Hey Seadogs, I'm scripting an ocean adventure, short story - upon Brig in the year 1836. I'm struggling with elements of research, fixing pictures in my mind to describe a sequence of events. At times the language 'bumpkin, shroud, bowsprit, gallant royal' is very challenging. Most helpful to date has been the epic 'Richard Dana's Two Years Before the Mast.' I'm failing to quite grasp layout of vessel and how O'Brien's 'Aubrey' might go to sea with a crew of 100 whilst the young, self-described 'yankee' barely 20 years later, voyages with a crew of 12. They're both 80 foot vessels? Does anybody have experience of this area, the talk and ideas for locating images particularly ship layout, idiom and clothing of the period? Websites? Captain (not master) commands from quarterdeck, aside the wheel and bell, gazes past steerage toward the fo'c'stle hatch and bowsprit beyond??? Close? ) Thank you Mat
You could do worse than check this out, lots of variety ...might lead you to what you're after: http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/mhe1000/links.htm
Hi Jannert, is shaping up. Currently I have a gin palace with duck pond for patrons' use in the opening sequence, which should polish up nice with a bit of Dickens 'Boz' theft. Maybe lust sequence in the Doldrums? Getting there, was flagging earlier. I'll send you nice letter about it Matthieu Oh and what sort of hats does everybody wear. Can't all be modelling top hat, eh?
If I did that Mum, all my crew would be wearing top hats. I'd be the laughing stock of the supported writer's circle. Goodness where are the sailors?
Yarr! I have no idea what ye' be talkin' about. Childrens' books are a good source of research for this sort of thing. History books often go into (you guessed it) the history of an item, whereas an illustrated non-fiction work for kids will say "this is the quarterdeck, the captain would command from here" and give a picture of the quarterdeck and maybe even the captain. But, the best thing you can possibly do is go to a ship museum. Bail up the guide and chew his ear off.
Hey Av, I've acquired most the pictures now so I should be fine. Just wanted to pass the basic idiot test (finally) with the language. I spent a day wikiped and read half a novel, sent an email to a librarian in Australia - like you, in fact, and asked for links. Oh and yr right about children's books for the old bitesize fib...not fib, bluff - good idea. Museum yeah OR get somebody to buy a couple of stories and purchase a boat, reckon. Grrrr
if that's directed at me, i fail to see how it makes any sense... here are 'all the sailors': https://www.google.com/search?q=brigantine+crew+1830s&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=kHVQUd39E4KQiAKW_YCwCw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=672&bih=346#hl=en&biw=930&bih=346&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=19th+century+sailors&oq=19th+century+sailors&gs_l=img.12...0.0.14.9347.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1c..7.img.j_OgDRgaECk&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44158598,d.cGE&fp=98ebb7358207c7b3 and 'top hats' are far from the norm!
Oh praise be, finally I've trapped you, eh eh eh spiderchild. Sorry, off topic. Those are wonderful sailors Manmania. I googled '19c fashions...' big mistake. All those dresses and petticoats quite unsuitable for deckwork. Oh if only I had a little sailor's suit of my own. Anyhoo, apparently many of the fashions of Paris and London of 1832-1838 circuit didn't arrive in the Midwest or even those far hills beyond, till at least a decade after. Would make one feel quite the inferior specimen, don't you know.
There were a couple in there, though, and why is that a bad thing? Why is this thread so anti-top hat? Top hats run against the feathered headdress for the esteemed title of 'slickest skull adornment one can wear'.
Well we wear them all the time at the funeral directors, never a complaint in 35 years. Ach, can't be having that, although when I did finally get to meet one he was a total comedian for which I was totally unprepared. I suppose the best ones just let you sink into their warm embrace *STOP* The reason is I'm striving for a spot of authenticity with the write. This <disdain> woman friend has written a pirate story called it 'shiver me timbers' and is all 'the sea this, waves that, wind blew...' I want my epic to stir the saltiest seadog to memories of fond times,young lad 'laid before the mast,' all that. 'Brace the yard-arm Mr Kipling and furl the reef upon the gallant, whence westerly rolls we must surely seek the solace of open sea, this hour, ahoy.' But vm appreciate your point.
fyi, some pirates of the era wore top hats and other fancy items of wearing apparel they 'appropriated' from a high-falutin' passengers on ill-fated vessels... and some of the non-pirate tars wore uniform hats that were not 'top hats' like those worn with formal duds, but did have raised, flat crowns...
Thanks M, I'm heading 1830s so Captain Morgan's long gone. Ship's bound for Kangaroo island, hold crammed with bibles for the aborigines. Do I give my protagonist typhoid - on the sly? I'm stuck with the tie-up/finish which is 'holding' me up. I should just write really and enjoy the ride but is only supposed a 4000 as world's not ready for the groundbreaking maritime novella quite yet, eh? btw I feel kind of bad/clumsy saying your ballgown was passe - no slur intended. ***yeah, little bit confused about top hat, always imagined as indicator of station - thinking the photo of Brunel aside ships chains with pipe*** research...research
Calm righteous spirit, look at the context - 'Ay skipper, hand me there bible for the indiginous Australian to learn him God's word.' Is small 'a' anyways,
Aw shiff, sorry I'm a cok. Maybe is subliminal - my writer 'colleague' - ha, is writing Oz cop 1950s vernacular piece, really foul racist language threaded throughout, I probably thought I was him. Coen brothers, I kind of ran out of steam round about Big Lebowski, same with music - and I couldn't score an oxo these days. I'll play wiser.
Now you're just twisting the stick. :Whilst I realise Oliver Hardy, waistcoat, dickie-bow - what with my great cultural general all-round heaviness that the film does have a certain cudos among various new underground movements I personally was not particularly drawn to the character of the dude. In fact it is not among my favourites. However being as you is Ozralian may I point you towards the masterpiece that is 'the morning of the earth.' 1972 you see - also gave us 'the harder they come' oh and maybe even 'Harold and Maude.'
