system of today.

“A gifted maverick, at times arrogant and with a burning sense of destiny, Garrow is driven to change the nature of the trial against a backdrop of social and political upheaval,” says Jamie Isaacs, Executive Producer, Twenty Twenty Television. (…)”

Well, if he says so – I’ll definitely tune in for that one!

Books/resource: Books/research: Put the blame on Georgette Heyer – Moses, Macaronis and Young Bucks

I read books since I learned how to read. No matter if the book in question was suitable for my age or not – if I got my hands on it, I read it. I’m in the lucky position that most of the books of my childhood are still in my possession; and I often read one of those old favourites to spend a lazy afternoon in the garden.

Some books, however, went missing, and oddly enough, it’s exactly the books I remember best. Not because they’d been exceptionally good or were among my favourites, but because they contained certain sentences, characters or descriptions of places that just “stuck” in my memory. Here are two examples:

“Moses and the Ten Plagues”: I still vividly remember the picture of an angel with a sword, going from door to door, of which some were marked with a red “X”. I innocently asked what the angel was doing and was informed that God had given him the order to kill all firstborns (”you know, the first born child in a family, dear,”). I decided there and then, at the age of four or five, that any religion whose managing director orders the slaughter of children is not for me. Also, I still don’t like angels.

“Captain Cook”: All I can remember about that one is “… and then they killed and ate him.” Hm. You know, I think my parents really gave me odd books to read…

Anyway. There was one book which often crossed my mind since I started writing Age of Sail fiction. Only now, with all the research done and knowing certain terms, I realised that the book in question must have been set in the 18th century and that the “Macaroni” I remembered wasn’t a tasty dish (really not), but – well, a Macaroni. I discussed the matter with Eveiya; I’d loved to re-read that book and see what the experience would be like now, decades later. But I knew neither the title of the book, the name of the author nor the plot! Makes finding a book difficult, I’m sure you agree.

This is what I remembered: there was a Macaroni, and a dashing young gentleman with tons of gambling debts, his best friend and a duel.

To which Eveiya immediately said:

“GEORGETTE HEYER!”

And guess what – she was right! It was indeed a book by Georgette Heyer – “The Convenient Marriage” – but if you read the blurb of the book, you’ll see that what I remembered absolutely wasn’t what the book focussed on:

“When the eligible Earl of Rule offers for the hand of the Beauty of the Winwood Family, he has no notion of the distress he causes his intended. For Miss Lizzie Winwood is promised to the excellent, but impoverished, Mr Edward Heron. Disaster can only be averted by the delightful impetuosity of her youngest sister, Horatia, who conveives her own distinctly original plans…”

OK, let me sum this up: I neither remembered the heroine with the speech impediment (”I-I am H-h-horry…”) nor her dashing husband, not her beautiful sister or her red-coat fiancee, not even the dastardly villain trying to rape the heroine, nooooo, all I remembered was Pelham, Horatia’s airhead of a brother who ruined the family with his gambling, his best friend Pommeroy, plus a duel in which Pel injures his annoying cousin Crosby Drelincourt, the Macaroni.

So personally, I blame all my writing, including Sebastian Quinn, on Georgette Heyer, who corrupted my innocent mind at a very young age!

Having read the book now in the original language and many years older, I still like it, but mainly because of the details. Georgette Heyer put great care into the description of fashion, behaviour, environment, the class system of the 18th century. What did people wear? Where would they go in the evening? What were the “dos” and “don’ts” of that time? For that, the book is highly enjoyable and informative, and she had a knack of writing three-dimensional characters. Her description of Mr. Drelincourt’s changing outfits really gives you a good idea of the whacky fashions of the times.

However… there is Horry. Horry. H-h-horry. Three pages into it, and I was close to wishing death on the heroine. And maybe it was enjoyable back in the 1930s, but from today’s point of view, reading about the flippant way in which the attempted rape of Horatia is dealt with – her brother makes a bet if she’s really killed the villain or not, is disappointed when he loses the bet, asks rapist-wannabe if he’d like to play cards – makes you cringe and your mind boggle. This book has collected a lot of dust, unlike Jane Austen’s work, which is still as fresh and enjoyable centuries later. Would I recommend it? For reasons of research, absolutey. For entertainment – well. I had to force myself reading “The Convenient Marriage” to the end, but others might love it. If you’d like to get a closer insight into the fashion sense of Macaronis and their “counterparts”, though, this book is a must!

“The Macaronis were represented by Mr Fox, looking heavy-eyed, as well he might, having sat till three in the afternoon playing hazard at Almack’s; by my Lord Carlisle, whose round youthful countenance was astonishingly embellished by a patch cut in the form of a cabriolet; and of course by Mr Crosby Drelincourt, with a huge nosegay stuck in his coat, and a spy-glass set in the head of his long cane. The Macaronis, mincing, simpering, sniffing at crystal scent-bottles, formed a startling contrast to the Bucks, the young sparks who, in defiance of their affected contemporaries, had flown to another extreme of fashion. No extravagance of costume distinguished tehse gentlemen, unless a studied slovenliness could be called such, and their amusements were ofa violent nature, quite a variance with your true Macaroni’s notions of entertainment. These Bloods were to be found at any prize-fight, or cockfight, and when these diversions palled could always while way an evening in masquerading abroad in the guise of footpads, to the terror of all honest townsfolks.”

Emma Collingwood mailing list

FROM THE DESK OF EMMA COLLINGWOOD

Hello my dears

I’ve lost the content of my mailbox thanks to this genius of a provider… so now I’m in the process of setting up my mailing list again. If you would like me to add your address, please either post it here, send me a message via LJ or mail to emma at emmacollingwood.com

Please note: you will ONLY receive a mail from me if a new book is out. I’ll neither contact you about articles I’ve written, essays, politics, fanfic, chainletters nor any other thing that is not “hey, my new book is out!”. So we’re talking about a maximum of ten mails per year. Don’t fear the spam!

Thanks for your support.

Emma

Amazon’s on an anti-GLBT crusade again. The evil text books!

It must be very difficult to run an enterprise the size of Amazon of you have your head and your Kindle stuck up your arse that far:

AMAZON has yanked the sales ratings (and limited the searchability
of a great number of GLBT books -
no matter if they have erotic content or not.
(Read all about it here on Meta Writer)

In a reply to author Mark Probst’s request, Amazon sent the following reply:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.

Best regards,

Ashlyn D
Member Services
Amazon.com Advantage

Let’s rock it like it’s 1699!

While I’m not a victim myself – I sell and distribute my books myself – many of my fellow friends and authors have been spat on by Amazon here, among them Alex Beecroft, Marquesat, Lee Rowan, Erastes and many others.

Being the curious George that I am, I took the liberty to check the text books I’ve reviewed in the past to see if they still show a ranking on Amazon or not. Do they? Well, have a wild guess…

The following books show no sales rankings anymore:

• Mother Clap’s Molly House: The Gay Subculture in England 1700-1830 by Rictor Norton
• Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition: English Sea Rovers in the Seventeenth-Century Caribbean by Prof. B.R. Burg
• Boys at Sea: Sodomy, Indecency, and Courts Martial in Nelson’s Navy by Prof. B.R. Burg
• Rum, Sodomy and the Lash: Piracy, Sexuality and Masculine Identity by Hans Turley

Text books, folks. FRIGGIN’ TEXT BOOKS. Yanked to protect the innocent.

FEAR THE DANGERS OF EDUCATION!

So, what can you do about it? Well, I know what I will do:

• I’ll adjust my list of recommended books to other shops than Amazon.
• I’m not going to buy from them anymore, obviously.
• I’ll let them know where they can stick their Kindle.

There are plenty of other ways to buy books; yes, it will take longer and it’s less convenient, but enough’s enough. Amazon is the 600 pound gorilla, and publishers of GLBT are forced to put up with its prejudices and antics because there’s no alternative for them to sell their goods.

Only – that’s not quite true. There are alternatives. Buy from other companies. Buy directly from the publishers and the authors. At the end of the day, it’s our laziness as readers that enables Amazon. Maybe give that a thought…?

Resource/art: Collingwood as a boy – “The Plum Cake Incident” – illustration!

I have to thank the wonderful SecretHandshake for this gem – and I just have to share it with you!

THE PLUM CAKE INCIDENT

Most of us were touched by this little anecdote about Collingwood’s first days at sea:

“(…) His first biographer, and son-in-law, G. L. Newnham-Collingwood, told an old family story of Collingwood’s first days after he joined Shannon. One of the lieutenants found him crying from homesickness. Although lieutenants were duty-bound to toughen up their recruits, this man comforted Collingwood, and in return was taken to his sea chest and given a large piece of plum cake. It is possible that this lieutenant was William Smith, who until 1758 had been gunner in the Alcide before being promoted into Shannon. (…)” – Max Adams: Admiral Collingwood, Nelson’s Own Hero

However, in the latest Collingwood-biography, “In the Shadow of Nelson: The Life of Admiral Lord Collingwood” by Denis Orde, the author emphasises that

“(…) Significantly, in Collingwood’s account there is no mention of sobbing for home and family in those first days on board ship or of sharing a plum cake which his mother had packed in his sea chest with a kindly lieutenant who had taken pity on him, as his son-in-law, the barrister Newnham who adopted the name Collingwood, afterwards claimed had been the case. (…)”

This quote and its slightly dismissive tone is significant for that biography. Orde writes for his peers (which is noble, but they have already heard of Collingwood, I suppose), and while there are some interesting bits and pieces, a more appropriately title might have been “People who had something to do with Collingwood”. Adams managed to get people interested in Collingwood, the human being – Orde honours the officer. Adams makes us feel with Collingwood, his style is helpful for those who are new to the subject: educational, yet also entertaining. Orde unfortunately lacks that talent.

Now, before those of my readers who are involved with the navy man the cannons: Denis Orde’s book isn’t bad. If you have spare money, buy it, but the writing is stiff, at times pompous and will very likely not get more people interested in Collingwood’s life, personality and achievements. And I feel it’s more important to carry the memory of Collingwood the man through the next generations than to keep him as some precious artifact within a elitist circle.

Actually, I wish there was a children book about Collingwood, as they come for Cook or Nelson.
Actually, somebody better write it soon, or I’ll do it.

Anyway, SH found an absolutely precious 19th century illustration of the plum cake incident – and here it is!

NOW EVERYBODY PLEASE GO AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW…

The illustration can be found in the book “Footprints of famous men; designed as incitements to intellectual industry (1854)” by John George Edgar, available online here (legal download, it’s out of copyright).

As for my personal opinion, the plum cake incident is historical fact, and even if it isn’t, it still is. I’m stubborn like that.

Real “kick-ass” women: II. Mary Lacy (1740 – 1795), female shipwright

Let’s imagine for a moment I’d leave captains and lieutenants aside and would write a book about strong seafaring women in the 18^th century. Considering my dislike for pirates, I’d probably go for the “woman aboard a ship disguised as a man” option.

A young lady in breeches? Aboard a ship? Drama! Just imagine the fear of being found out! How to hide? Whom to bribe? Would there be romance? Imagine the possibilities!

Hands up: who would immediately think of “self-insert” and “Mary-Sue” upon reading that plot summary? Yes, I thought so. No, I won’t write such a book, but I don’t have to, anyway – it’s already been written.. And you know what the best bit about it is?

That story is actually true!

THE FEMALE SHIPWRIGHT
by Mary Lacy

National Maritime Museum
Hardcover
144 pages
ISBN: 9781906367015

Mary Lacy, born in 1740, left skirt and bonnet behind and slipped into breeches and waistcoat at the age of 19, called herself “William Chandler” (Chandler being her mother’s maiden name), became apprentice to a shipwright and went to sea aboard the Sandwich.

What a great luck and blessing for us that Mary wrote the remarkable story of her life down and shared her experiences with future generations. Not only give her memoirs, brought to paper when she was 33 years old, a fascinating insight into the daily life aboard a ship, but also into the thinking of a woman in those days, her role in society and, through the eyes of a woman, the expectations and trials a young man would have faced. An excellent character study, challenging and inspiring to me both as a writer and a reader.

From our modern point of view, it seems unbelievable that a young woman could have lived among sailors for such a long time without being found out. But at the end of the day, Mary was a sailor, too. She didn’t pretend. When she was finally found out, it was through betrayal by another woman, a “false friend”, and surprisingly enough, the men who were informed about the “lady in disguise” did – nothing. There were no consequences. It was merely noted, and that was it. And when Mary Lacy retired, she was granted an annual pension for “Superannuated Shipwrights” of £ 20 per year by the Admiralty, despite giving her real name in the papers! There are reports of women disguised as men who were punished and had to face harsh consequences for their actions. The fact that this was not true in Mary Lacy’s case is interesting – maybe because her case wasn’t that unique after all…?

Mary mentions many “romances” in her memoirs. From the distance of over 250 years, it’s difficult to tell how much of her flirting was to add credibility to her portrayal as a young man, and how much was romantic interest in her own gender. Margarette Lincoln, Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum who wrote the introduction to the small book, doesn’t rule out that possibility. Judging by the facts at hand, it seem perfectly plausible to me that Mary Lacy was interested in both genders; after all she claimed an unhappy love affair with a young man as one of the reasons why she ran away from home (beside being a real wild child). Later in her life, she called herself “Mary Slade”, claiming that she had married some Mr. Slade – however, no proof of marriage can be found, but she did live for with one Elizabeth Slade until that woman’s death.

Mary Lacy lived a hard life, had to do heaviest manual work, was beaten by her master, went without food at times and without shoes in winter, survived the harshest conditions both ashore and at sea, and all this under the constant pressure and fear that she might be found out.

Maybe we should consider this the next time we feel life’s too harsh with us because Windows doesn’t boot…

Please click here to hear the podcast by Margarette Lincoln, Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum, in which she tells the story of Mary Lacy- highly recommended!