Trafalgar Remembrance

Everyone knows the role of Lieutenant John Pasco in formulating the famous "England expects...." signal but I recently discovered that it seems likely that the midshipman who was actually responsible for running up the signal flags may have been one James Robertson from my home town of Stornoway. Here's his entry in Trafalgar Ancestors and, true to form, the Victory muster spells Stornoway wrong :}

I picked up this little snippet a couple of months ago from the BBC Radio 4 popular history programe Making History which includes an article on the role of Scots in manning "Nelson's navy". It's an interesting article but I was slightly irritated that the presenter seems to think that the discovery of Scottish officers and men in the British navy is an extraordinary revelation. (In Scottish journalistic parlance this is referred to as "putting a kilt on a story" ;) To be fair, the historian interviewed, Eric Graham, does point out that almost 30% of the navy at this time was made up of Scots and that this is nothing to be surprised about. Graham should also be commended for reminding us that we should not forget the hundreds of nameless women who served aboard the ships of the fleet at Trafalgar. Amen to that.

While we are on the subject of Trafalgar I was really very moved by latin_cat's post earlier today, quietly reminding us not to forget "those sailors British, French and Spanish who fought gallantly and died bravely, and for those who were scared out of their wits, but fought and died all the same." When I get home tonight I'll raise a glass to all those who were prone to panic but who fought and died bravely regardless.

And here is Victory flying the famous signal earlier today...



ETA Also on the other side of the pond...not forgetting that USS Constitution was also launched today in 1797 at Hartt’s Shipyard in Boston, Massachusetts

"Archie's just Archie because he thinks he's Archie"

I have a sister in the Outer Hebrides who I see rarely but speak to frequently. Tonight while on the phone she mentioned something about her goldfish. The following conversation went something like this....

Me: I didn't know you had goldfish!
Sister: No? We've had goldfish for ages.
Me: What are they called?
Sister: I don't know.
Me: How can you not know what your goldfish are called?!
Sister: They have funny daft names...
Sister (shouting to partner): What are the goldfish called again?
Sister's partner: One's called Rachel after the bus driver and the other one's called Archie.
Me: Archie? No way!
Sister's partner: Archie's just Archie because he thinks he's Archie.
Me: 0_o

Sometimes you just can't make it up....This Pointless Post has been brought to you by Anteros Pointless Posts Ltd.