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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Mart 'n' Al on Tuesday 05 March 19 17:25 GMT (UK)
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I am researching a Scottish ancestor who between 1850 and 1880 was a ship's captain sailing to just about every major port in the world at the time. I've often wondered what books he would have had in his cabin, bearing in mind that occasionally his wife traveled with him. I'd love to hear your suggestions.
Martin
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I am researching a Scottish ancestor who between 1850 and 1880 was a ship's captain sailing to just about every major port in the world at the time. I've often wondered what books he would have had in his cabin, bearing in mind that occasionally his wife traveled with him. I'd love to hear your suggestions.
Martin
At that time most gentlemen had a daily prayerbook, that also covered all the movable feasts as well. He would have needed something like that, or a bible, to say the words over the dead when the need arose.
I have a few anthologies of poetry, that were owned by male ancestors of that time.
The Victorians were great travelogue writers. He might of had a few to compare his experiences with the written word.
I would have thought that he would have wanted something written about his home land toward off homesickness.
Regards
Chas
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Chas, thank you, a great start.
Martin
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Captain Marryat?
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He would have Burns poems if nothing else! ;D
Skoosh.
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He obviously enjoyed travelling i.e. georaphy & history books possibly to acquaint himself with the different places?
Annie
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"an extraordinary number of books – at least three hundred – some FitzRoy’s, some Darwin’s, and some belonging to other members of the crew, but all shared. ... alongside the practical texts about sailing and navigation, is the large number of recently published travel books"
http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2014/11/what-charles-darwin-read-on-the-beagle/
Granted, the Beagle voyage was not an ordinary one.
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I was thinking about Darwin myself, as we visited his house last week. That's what got me started wondering!
Annie, anything specific?
Martin
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Annie, anything specific?
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Physical_Geography_Of_The_Sea_1855
Annie
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Annie, a good one. I'm sure no self-respecting seaman would fail to have a copy of that. It is still in print, and I saw a first edition for almost £500. Reprints from a fiver. I'm quite tempted.
Updated 12:07. It is almost poetic. Here is an extract.
"A philosopher of the East, [13] with a richness of imagery truly Oriental, describes the atmosphere as “a spherical shell which surrounds our planet to a depth which is unknown to us, by reason of its growing tenuity, as it is released from the pressure of its own superincumbent mass. Its upper surface can not be nearer to us than fifty, and can scarcely be more remote than five hundred miles. It surrounds us on all sides, yet we see it not; it presses on us with a load of fifteen pounds on every square inch of surface of our bodies, or from seventy to one hundred tons on us in all, yet we do not so much as feel its weight. Softer than the softest down — more impalpable than the finest gossamer — it leaves the cobweb undisturbed, and scarcely stirs the lightest flower that feeds on the dew it supplies; yet it bears the fleets of nations on its wings around the world, and crushes the most refractory substances with its weight.". Physical Geography Of The Sea.
Martin
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Likely additions to the bookcase!
Popular novelist in mid 19th century Scotland, John Galt, son of an Ayrshire sea captain, his works include Sir Andrew Wylie, The Steam Boat, The Provost & Ringan Gilhaize etc'! He was a buddy of Byron & wrote a biography. Secretary to the Canada Company & involved in emigration he founded Guelph in Ontario. Died in Greenock. Like Scott he wrote to clear his debts!
The works of Hugh Miller a Cromarty stone-mason he was involved in theological debate as editor of The Witness, organ of the Free Church of Scotland. Miller's books on geology & paleontology include The Old Red Sandstone, The Cruise of the Betsey, Scenes & Legends of the North of Scotland, The Testimony of the Rocks etc'
A Darwinist before Darwin? his knowledge of geology clashed with his own religious beliefs & those of the same critics of Darwin.
www.uh.edu/engines/epi1049.htm
Skoosh.
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A dictionary? An almanac?
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Martin, where in Scotland was your ancestor born & what was his surname?
I'm sure he must have read Shakespeare especially MacBeth.
&
A Journey over land to India by Donald Campbell
Annie
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Annie, Captain James Laird, Aberdeen, 1821. His ancestors were from Macduff, near Banff.
Martin
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I think a ship's captain might include the odd saucy tome or two on his book shelf.
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I was just recommended this on a separate thread. Thanks, Deebel. A free download as well!
Ship-Master's Assistant and Owner's Manual
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kfpeAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA398&lpg=PA398&dq=admiralty+masters+manual&source=bl&ots=ZSrA5YTHJJ&sig=ACfU3U1rkd_3-fdUKDEU4Qtl2R_sb5y2Jw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiWwZ-n3cDjAhUtWhUIHeQNCsQQ6AEwEXoECAYQAQ
Martin
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What about Dr.Johnson’s tours of Scotland with Boswell,especially the pub one!
Viktoria.
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Viktoria, I am a big fan of Sam, and several years ago we visited Skye, and took the ferry over to Rasay. The ferry back was mid-afternoon, so we never made it to the top of the island, where Sam and Boswell danced a jig together. In horrid weather, I balanced the camera on a rock on a cairn and danced a jig with Mrs Mart for a few moments until we started worrying about the ferry. Half way back I fell and slithered in the mud. I've been meaning to put the film on YouTube ever since. Perhaps you have given me the motivation. Maybe tomorrow, who knows?
UPDATE: 00:42 I just watched it for the first time in 12 years. Did I really pay good money for that camera? The video was horrendous.
Martin
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Mart -
"until we started worrying about the ferry"
What happens if you miss the ferry?
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You are stranded,marooned on a desolate unpopulated island with no food or water,only seagulls mewing their plaintiff cries of “Will he no’ come back again?”
Realistically if there is no room at the inn you night have to spend the night in the stable,mind you some posh people might come bearing gifts,so not all bad.
I am more worried Mart about the state of your attire after the mud incident
Bet you and Mrs.Mart were glad you were not wearing the kilt!
———Or were you?
Viktoria.
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OK, I give in to the personal messages wanting the video. Here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N6Kuj5AEbs&feature=youtu.be
This is our horrendous, low-quality, bad wind noise, tongue in cheek tribute to Johnson & Boswell who danced a jig on reaching the summit of RASAY. To view it at its 'best', after following the link, hold down the CTRL key and hit the MINUS key 7 times, to reduce the screen size. After viewing it, hold down the CTRL key and hit the PLUS key 7 times. Sorry about the wind noise, but it slightly improves when I turn out of the wind.
If we had missed the ferry, we would have needed overnight accommodation, and we didn't have our credit cards with us, and the car would have been left unattended on Skye all night.
Martin (very tongue in cheek.)
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Thankyou,well done Alice, even though not quite at the top.
Very brave to dance on such rugged ground.
Sam J was a big lad, so that jig of his and Boswell’s would have really been something to see.
That is something else I must re read.
Thanks again,by the way I did nothing special to get that,just clicked on your link then “unmute”.
I surprise myself sometimes ::)
Viktoria.
P.S are you sure that is you commentating? I imagined a deep,sonorous voice,rather like James Robertson Justice had. V.
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Viktoria, I was a bit breathless, perhaps that accounted for my unexpectedly high voice. I think it is normally deeper than that. It certainly shows how much digital cameras have come on in the last 12 years. The current one I have, which cost £218 2 years ago, produces television quality high-definition. This is a good example of how memory can play tricks on you even after just a few years. I was sure I had carefully propped the camera on a nearby rock, and done a dos-i-do type jig with Alice. Skye was a wonderful place for a holiday. Even in summer they say you can get four different seasons in one day and although we never saw snow we saw everything from Mediterranean sunshine to hail on the same day.
Martin
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.... So you don't think that your ship's captain would have had a cassette tape of that on his bookshelf?
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I doubt he even had a 78rpm talking book.
Martin
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My late cousin Malcolm was a ship's captain and sailed all over the world. Like others with our family surname of M'kenzie, he wrote poetry and I imagine his shelves would have accommodated verse written by others.
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My paternal great grandfather was a sea captain (along with several other family members)and spent many years at sea. I have his diary from his first time at sea. He referenced writing, doodling, reading poetry and learning about the stars and astronomy. My grandmother and her 3 siblings also spent several years at sea. My great grandfather taught them mathematics and history (so I assume he must have had books or materials about those subjects) while my great grandmother taught my grandmother and one of her sisters how to play a piano while at sea.
ynman
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I've a belief I play the piano as if I was at sea - in a heavy storm!
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Yn9man, do you have any plans to make the diary public? I would love to read it.
Martin
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Martin, my mum's ancestor Bartholomew Higgins was a ship's captain and a very good one judging by the accounts we have read in newspapers. One of his vessels sunk when leaving Liverpool but he managed to save all the passengers and crew, another time he saved his ship and its valuable cargo from burning by quick action and he received an engraved gold watch. Sadly we don't have that watch but we do have a couple of other items that we belive belonged to him, a pipe and a small snuff box. My great-grand mother left them to my mum when she died. We don't have any books though. Do you have anything that belonged to your ancestor?
Thanks for that link to the book, I haven't seen that before. Should be interesting reading. My great-grandmother did watch The Onedin Line in the 1970s when she was in her 90s (which was mentioned on your other posting) but I was too young to realise the significance and ask questions. Her father was also a mariner but couldn't read or write so presumably that would have precluded him from being a captain.
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The only thing we have is a large portrait, of him, probably painted in the Far East. He looks a very imposing character, and I was very disillusioned when I found from his captains documents on the internet that he was under 5 feet 6 inches.
Martin
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A Journey over land to India by Donald Campbell
Read here...https://archive.org/details/journeyoverlandt00camp/page/n5
Annie
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I love the full title, "A journey over land to India, partly by a route never gone before by any European"! EasyJet? RyanAir?
Martin
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Mart 'n' Al -
I am attempting to transcribe the diary now. Find myself reading and re reading the pages and not doing much transcription. I am also attempting to transcribe cassette tapes of my grandmother and her aunt growing up on board ship.
Great topic for those of us with mariners in the weeds and trees.
yn9man
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It sounds a wonderful and worthy project.
Martin
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For Christmas I was given this book, which was regularly updated throughout the 1800s. It is a sort of Bible for for sea going people.
THE SHIPMASTER'S ASSISTANT AND OWNER'S MANUAL: containing complete information, as well to merchants, masters of ships, and persons employed in the merchant service, as to officers and others in the Royal Navy, relative to the mercantile and maritime laws and customs. the ninth edition, very considerably improved and enlarged.
Martin