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anteros_lmcThis is a rather long summary of the talk Dr Stuart Allen gave last weekend in Edinburgh on the influence of Admiral Thomas Cochrane on naval adventure fiction. I've been trying to upload pictures to go with this post all weekend but the pesky hackers have crippled LJs scrapbook again. I do wish they'd bugger off. Annywaaay....
Allen, the head curator of the National Museum of Scotland's current exhibition on Cochrane was introduced as "Senior Curator of Military History, with a life long weakness for naval history" :)
Dr Stuart Allen, and a fine collection of boarding weapons
Introduction
Thomas Cochrane had a huge influence on the genre of naval adventure fiction. Sea stories have a long heritage that can be traced at least as far back as the Odyssey in the 8th century BC. The Odyssey is typical of sea stories in that it is Odysseus trials that make him the man he is. Joseph Campbell explores this theme in The Hero with 1000 Faces. The sea hero is an archetype of human myth. He heeds the call to adventure and becomes the hero he is by overcoming a series of trials though a combination of skill mastery and experience.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, 1719
Defoe was inspired by non-fictional narratives of sea adventures published primarily for informing future mariners. Crusoe is written in the spirit of science and discovery and is a quest for modernity, not adventure. And as such it is really quite a tedious read.
Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett, 1748
Smollett was a Glaswegian ship’s surgeon and author of picaresque novels which tended to feature down on their luck young gentlemen seeking their fortunes. Roderick Random is semi-autobiographical and draws on Smollett’s experience of life at sea. He is scathing of the brutality and petty tyranny of life aboard ship.
The masculine world and its physical culture are recurring themes in naval adventure fiction. This allows for introspection on behalf of the officers who may be conflicted and sympathetic towards with their men, but bound by their duty to the service. Such conflict is particularly noticeable in the Horatio Hornblower novels and Melville’s Billy Budd.
The Pirate by Sir Walter Scott, 1821
Scott was inspired by Smollett to write this tale of piracy set in the Orkney Islands and featuring a Captain Cleveland, based on the historical character John Gow. Typically of sea stories up until the Victorian period most of the action takes place on land.
The Pilot by James Fenimore Cooper, 1824
The Pilot, set of a long chain of American sea stories. The book was written as a response to Scott whose seamanship Cooper believed was unconvincing. The Pilot is a story of peril at sea set during the American Revolution. The ship that is central to the plot is saved by the craft of a mysterious and brooding pilot who is gradually revealed to be John Paul Jones himself, though he is never explicitly named in the book. The book features lots of naval terminology and may be regarded as the beginning of the armchair sailor.
The Naval Officer and Mr Midshipman Easy by Frederick Marryat, 1829 & 1836
Marryat was the real deal. A former midshipman of Cochrane himself who was present at Aix, Marryat was still serving when he wrote The Naval Officer. The novel is semi autobiographical but contains more than a dash of the ridiculous and romantic. The captain in The Naval Officer is unnamed but is quite clearly Cochrane.
The eponymous hero of Mr Midshipman Easy is also modelled on Cochrane. He is an innocent abroad who has a commitment to levelling political difference. He also has a natural contrariness and responds to orders with “I should wish to argue this point a little…” Cochrane himself was described by one of his commanders as “an impossible subordinate.” (Allen also mentioned the 1935 film of the novel which features a “hyperactive Hughie Green” and Margaret Lockwood (!). He said the film is worth seeing but that it’s “really awful”.)
Sea Wolf by Jack London, 1904
Allen explained that he had included London’s novel as the phrase the “sea wolf” is often associated with Cochrane. However they purposefully chose not to use the phrase anywhere in the exhibition because although Napoleon did call Cochrane the loup de mer, Allen believed that the term “sea wolf” as applied to Cochrane dates to no later than the early 20th century and was picked up from London’s novel which has nothing to do with the Royal Navy. The sea wolf of the title is Wolf Larsen a sociopathic sea captain who rescues the survivor of a sunken liner. Allen suggested that the phrase loup de mer in French translates to something more akin to “old seadog” rather than “sea wolf”. He also noted that loup de mer is a type of sea bass and that the title of a Czech article about the museum’s Cochrane exhibition translated as “Cochrane the Sea Bass”!
The Horatio Hornblower novels by C.S. Forester, 1937 – 1968
In Allen’s words “And so we come to Forester and Hornblower, my favourite!”
C.S. Forester based many incidents in the Hornblower series on Cochrane’s exploits. The Happy Return draws heavily on Cochrane’s experiences in Chile with the Natividad standing in for the Esmerelda. However A Ship of the Line is really “the Cochrane novel”. Even the recruiting poster Bush brings Hornblower at the beginning is based on Cochrane’s recruiting poster for the Pallas. Most of the action now takes place at sea and the ship has become the whole universe. This is a common dramatic device for example similar to the Rover’s Return in Coronation Street. (Yep, Allen really said that ;) All Foresters books focus on a single ship and the loneliness of command, with Hornblower as the quintessential man alone. However Horatio Hornblower is very different from Thomas Cochrane. Hornblower is plagued by self doubt and fear of social inadequacy. In the 1951 film Gregory Peck express the depths of Hornblower’s inner turmoil through the medium of clearing his throat and pacing the deck. (At this point the gentlemen sitting behind me quite rightly exclaimed “But that’s how Forester wrote him!”) The ITV series, which nearly bankrupt ITV, is based on one of Foresters later books covering Hornblower’s early career as a midshipman and is less influenced by Cochrane.
The Aubrey Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian, 1969 – 2004
O’Brian, born Richard Patrick Russ, had an unhappy and complicated early life. He had already published the children’s story The Golden Ocean when he was approached by a US publisher on the death of C.S. Forester to develop a series of naval adventures. O’Brian knew his naval history and researched primary sources. Both he and Forester used lots of naval terminology but O’Brian never sailed in his life. O’Brian didn’t lie but he didn’t refute rumours either. It’s possible to do Thomas Cochrane spotting throughout the Aubrey Maturin series, though other historical character did influence both O’Brian and Forester too. One of the more memorable Cochrane incidents in the series is the stock market fraud and the famous pillory scene. Cochrane was sentenced to the pillory but this sentence was revoked, however O’Brian develops this scene brilliantly in The Reverse of the Medal. Aubrey is not Cochrane though. They are both prize takes but Cochrane was a thrawn and difficult Scot whereas Aubrey is a typically avuncular Englishman. All O’Brian’s books are very English and play on the stereotype of the wooden walls of old England. Cochrane’s influence does not feature much in the film Master and Commander which mixes incidents from various books.
With Cochrane the Dauntless by George Alfred Henty, 1897
This is the first appearance of Cochrane as himself. Henty takes the part of Cochrane and there is lots of sneering at the Royal Navy in the book, however Cochrane himself is oddly anodyne.
Sharpe’s Devil by Bernard Cornwall, 1990
Sharpe joins Cochrane of the capture of Valdivisia, but this time Sharpe takes all the credit. Cornwell’s characterisation of Cochrane is “singular”. He comes across as vulgar, exuberant, reckless and profane. Sharpe himself calls him a “genial maniac.”
Fighting Tom Cochrane, Victor Comics, 1961 -1992
The first two strips feature Cochrane in the Arab, a ship he described as “naval exile in a tub”. In the strip he describes her as “sailing like a lopsided haystack.” The series plays on Cochrane’s Scottishness, with one lord of the Admiralty describing him as “that glory hunting Scots rascal.” (I found this brilliant strip online and you can read it here: Fighting Tom Cochrane)
Diario de mi residencia en Chile, TV series, 2010
John O’Callaghan plays Cochrane in this Chilean tv series based on the diaries of Cochrane’s friend Maria Graham. A film version of the series is also planned.
Lord Cochrane de Chile by Pablo Neruda, 1967
Allen described this poem by Pablo Neruda as his favourite representation of Cochrane and the one that captures the essence of his character. Neruda had several portraits of Cochrane in his house in Valparaíso which is now a national museum. The poem captures the sprit of adventure and sets Cochrane free form the ignominy of what happened in his own country.
Translated by Douglas Cochrane.
Conclusion
Matthew 7:20 “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
Thomas Cochrane is a hard man to pin down. He was not a classical hero, he was at his best as a fighting frigate captain. He was the epitome of the man alone exercising his craft. It is the actions not the man that speak to us. Thomas Cochrane stills splits opinion and to know him is not always to love him, but his deeds were outstanding and for that reason he is unforgettable.
I'll try and post a summary of Cordingly's lecture on Cochrane later in the week.
Allen, the head curator of the National Museum of Scotland's current exhibition on Cochrane was introduced as "Senior Curator of Military History, with a life long weakness for naval history" :)
Dr Stuart Allen, and a fine collection of boarding weapons
Introduction
Thomas Cochrane had a huge influence on the genre of naval adventure fiction. Sea stories have a long heritage that can be traced at least as far back as the Odyssey in the 8th century BC. The Odyssey is typical of sea stories in that it is Odysseus trials that make him the man he is. Joseph Campbell explores this theme in The Hero with 1000 Faces. The sea hero is an archetype of human myth. He heeds the call to adventure and becomes the hero he is by overcoming a series of trials though a combination of skill mastery and experience.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, 1719
Defoe was inspired by non-fictional narratives of sea adventures published primarily for informing future mariners. Crusoe is written in the spirit of science and discovery and is a quest for modernity, not adventure. And as such it is really quite a tedious read.
 Tobias Smollett |
Smollett was a Glaswegian ship’s surgeon and author of picaresque novels which tended to feature down on their luck young gentlemen seeking their fortunes. Roderick Random is semi-autobiographical and draws on Smollett’s experience of life at sea. He is scathing of the brutality and petty tyranny of life aboard ship.
The masculine world and its physical culture are recurring themes in naval adventure fiction. This allows for introspection on behalf of the officers who may be conflicted and sympathetic towards with their men, but bound by their duty to the service. Such conflict is particularly noticeable in the Horatio Hornblower novels and Melville’s Billy Budd.
The Pirate by Sir Walter Scott, 1821
Scott was inspired by Smollett to write this tale of piracy set in the Orkney Islands and featuring a Captain Cleveland, based on the historical character John Gow. Typically of sea stories up until the Victorian period most of the action takes place on land.
 James Fenimore Cooper |
The Pilot, set of a long chain of American sea stories. The book was written as a response to Scott whose seamanship Cooper believed was unconvincing. The Pilot is a story of peril at sea set during the American Revolution. The ship that is central to the plot is saved by the craft of a mysterious and brooding pilot who is gradually revealed to be John Paul Jones himself, though he is never explicitly named in the book. The book features lots of naval terminology and may be regarded as the beginning of the armchair sailor.
 Frederick Marryat |
Marryat was the real deal. A former midshipman of Cochrane himself who was present at Aix, Marryat was still serving when he wrote The Naval Officer. The novel is semi autobiographical but contains more than a dash of the ridiculous and romantic. The captain in The Naval Officer is unnamed but is quite clearly Cochrane.
The eponymous hero of Mr Midshipman Easy is also modelled on Cochrane. He is an innocent abroad who has a commitment to levelling political difference. He also has a natural contrariness and responds to orders with “I should wish to argue this point a little…” Cochrane himself was described by one of his commanders as “an impossible subordinate.” (Allen also mentioned the 1935 film of the novel which features a “hyperactive Hughie Green” and Margaret Lockwood (!). He said the film is worth seeing but that it’s “really awful”.)
Sea Wolf by Jack London, 1904
Allen explained that he had included London’s novel as the phrase the “sea wolf” is often associated with Cochrane. However they purposefully chose not to use the phrase anywhere in the exhibition because although Napoleon did call Cochrane the loup de mer, Allen believed that the term “sea wolf” as applied to Cochrane dates to no later than the early 20th century and was picked up from London’s novel which has nothing to do with the Royal Navy. The sea wolf of the title is Wolf Larsen a sociopathic sea captain who rescues the survivor of a sunken liner. Allen suggested that the phrase loup de mer in French translates to something more akin to “old seadog” rather than “sea wolf”. He also noted that loup de mer is a type of sea bass and that the title of a Czech article about the museum’s Cochrane exhibition translated as “Cochrane the Sea Bass”!
 C.S. Forester |
In Allen’s words “And so we come to Forester and Hornblower, my favourite!”
C.S. Forester based many incidents in the Hornblower series on Cochrane’s exploits. The Happy Return draws heavily on Cochrane’s experiences in Chile with the Natividad standing in for the Esmerelda. However A Ship of the Line is really “the Cochrane novel”. Even the recruiting poster Bush brings Hornblower at the beginning is based on Cochrane’s recruiting poster for the Pallas. Most of the action now takes place at sea and the ship has become the whole universe. This is a common dramatic device for example similar to the Rover’s Return in Coronation Street. (Yep, Allen really said that ;) All Foresters books focus on a single ship and the loneliness of command, with Hornblower as the quintessential man alone. However Horatio Hornblower is very different from Thomas Cochrane. Hornblower is plagued by self doubt and fear of social inadequacy. In the 1951 film Gregory Peck express the depths of Hornblower’s inner turmoil through the medium of clearing his throat and pacing the deck. (At this point the gentlemen sitting behind me quite rightly exclaimed “But that’s how Forester wrote him!”) The ITV series, which nearly bankrupt ITV, is based on one of Foresters later books covering Hornblower’s early career as a midshipman and is less influenced by Cochrane.
 Patrick O'Brian |
O’Brian, born Richard Patrick Russ, had an unhappy and complicated early life. He had already published the children’s story The Golden Ocean when he was approached by a US publisher on the death of C.S. Forester to develop a series of naval adventures. O’Brian knew his naval history and researched primary sources. Both he and Forester used lots of naval terminology but O’Brian never sailed in his life. O’Brian didn’t lie but he didn’t refute rumours either. It’s possible to do Thomas Cochrane spotting throughout the Aubrey Maturin series, though other historical character did influence both O’Brian and Forester too. One of the more memorable Cochrane incidents in the series is the stock market fraud and the famous pillory scene. Cochrane was sentenced to the pillory but this sentence was revoked, however O’Brian develops this scene brilliantly in The Reverse of the Medal. Aubrey is not Cochrane though. They are both prize takes but Cochrane was a thrawn and difficult Scot whereas Aubrey is a typically avuncular Englishman. All O’Brian’s books are very English and play on the stereotype of the wooden walls of old England. Cochrane’s influence does not feature much in the film Master and Commander which mixes incidents from various books.
With Cochrane the Dauntless by George Alfred Henty, 1897
This is the first appearance of Cochrane as himself. Henty takes the part of Cochrane and there is lots of sneering at the Royal Navy in the book, however Cochrane himself is oddly anodyne.
Sharpe’s Devil by Bernard Cornwall, 1990
Sharpe joins Cochrane of the capture of Valdivisia, but this time Sharpe takes all the credit. Cornwell’s characterisation of Cochrane is “singular”. He comes across as vulgar, exuberant, reckless and profane. Sharpe himself calls him a “genial maniac.”
Fighting Tom Cochrane, Victor Comics, 1961 -1992
The first two strips feature Cochrane in the Arab, a ship he described as “naval exile in a tub”. In the strip he describes her as “sailing like a lopsided haystack.” The series plays on Cochrane’s Scottishness, with one lord of the Admiralty describing him as “that glory hunting Scots rascal.” (I found this brilliant strip online and you can read it here: Fighting Tom Cochrane)
Diario de mi residencia en Chile, TV series, 2010
John O’Callaghan plays Cochrane in this Chilean tv series based on the diaries of Cochrane’s friend Maria Graham. A film version of the series is also planned.
 Pablo Neruda |
Allen described this poem by Pablo Neruda as his favourite representation of Cochrane and the one that captures the essence of his character. Neruda had several portraits of Cochrane in his house in Valparaíso which is now a national museum. The poem captures the sprit of adventure and sets Cochrane free form the ignominy of what happened in his own country.
Lord of the sea come to us,
We are as water and sand oppressed,
We are a people mute and besieged,
Lord of the se we call you, singing, to battle.
Spanish chains deny us the seas.
Our hopes wither in the Spanish night.
Lord the Sea, grief and rage await you in harbour.
Southern seas are calling you, Lord of the sea!
Translated by Douglas Cochrane.
Conclusion
Matthew 7:20 “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
Thomas Cochrane is a hard man to pin down. He was not a classical hero, he was at his best as a fighting frigate captain. He was the epitome of the man alone exercising his craft. It is the actions not the man that speak to us. Thomas Cochrane stills splits opinion and to know him is not always to love him, but his deeds were outstanding and for that reason he is unforgettable.
I'll try and post a summary of Cordingly's lecture on Cochrane later in the week.
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no subject
Date: 2011-12-05 05:43 am (UTC)It’s possible to do Thomas Cochrane spotting throughout the Aubrey Maturin series, though other historical character did influence both O’Brian and Forester too
*g*
Master and Commander, the first book in O'Brian's series is almost completely Cochrane, and very often Jack is given Cochrane's cirumstances, if not his character traits: the quarrel and animosity between Jack and St Vincent, the patronage of Melville and Keith (both Scots, why should they have any interest in an Englishman), his inability with money...there is quite a list :D
As to other characters, well parts of the books are based on Basil Hall, Edward Riou or Nathaniel Dance. :D
*tears self away from reading*
no subject
Date: 2011-12-05 09:42 pm (UTC)the patronage of Melville and Keith
Cordingly described them as "the Scottish Naval Mafia" :}
I haven't read all of Fighting Tom Cochrane yet but what I have read is brilliant!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 05:26 am (UTC)*is thrilled*
Cordingly described them as "the Scottish Naval Mafia" :}
He is so right, the Dundases and Elphinstones (and Cochranes) had oodles of influence, so I guess it was not a good idea to get on their wrong side. ;D
I haven't yet read all of it either, but it seems the strip!Thomas Cochrane has a steward worthy of Killick. ;D you really should start on the books*g*
no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 09:51 pm (UTC)No indeed!!
it seems the strip!Thomas Cochrane has a steward worthy of Killick. ;D
Has he now? Does he make toasted cheese too? ;)
I will read the books one day, I promise.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 10:12 pm (UTC)Was invited for dinner tonight, and we had cheese fondue! It would be worth a nightmare or two!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-07 08:53 pm (UTC)Please do!
we had cheese fondue!
Funnily enough, my dear friend who looked after our daughter so we could go to this lecture, is the only person I know who has used a fondue set in anger XD
no subject
Date: 2011-12-07 09:12 pm (UTC)...is the only person I know who has used a fondue set in anger XD
Bashed someone with cheese, stabbed with the forks, banged someone with the fondue pot?
*wonders*
no subject
Date: 2011-12-05 01:25 pm (UTC)I have read: Aubrey, Hornblower, Sharpe, and Crusoe, also some of Basil Hall.
I had never heard of Cochrane, until i found all you guys. (So much for US education!)
So, lots to read, lots to learn. Yay!
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