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May 17, 2009
Long I'll Toss on the Rolling Main
I am on the cusp of a long, tough and, I hope, ultimately rewarding journey: I am finally going to tackle O'Brian's saga of Royal Navy officer "Lucky" Jack Aubrey and his friend, ship surgeon, and amateur naturalist Stephen Maturin. I have been toying with this for several years. There are some necessary preliminaries, of course. For one thing, I have purchased a volume or two of the Anatomy of a Ship series, if only to get around the ships of the Napoleonic era (it would behoove me to know the difference between the binnacle, cathead, topgallant and a mizzen channel before this series is out).
I have also purchased a copy of Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels, so that I can cook along with the series. This morning I have learned that, apparently, I am not the first to think of this. All I'll need then is a bunch of mates with whom to stuff my face, knock my liver flat, and belt out Don't Forget Your Old Shipmates:
Safe and sound at home again, let the waters roar, Jack.
Safe and sound at home again, let the waters roar, Jack.
Chorus
Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.
Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!
Since we sailed from Plymouth Sound, four years gone, or nigh, Jack.
Was there ever chummies, now, such as you and I, Jack?
Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.
Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!
We have worked the self-same gun, quarterdeck division.
Sponger I and loader you, through the whole commission.
Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.
Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!
Oftentimes have we laid out, toil nor danger fearing,
Tugging out the flapping sail to the weather earring.
Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.
Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!
When the middle watch was on and the time went slow, boy,
Who could choose a rousing stave, who like Jack or Joe, boy?
Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.
Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!
There she swings, an empty hulk, not a soul below now.
Number seven starboard mess misses Jack and Joe now.
Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.
Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!
But the best of friends must part, fair or foul the weather.
Hand yer flipper for a shake, now a drink together.
Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.
Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!
This is a long, technically dense (I was not kidding about how much I have learned about the Royal Navy of the time and her ships in order to follow the action) series filled with occasionally challenging period jargon. So it will be a challenge.
But I think the difficult part is knowing that it will end. I have heard from others who tackled the series that it ends before you were really prepared to part with Jack, Stephen and their circle.
Perhaps similar sentiments are behind the speculative novels regarding the fate of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett of which my wife is so fond.
Posted by dag at May 17, 2009 3:34 PM
Comments
It's a long voyage, but one you'll not regret having taken. I give you joy, Sir, of your journey!
Posted by: Elisson at May 17, 2009 10:09 PM
I thank you, sir.
-dag
Posted by: dag at May 18, 2009 2:39 PM