MY ANCESTORS--LARRY HARRIGAN, AND MY EARLY EDUCATION--CHOICE OF A
PROFESSION--FIRST START IN LIFE.
"The sea, the sea," if not my mother, has been my nurse (and anything
but a dry one) from the earliest days of my recollection. I was born
within the sound of old ocean's surges; I dabbled in salt water before I
could run; and I have floated on salt water, and have been well
sprinkled with it too, from that time to the present. It never occurred
to me, indeed, that I could be anything but a sailor. In my innocence,
I pictured a life on the ocean wave as the happiest allowed to mortals;
and little did I wot of all the bumpings and thumpings, the blows and
the buffetings, I was destined to endure in the course of it. Yet, even
had I expected them, I feel very certain they would not have changed my
wishes. No, no. I was mightily mistaken with regard to the romance of
the thing, I own; but had I to begin life again, with all its dangers
and hardships, still I would choose the ocean for my home--the glorious
navy of England for my profession.
But now for my antecedents. I will not trouble the reader with many of
them. I was born at the family seat in the south of Ireland. My mother
died while I was very young, and my father, Colonel D'Arcy, who had seen
much service in the army and had been severely wounded, after a
lingering illness, followed her to the grave. During this time I was
committed to the charge of Larry Harrigan, the butler and family
factotum; and, in truth, I desired no better companion, for well did I
love the old man. He was a seaman every inch of him, from his cherished
pigtail to the end of the timber toe on which he had long stumped
through the world. He had been coxswain to my maternal grandfather, a
captain in the navy, who was killed in action. Larry had gone to sea
with him as a lad, and they had seldom been separated. A few minutes
before his commander, in the moment of victory, lost his life, Larry had
his leg shot away; and on being paid off, he repaired to where my
mother's family were residing. When my father married, he offered the
old seaman an asylum beneath his roof. He certainly did not eat the
bread of idleness there, for no one about the place was more generally
useful. There was nothing he could not do or make, and in spite of his
loss of a limb, he was as active as most people possessed with the usual
complement of supporters.
Larry had loved my mother as his own child, and for her sake he loved me
more than anything else on earth. As he considered it a part of his
duty to instruct me in his own accomplishments, which being chiefly of a
professional character, I at a very early age became thoroughly
initiated in the mysteries of knotting, bending, and splicing, and
similar nautical arts. I could point a rope, work a Turk's-head, or
turn in an eye, as well as many an A.B. Not content with this, he built
me a model of a ship, with her rigging complete. He then set to work to
teach me the names of every rope and spar; and when I knew them and
their uses, he unrigged the ship and made me rig her again under his
inspection. This I did several times, till he considered I was perfect.
He next bought fresh stuff for a new suit of rigging, and made me cut
it into proper lengths and turn it all in correctly before I set it up.
"Now you see, Master Neil," said he, "we've just got the lovely _Psyche_
out of the hands of the shipwrights, and it's our duty to get the
rigging over her mastheads, and fit her for sea as fast as the work can
be done; so let's see how soon we can do the job."
Such were our indoor amusements, and thus I rapidly acquired an amount
of knowledge which most midshipmen take a long time to get stowed away
in their heads. Larry also used to take me out on the waters of the
bay, and taught me to row and to manage the sails of a small boat with
tolerable dexterity. I learned also to swim; and had it not been for my
possession of that art, I should probably long ago have been food for
fishes. And here I must endeavour strongly to impress on the minds of
my young readers the importance of learning to swim well; for not only
may they thus be enabled to save their own lives, but they may have the
happiness of preserving those of their fellow-creatures.
While my poor father lived, he attended to the more intellectual
branches of my education. My mother taught me to read, and for her sake
I loved reading. She also instilled those religious principles into me
which have been my support through life. Short and fleeting as was the
time she remained on earth, inestimable were the blessings she bestowed
on me. Whatever of the milk of human kindness flows round my heart,
from her gentle bosom I drew it forth; and surely I do not err when I
believe that her earnest prayers before the throne of mercy have caused
watchful spirits to shield me from the perils of the stormy ocean, and
from still greater dangers, the treacherous quicksands and dark rocks
which have laid in my course through life.
I was ten years old before it occurred to any one that a little of the
discipline of a school might be beneficial to me, to prepare me somewhat
better than I could be prepared at home to rough it in the rude world
into which I was ere long to be plunged. To the academy, therefore, of
a certain Doctor Studdert, near Cork, I was sent, where I contrived to
pick up a few crumbs of knowledge and some experience of life. I had no
great dislike to school, but liked home much better; and no one sung--
"Packing up and going away,
All for the sake of a holiday,"
more joyously than did I when my first midsummer holiday came round.
Larry was on the watch for me as I jumped out of the carriage which had
been sent over to Kerry to meet me. The old seaman had expected me to
come back a prodigy of learning; but was horrified to discover that I
was puzzled how to make a carrick-bend, and had nearly forgotten the
length of the _Psyche's_ main-top bowline.
"And that's what the Doctor calls schooling, does he, Master Neil?" he
exclaimed, indignantly. "Now I'll make bold to say that among all the
bigwigs he has under him, including himself, there isn't one on 'em
knows how to gammon a bowsprit or turn in a dead-eye. Now, to my mind,
if they can't give you more larning than you've got since you've been
away, you'd better stop at home altogether."
I agreed with Larry, but the higher authorities ruled otherwise; so back
to school I went at the end of the holidays, having regained all the
nautical knowledge I before possessed, with a little in addition.
I will pass over the sad time of my brave father's death. I was left to
the guardianship of my uncle, Counsellor D'Arcy, the great Dublin
barrister, and of Doctor Driscoll. I was removed to the house of the
latter, with poor Larry, who threatened to do all sorts of dreadful
deeds, if he were not allowed to accompany me. My patrimony, which had
become somewhat attenuated, was in the meantime put out to nurse. I was
rather surprised at not being sent back to school, when one day the
Doctor, as he sat cross-legged before the fire after dinner, rubbing his
shins, called me to him.
"Neil, my boy, your uncle, Counsellor D'Arcy, has requested me to speak
to you on a very important subject. It is time, he thinks, that your
studies should be directed to fit you for the profession you may select.
What would you wish to be, now? Have you ever thought on the matter?
Would you like to follow his steps, and study the law; or those of your
honoured father, and enter the army; or those of your grandfather, and
go to sea; or would you like to become a merchant, or a clergyman; or
what do you say to the practice of medicine?"
"That I would never take a drop, if I could help it, Doctor; or give it
to others either," I answered. "I fear that I should make a bad
minister, and a worse merchant; and as for the law, I would not change
places with the Counsellor himself, if he were to ask me. I should have
no objection to the army; but if I'm to choose my profession, I'll go to
sea, by all means. I've no fancy for any but a sea life; but I'll just
go and talk the matter over with Larry, and hear what he thinks about
it."
The Doctor said nothing. He considered, I conclude, that he had obeyed
my uncle's wishes in proposing the matter to me, and his conscience was
at rest. I forthwith ran off and broached the subject to Larry; not
that I doubted what his advice would be. The old seaman gave a hitch to
the waistband of his trousers, as he replied, with no little animation--
"Why, you see, Master Neil, to my mind there's only one calling which a
man, who is anything of a man, would wish to follow. The others are all
very well in their way: the parsons, and the soldiers, and the
big-wigged lawyers, and the merchants, and the doctors, and the
`'plomatics'--them who goes abroad to desave the furriners, and takes up
so much room and gives themselves such airs aboard ship; but what, just
let me ax, is the best on 'em when you puts him alongside a right
honest, thorough-bred seaman? What's the proudest on 'em, when it comes
to blow half a capful of wind? What's the boldest on 'em in a dark
night, on a lee shore? Not one on 'em is worth that!" and he snapped
his fingers to show his contempt for landsmen of every degree. "On
course, Master Neil, dear, you'll be a seaman. With my will, the navy
is the only calling your blessed mother's son should follow. Your
grandfather died in it, and your great-grandfather before him; and I
hope to see you in command of one of His Majesty's ships before I die--
that I do. But I was forgetting that you were growing so big, and that
you would be going off to sea so soon," continued the old man, in an
altered tone. "You'll remember, for his sake, all the lessons Larry
gave you, Master Neil? And you'll think of your old friend sometimes in
a night watch, won't you, now?"
I assured him that I would often think of him, and try not to forget any
of his lessons. I then went back to the Doctor, to inform him that
Larry agreed with me that the navy was the only profession likely to
suit me.
My future calling being thus speedily settled, Doctor Driscoll, who was
aware that knowledge would not come by intuition, sent me to an old
master in the navy, who fortunately resided in the neighbourhood, to be
instructed in the rudiments of navigation. As I was as wide awake as
most youngsters of my age, I very soon gained a fair insight into its
mysteries; and by the time the spring came round, I was pronounced fit
for duty.
A brother of my mother's, who commanded a large revenue cutter on the
south coast of England, having been applied to for advice by the Doctor,
answered by the following short note:--
"Dear Sir,--I'll make a seaman of Neil, with all my heart, if you will
send him across to Portsmouth. Let him inquire for me at the `Star and
Garter.' Should I be away on a cruise, I will leave word with the
landlady what is to be done with him. My craft is the _Serpent_.
"I remain, faithfully yours,--
"Terence O'Flaherty."
"What! send the child all the way over to Portsmouth by himself!"
exclaimed good Mrs Driscoll, the Doctor's wife, on hearing the contents
of this epistle. "Why, he might be spirited off to the Plantations or
the Black Hole of Calcutta, and we never hear any more about him. What
could Mr O'Flaherty be thinking about?"
"That his nephew is about to be an officer in His Majesty's service, and
that the sooner he learns to take care of himself, the better," replied
the Doctor.
"Let him begin, then, by slow degrees, as birds are taught to fly,"
urged the kind dame. "He has never been out of the nest yet, except to
school, when he was put in charge of the coachman, like a parcel."
"He will find his way safe enough," muttered the Doctor. "Won't you,
Neil?"
To speak the truth, I would gladly have undertaken to find my way to
Timbuctoo, or the Antipodes, by myself; but I had just formed a plan
which I was afraid might be frustrated, had I agreed with the Doctor. I
therefore answered, "I'll go and ask Larry;" and without waiting for any
further observations, off I ran, to put it in train. It was, that Larry
should accompany me to Portsmouth; and I had also a notion that he might
be able to go to sea with me. He was delighted with my plan, and
backing Mrs Driscoll's objections to my being sent alone, it was
finally arranged that he should take charge of me till he had handed me
over to my uncle. Such parts of my outfit as could be manufactured at
home, Mrs Driscoll got ready for me, and Larry was empowered to procure
the rest for me at Portsmouth.
I confess that I did not shed a tear or cast a look of regret at my
birthplace; but with a heart as light as a skylark taking his morning
flight, I mounted alongside Larry on the top of the coach bound for
Dublin. While in that city we saw my uncle, the Counsellor. I do not
remember profiting much by the visit. He, however, shook me kindly by
the hand, and wishing me every success, charged Larry to take care of
me.
"Arrah!" muttered the old man as we walked away, "his honour, sure,
would be after telling a hen to take care of her chickens now."
In London we put up at an inn at the west end, near Exeter 'Change; and
while dinner was getting ready, we went to see the wild beasts which
dwelt there in those days. I thought London a very smoky, dismal city,
and that is all I can remember about it.
Larry was rigged for the journey in a suit of black; and though he would
have been known, however dressed, by every one for a seaman, he was
always taken for an officer of the old school, and was treated
accordingly with becoming respect. Indeed, there was an expression of
mild firmness and of unassuming self-confidence in his countenance,
added to his silvery locks and his handsome though weather-beaten
features, which commanded it.
We spent only one night in London; and by five o'clock in the afternoon
of the day we left it we were rattling down the High Street of
Portsmouth, on the top of the fast coach, while the guard played "See
the Conquering Hero Comes"--which I had some notion he did in compliment
to me.
I thought Portsmouth a much nicer place than London (in which idea some
people, perhaps, will not agree with me); while I looked upon the "Star
and Garter," where we stopped, as a very fine hotel, though not equal in
dignity to the "George." My chest, made under Larry's superintendence,
showed that its owner was destined for the sea. Taking my hand, Larry
stumped up the passage, following the said chest and the bag which
contained his wardrobe.
"What ship has your son come to join?" asked good Mrs Timmins, the
landlady, curtseying, as she encountered us.
"Faith, marm, it's not after being the son of the likes of me is Master
D'Arcy here," he answered, pleased at the same time at the dignity thus
conferred on him. "This is the nephew, marm, of Lieutenant O'Flaherty
of His Majesty's cutter, the _Serpent_; and I'll make bold to ax whether
she's in the harbour, and what directions the Lieutenant has left about
his nephew?"
"Oh dear, now, the cutter sailed this very morning for the westward,"
answered the landlady; "that is unfortunate! And so this young
gentleman is Lieutenant O'Flaherty's nephew. Well, then, we must take
good care of him, as she won't be back for a week; and you know, mister,
you needn't trouble yourself more about him."
"Faith, marm, it's not I will be after leaving the young master till I
see him safe in his uncle's hands," answered Larry, with a rap on his
thigh. "So I'll just trouble you to give us a room with a couple of
beds in it, and we'll take up our quarters here till the cutter comes
back."
This arrangement of course pleased the worthy Mrs Timmins, as she got
two guests instead of one; and I thus found myself established for a
week at Portsmouth. Having selected our chamber, we went into the
coffee-room and ordered dinner. There were several youngsters there,
and other junior officers of the profession, for the "Star and Garter"
was at that time more frequented than the far-famed "Blue Posts." At
first some of the younger portion of the guests were a little inclined
to look superciliously at Larry and me; but he stuck out his timber toe,
and returned their glances with such calm independence, that they soon
suspected he was not made of the stuff to laugh at; and they then showed
an evident disposition to enter into conversation with him to discover
who he could be. This, for my sake, he did not wish them to do; for, as
he was to act the part of guardian, he thought it incumbent on him to
keep up his dignity.
We passed, to me, a very interesting time at Portsmouth. We constantly
visited the dockyard, which was my delight. He took me over the
_Victory_, and showed me the spot where Nelson fell; and with old
associations many a tale and anecdote which, long since forgotten, now
returned to his memory, he poured into my eager ear.
Some people declare, and naval men even do so, that there's no romance
in a seafaring life--that it's all hard, dirty, slaving work, without
anything to repay one, except prize-money in war time and promotion in
peace. Now, to my mind, there's a great deal of romance and chivalry
and excitement, and ample recompense in the life itself; and this Larry,
who ought to have known, for he had seen plenty of hard service, had
himself discovered. It is that some do not know where to look for the
romance, and if found, cannot appreciate it. The stern realities of a
sea life--its hardships, its dangers, its battles, its fierce contests
with the elements, its triumphs over difficulties--afford to some souls
a pleasure which ignobler ones cannot feel: I trust that my adventures
will explain what I mean. For my own part, I can say that oftentimes
have I enjoyed that intense pleasure, that joyous enthusiasm, that high
excitement, which not only recompenses one for the toil and hardships by
which it is won, but truly makes them as nothing in comparison to the
former. All I can say is, let me go through the world sharing the rough
and the smooth alike--the storms and sunshine of life; but save me from
the stagnant existence of the man who sleeps on a feather bed and always
keeps out of danger.