and as full of pluck as a pitman's badger. What's come over you, man;
surely its not the same old Jimmy Dinsdale that had the courage to
stand before Hennan and Tom Sayers? It's not as though you were not
going to have a nip with us."
"Look here," said one of the enterprising coterie; "if you are feared
to go, show me, and you bet I'll have the stuff on deck in a jiffy. If
I can do it, surely _you_ can."
The form of dashing flattery, the appeals to his bravery and
comradeship, and the prospect of himself partaking of the convivial
cup, punctured Jimmy's will, and he fell. The coveted jar was brought
on deck without arousing the captain, and the seamen insisted that they
could not touch or taste till James himself had partaken; they would
then have pleasure in drinking his health. This order of things was
carried out, the second officer joining in by assuring his men that he
"endorsed their complimentary remarks about the steward"; he was an
ardent sportsman, said the condescending officer, "whose popularity was
unequalled."
"Hear, hear," responded the breezy tars.
Jimmy had another nip, beamed all over with merriment, and pledged
himself to live for evermore up to the high reputation they had given
him, which he was proud to believe he deserved. At ten p.m. the wind
and sea had increased, and the vessel was plunging her jibboom and
bowsprit under. The second officer intimated that all hands would have
to be called to reef the topsails and haul the mainsail up and stow it,
but his men were imbued with heroic dash, and would not hear of such
unseamanlike weakness. They assured him that they could take the sail
in without calling the watch below. Amid much noise and many larks they
managed to get the foretopsail reefed. A chanty was lustily sung when
hoisting the yard up, and when they undertook to reef the main topsail
it was quite obvious the over plentiful supply of grog was taking
serious effect. Their articulation became thick and incoherent. They
were alternately effusive with joy and senseless laughter, and
occasionally quarrelsome. The lee yardarm man insisted on hauling out
to leeward before the weather yardarm man told him to, which was of
course contrary to the order of nautical ethics. The situation became
very strained between the men to windward and those to leeward, because
of the profusion of tobacco-juice the former were expectorating into
the eyes of those to leeward, not intentionally, but with alcoholic
recklessness. The elderly stout man of the watch felt that it was no
ordinary occasion, and grunted out that he was b---- well going to lash
himself to the haulyards, as he felt wearied. The lee yardarm man
managed to crawl in on the foot-rope, got into the maintop, and fell
asleep there, while the gradual cessation of speech from the champions
to windward indicated that they also slept. The second officer and the
helmsman conferred as to what had best be done, and concluded not to
risk startling any of them out of their drunken unconsciousness by
shouting, lest they should loose their hold and be smashed to pieces or
fall into the sea; but as the watch was drawing to a close it was
suggested by the sailor who was at the helm that he should go up aloft,
and make his way noiselessly to the weather yardarm, for the two men
who were there stood in the greatest danger. When he got to them he
found both had partially secured themselves, though the least lurch of
their bodies would certainly have placed them in a more perilous
position. The young sailor's task was both delicate and difficult, but
he managed it so well that no harm came to them. One of the men, as is
the practice when reefing, was straddle legs on the yardarm, and had a
turn of a rope round him. The other had his feet on the foot-rope, and
his chest rested on the yard. They made a good deal of jovial noise
when they were aroused, with the obvious intention of making it appear
that they were very much alive. The stout man, who was in the slings of
the mast, and the first to succumb, was rudely awakened by the
rollicking yardarm man slapping him sharply on the back and shouting at
him, "what the h---- he meant by sleeping there and risking his own
and other people's lives?"
The phlegmatic gentleman grumbled out: "What business is that of
yours?"
"Why," retorted the younger seaman, "you old scanamaran, you ought to
be put in irons for the remainder of the voyage, and have your wages
stopped into the bargain."
This was rather high-class audaciousness on the part of a young rascal
who had just been rescued from a worse position while committing the
same offence. The task of getting them round was nothing compared to
that of getting them humoured into a sufficiently sober condition so
that no mishap would befall them in the process of coming down the
rigging. It is a perfect marvel how Providence protects people under
the influence of drink. Almost every step downward threatened a
calamity, so they slipped from one rattling to another until their feet
landed on the topgallant rail, and they slid under the shear pole on to
the deck. The second mate was greeted with much affection; the attitude
towards him was that of men who had been a long time absent and come
suddenly in contact with a dear friend. He was sensible enough to
reciprocate the kindness shown him. The reefed topsail was hoisted
vigorously up to the accompaniment of rapturous song. This being done,
the watch below was called, came on deck, and received a greeting
unequalled in every sense, but especially in its spirituous
effusiveness. The faithful James was in great demand, and after a
prolonged search he was found coiled up under the long-boat; an
outburst of fluent profanity indicated that his condition did not
warrant him being entrusted with any commission of grave, secret
intricacy, so he was expeditiously stowed away in the galley for the
remainder of the night, and the port watch that had just come on deck
were bitterly chagrined that they were not given the chance of
"liquoring up," as they called it, with their shipmates. The following
day they proclaimed Jimmy a pink devil for getting intoxicated, and his
confederates were treated to a withering flow of invective for not
keeping some of the stolen property for them. The captain was serenely
ignorant of what was going on, but in the morning at breakfast his
attention became centred on the worthy James, whose performances were
of an unusually destructive character. The steerage and cabin exhibited
heaps of broken crockery-ware, mixed with the humble repast that hungry
men had been looking forward to. Jimmy, in an ordinary way, was really
a devotee of religion, who adhered to all its forms most rigidly so
long as drink was kept out of his way. He could quote Scripture by the
fathom, and when in his cups used to do so copiously. The captain said
to him:
"Any one with half an eye can see, sir, that you have been at my grog."
James became virtuously indignant.
"Captain," said he, in a thick, guttural voice which indicated whiskey,
"you judge me wrongly"; whereupon, falling on his knees, he clasped his
hands, and in the attitude of prayer began as follows: "O Lord, forgive
the captain. Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity: I
have trusted also in the Lord, therefore I shall not slide."
The mate, a burly fellow who stood hard by, muttered:
"Get up, you d----d fool. You _have_ slid." Whereupon the pious James
called him a liar, and continued:
"Examine me, O Lord, and prove me: try my reins and my heart."
When he had finished the sentence, the captain interposed:
"I'm quite satisfied that you are intoxicated, and must request you, Mr
Jones, to see that he is put to bed before he does any more mischief. I
shall keep my grog under lock and key for the future."
This strong indictment caused James to become piously agitated. The
mate eloquently remarked:
"Yes, it is all damned fine quoting Scripture, but that won't give us
our breakfast. What do you say, Mr Second Mate?"
"Amen," said the gallant officer, and, with a merry twinkle in his eye,
he added in a whisper, "but I don't quite agree with the grog being
locked up."
Jimmy was very popular with all aboard, and everyone was full of
sympathy with him for having had the misfortune to fall into disgrace.
In a few weeks after his fall he was paid off in Bristol, and to
celebrate the occasion he and a young lad, who was much devoted to him,
had a glass together. He was very fond of his wife and his home, and
used to confide all manner of sacred things to his young friend. They
were walking down a fashionable street together, and observing a
well-dressed lady looking in a shop window, he remarked to the youth:
"That is a fine dress the lady has on. I would like to have one like it
for our Nanny (meaning his wife). I wonder if it cost much."
His young companion was eager to have some sport out of the incident,
so he urged him to ask her how much the dress cost. He was not quite
sure of the propriety of doing such a thing, but was reassured of this
by his friend in whose judgement he had profound confidence; so he went
up to the lady, took hold of her dress, held it up in his hand beyond
the limit of discretion, and asked her in pure Anglo-Scotch how much a
yard it might cost. The lady was startled, and looked contemptuously at
him.
"Sir," said she, "how dare you! whatever do you take me for?"
"I take you for a lady," said Jimmy, "and I'm asking how much a yard
your dress cost, because if it's not over dear I would like to buy one
for wor Nanny."
His young friend kept close to him, and was in convulsions of laughter;
but seeing he was drifting into trouble he advanced towards where they
stood and tried to explain to the lady that it was he who had prevailed
upon his friend to satisfy his curiosity as to the price of her dress.
Up to that point she seemed to be embarrassed, and did not know whether
to resent such unconventional conduct or not. She asked if they were
sailors; they replied in the affirmative. It then seemed to dawn upon
her that it was merely a mischievous prank being played on her
interrogator; but she was assured in a sailorly manner by both that
they knew it was very funny, but they were in earnest all the same. She
realized the true situation and laughed very heartily.
"Come along," said she, "and I will take you to the shop where I got
this dress."
Jimmy assented, but suggested that she should walk ahead of them; but
the lady insisted that she wished them to talk to her of their sea
experiences, and before the shop was reached James had told her with
touching simplicity about his fall and how penitent he was, and that he
felt he ought to do something for the wrong he had done his wife, who
would be very grieved when she heard of it.
"Will you tell her?" asked the lady.
"Tell her," said he; "why, I wouldn't dare do any other. I tell her
everything."
"Ah," said she, "sailors are very confiding. Now we are at the shop;
come with me, both of you."
The material was asked for, and the announcement of the price nearly
made Jimmy run out of the establishment.
"I am very sorry," said he, "but I cannot afford to buy it."
"How many yards does it take to make a dress for me?" asked the lady at
the shop-woman, without heeding his remark. She was told.
"Then," said she, "cut me a couple of yards extra, include the
trimmings, make it into a parcel, and send it and the bill to me at
once. Now," she continued to her two sailor companions, "come to my
home with me and have tea; by that time the material which I have
bought for your wife will have arrived."
"Madam," said the much-affected James, "surely you're no going to buy
that garment for me?"
"Oh yes, I am," said she, laughing; "don't say more about it, but tell
me some more of your adventures." And, fearing she was neglecting the
youth who had got over his frolicsome fit and become very shy, she
added: "I wish both of you to talk to me."
However, the youngster preferred to allow his friend to have all the
say, and contented himself by chipping in only when there was a pause
or when he was referred to. In due course they arrived at a mansion
which stood in beautiful grounds. The sailors were in awe, and
reluctantly followed their hostess. They had never seen anything like
it before. They were taken into a room that to them was gorgeous. Tea
was brought in, and two other ladies joined the party. They made both
sailors feel quite at ease, and before very long they were talking with
as great freedom as though they had been in the forecastle. The ladies
were made very mirthful, and laughed merrily at many of the quaint
yarns that were told them, which were for the most part personal. Jimmy
told them of his domestic bliss and the form of petticoat government
that controlled him in a charmingly simple way; and his companion had
to relate all about his home and when and how he came to go to sea. He
became quite confiding, and asked them to read some letters he had just
received from his sister, so that they might form some idea of the home
he came from. They declared they were the sweetest and best-written
letters they had ever read.
"I am sure," said the hostess, "you must be fond of your sisters."
He admitted he had good reason to be proud of them, as they were not
only good sisters but clever ones.
"But now," said he, "it is time for us to go, and I thank you on behalf
of myself and my friend for your great kindness towards us."
Jimmy was handed his parcel, and in the course of a few original
sentences he committed himself, his friends and his family to
obligations of gratitude for generations to come. A five pound note was
put into the hand of the younger sailor, who declined to take it, but
the good woman said:
"I am sure you will not intentionally give me pain by refusing to
accept a small gift from me. You have told me that it is your desire to
take a present home to your sisters, and I wish you to buy something
suitable for them with what I have given you."
"Yes," said the young man; "but I intended to buy it with my own
money."
"I know you did," said she, smiling, "but I am informed you are going
to try and pass the Board for second mate, and that it will cost you a
good deal. Now I wish you to get your certificate and to use your own
money to enable you to go to school and stay long enough ashore to do
so without feeling pinched."
With marked self-consciousness he agreed to accept the gift, and they
each thanked her again with all the natural gratitude that sat so
lightly on this class of sailor. And when she and her friends said
good-bye they felt that they had been the guests of big-hearted English
women. As soon as they had passed outside the gate, Jimmy remarked that
"there was none of the jellyfish shake of the flipper about them folk."
The two friends walked down the principal street together, and had it
not been the prevailing opinion that sailors of that time did not
meditate either coherently or incoherently, they might by their manner
have been thought to be in deep soliloquy, whereas their silence was
merely momentary. Any one hard by could have heard a spontaneous "Well,
by George, we are in luck! What an experience!" And then in a sharp,
jerky utterance: "Why, there's Jack Rush ahead of us. Won't he get a
surprise when we tell him where we have been and how it all came
about?"
When they came up to Mr Rush he was found to be more than
half-seas-over, and commenced grinding out odds and ends of profanity
about the shabby trick that had been played on the port watch on the
occasion when the captain's grog was purloined and some people had to
be sent to bed.
"Shut up about that," responded the conscience-pricked James, in a
sudden gust of rage.
"All very well for you to say 'shut up,' but why the syntax didn't you
save some of the stuff for our watch: that's what I want to know?" said
the injured mariner, with an intoxicated air of Christian virtue.
Jimmy's friend, anticipating trouble, came to the rescue by judiciously
calling his attention from his grievance and asking where their
shipmates were, as he wanted to stand drinks and relate to him and them
the singular experience and good fortune of Jimmy and himself.
Whereupon Mr Rush became effusively obliging, and guaranteed to have
them in the midst of their friends in a few minutes. No further
reference was made to the escapade that was remembered with such
aversion, and they were soon reunited to the whole of their comrades,
who received them with the joy of reclaimed brethren. They had entered
upon the initial stages of a vigorous spree, and were cheerfully ready
to listen to Jimmy's romantic story. They were not even envious of him,
but they did resolve amid a chorus of merriment to emulate him in the
art of sampling ladies' dresses, and in the exuberance of uncontrolled
mischief some of them went forthwith on the expedition. Needless to
say the experiment was not an unqualified success. They found that
their rude pleasures were neither understood nor appreciated by the
ladies of Bristol, and I have reason to know that some of the more
enterprising came to sudden grief.
These freaks of sailor life are recorded, not with a view of holding
him up as a drunken, ill-behaved, lawless creature, but merely as
incidents that seemed necessary adjuncts of his calling, and for the
purpose of showing the mischief that may be caused by supplying him
with drink or putting temptation in his way. For even in these days he
is deplorably susceptible to influences that are injurious to him. He
is very weak, very reckless, and also very human; but I am inclined to
demur at the notion that in the good old times he was pre-eminently so.
There is one characteristic of the whole class that should never be
overlooked, and that is their devotion to one another.
VIII
GRUB
In the extreme end of the forecastle, above what is called the
forehook, was a locker to keep the beef, duff (pudding) and sugar kids,
bread barge and other small stores, such as tea, sugar, coffee, etc. If
these were not carefully covered over, and there was any rain, or if
sea-water came aboard, they soon were destroyed, and the apprentice
whose work it was to look after them was held to blame by the men who
meted out punishment to him in one way or another, but they themselves
suffered the penalty of his fault, for they were reduced to short
rations until the following week's allowance was distributed. It was
customary for the captain to weigh or serve out the stores, and many a
mean trick was adopted at the expense of the poor sailor by the use of
false scales, weights, or measures. I have seen instances of this most
wretched and meanest of all thieving more than once. One incompetent
conniver at inexpiable wrong thought by cheating his men out of a
portion of their meagre allowance he would make the insufficiency of
stores put aboard by the owner spin out till the voyage ended. The
water was served out just as exactingly as anything else, and as soon
as the day's allowance was handed over to each man, the bung was put in
the cask with canvas nailed over it, and the dipper, which is a long,
narrow copper or tin pot, with a lanyard attached to it, was bent on to
the signal halyards and run up to the masthead, so that no one could
sneak any more water than their whack during the close time. In spite
of gross imposition, which, if committed amongst any other class of
workmen would have provoked the spirit of murder, these jovial,
light-hearted fellows were always ready if it was fine weather to spend
the dog watches in providing amusement for each other, and at the close
of each entertainment they never overlooked what was inherently
believed the patriotic duty of combining a display of loyalty to their
sovereign with a proportionate degree of disloyalty to the captain and
owner who were responsible for supplying them with food that even a
Russian serf might have felt justified in complaining about. So a
doggerel verse was composed and sung fervently to a modified form of
the National Anthem by way of intimating their grievance forcefully to
the notice of their commander. Relevancy did not come within the
compass of their thoughts; what they desired was to sing something that
would strike home, so the anthem was chosen as the most fitting
benediction of all. Here are the words:
God save our gracious Queen!
Long may she reign over us!
Pea-soup and pork amongst all hands of us,
Not enough for one of us,
God save our Queen!
After this had been repeated several times over, it usually happened
that one of the songsters who claimed to be gifted with more
perspicuity than his comrades would remind them that he had seen the
old squirrel wriggle under the lash of the song. And so their wretched
days of starvation were often made shorter by a more or less harmless
attack on the poor skipper, who might only be the instrument of a
parsimonious managing owner. But that was not the only method adopted
of showing their dissatisfaction. The seaman who had the most flippant
tongue and legal mind was chosen (or, as frequently happened, he
selected himself) to introduce a deputation of the whole forecastle. I
always look back on these episodes as amongst the most comical of my
sailor life. The spokesman would pick up the unpopular food, and with
the air of an oriental dignitary march at the head of his shipmates
right up to the captain, plant the wooden kid down on the deck at his
feet, and ask if that "was the sort of grub for men to do a hard day's
work on; besides, it was beef or pork, not bones or fat pork we signed
for." If the captain happened to be a conceited, combative person, he
would at once reply that he fed them according to what he thought they
were worth. Then there were heated altercations, which sometimes ended
in blood being spilt, or some of the crew being put in irons and logged
for having instigated rebellion on the high seas. "I'll teach you to
impeach my authority," the stupid, arbitrary tyrant would say; "you
shall be fed on the smell of an oil-rag in future, and have your wages
forfeited at the end of the voyage into the bargain." Alas, this wicked
threat was too often carried into effect so far as the forfeiture of
wages and ill-treatment were concerned. Whereas the diplomatic,
sensible master would deal with a case of this kind in a way that was
calculated to soften Jack into a condition that resembled penitence,
and make him feel as though he were a pig for having complained in this
direct way at all. I know there are cases that cannot be dealt with at
sea in any other than a despotic fashion, and although there is no
necessity to show weakness, there is as a rule a better chance of
governing men by kindness than by adopting a harsh, unyielding attitude
towards them, as though they were Mohammedan dogs.