Will Weatherhelm, The Yarn of an Old Sailor, by W.H.G. Kingston.
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This is quite a long book, estimated to take sixteen hours forty minutes
to read. It was also quite difficult to transcribe, since the type was
probably a bit old. Certainly it was a rather small typeface, and was
broken up in places. Nevertheless we think we have got the text to
better than the prescribed 99.95% accurate, with an expected error rate
of less than eighty words in the 164,896 of the text.
The action takes place at the end of the eighteenth century, and ends at
the Battle of Trafalgar. Will's family originate from Shetland, a group
of islands to the north of mainland Britain. Kingston mistakenly
believes that they speak Erse on Shetland, which is not the case: Erse
is spoken in Ireland, being similar to the Gaelic spoken in parts of
Scotland.
The story moves along well, and is well-written. The most outstanding
part of the story is the number of times the hero is in a ship-wreck of
one kind or another, so much so that it is muttered that he must be some
kind of Jonah--an opportunity used by the author to put the religious
view of such a string of coincidences.
I think you'll enjoy the book. I know I have enjoyed transcribing it
for you.
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