Haven - Aspects of Water 4 - Travel

This week we looked at The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Great Clipper Race of 1866, and that literary classic to rival Coleridge's, The Pobble Who Has No Toes by Edward Lear. 

We listened to "Albatross" by Fleetwood Mac for further inspiration and tried not to think about that Monty Python sketch. Here are a few samples:

The great clipper race of 1866

The greatest and most famous clipper race took pace in 1866. 10 clippers bound for London set out from Fouchow on 28 May. Fastest away were Taeping, Fiery Cross and Serica, but Ariel swiftly gained on them. So evenly matched were these four ships and their crews that the clippers were frequently within sight of each other as they raced across the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope and north across the great Atlantic. Huge sums had been bet on the ships.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner   - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98

The famous bits -

 

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

Albatross - “The Pious Bird of Good Omen” 

He prayeth best, who loveth best

 All things both great and small;

 Coleridge

The Pobble Who Has No Toes

by Edward Lear
 

First verse:

The Pobble who has no toes
Had once as many as we;
When they said "Some day you may lose them all;"
He replied "Fish, fiddle-de-dee!"
And his Aunt Jobiska made him drink
Lavender water tinged with pink,
For she said "The World in general knows
There's nothing so good for a Pobble's toes!"

and it all ends happily despite many accidents ....

Last verse:

The Pobble who has no toes
Was placed in a friendly Bark,
And they rowed him back, and carried him up
To his Aunt Jobiska's Park.
And she made him a feast at his earnest wish
Of eggs and buttercups fried with fish, -
And she said "It's a fact the whole world knows,
That Pobbles are happier without their toes!"

We spent virtual time aboard tall ships and some ship's logs were written with absolutely no mention of weevils or ship's biscuits (such a cliche) but there was a lot of rum, tar and swabbing.

Travel by water just isn't what it used to be... no scurvy, no press gangs, no Cat O' Nine Tails...