Perfectly innocent!

[anteros_lmc]

Last night's innuendo laden quote, as nodbear correctly recognised, was Basil Hall writing of his examination for Lieutenant. Prior to his exam Mr Hall had been given a letter from a friendly Admiral with instructions to send it to the examining officers in advance.

"The letter being sealed, I knew not whether it were merely introductory, or if it contained any request in my favour. But as I thought I could get through my examination without extra favour or assistance from any one, I resolved to break the Admiral's orders, and keep the letter till all was over."

Hall did indeed get through his examination and passed with flying colours:

As soon as it was announced to me that I had passed, I produced my letter of introduction; upon which the gentleman to whom it was addressed exclaimed,—

" Hillo! young fellow, why did you not send this up to me, as you were desired, in the morning ? I have a great mind to turn you back for disobedience of orders! There, read it yourself."

The letter ran thus:—

" My dear_______ As the bearer of this, Mr. Hall,
who is to be examined to-morrow, will be accompanied by his father, Sir James Hall, who wishes, on account of business, to get away early, I shall be glad if you can take him soon, in order that he may be enabled to go at once. Yours, &c."

On my saying I had fancied it might contain some request to ease me off gently, he cried, " And so you fancy we old cocks job into one another's hands in that way, do you? However, never mind, we have passed you; and, for all your suspicions, we shall not reverse our decree."

There you go, all perfectly innocent and above board!

Those of you who have read Dean King's Every Man Will Do His Duty will remember Hall as the author of the tale of Shakings the midshipmen's unfortunate cur and also as the eyewitness to the land battle of Corunna. I was so charmed by Hall's writing that I tracked own a first edition of his midshipman's memoirs which I'll post some pics of at some stage.

In the meantime, for tonight's nautical nonsense, can anyone tell me who Horky Tercero is?

Hall, B., (1865), The Midshipman; being autobiographical sketches of hits own early career from fragments of voyages and travels by Captain Basil Hall, R.N., F.R.S, Bell and Daldy, London.

Comments

[gayalondiel.livejournal.com]

Oh, well that's all right then!

You might be interested to know that the latest missive from Navyboy tells me that he is required to "take one
of his naughty boys in front of the XO". I kid you not.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

My turn for O_O ..... Umm..... *speechless*

How gratifying to see that the RN is still upholding that great British tradition of shameless innuendo!

[gayalondiel.livejournal.com]

Navyboy will be quite humiliated when he realises what he's writ, I think! But it entertained me, and that surely is the most important thing! I don't think they realise quite how smutty they can be, though, especially where things like mess games are concerned.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

It entertained me, and that surely is the most important thing!
Of course it is! What else are navyboys for but for entertainment?! (Erm...you don't actually need to answer that ;)

I don't think they realise quite how smutty they can be
Shocking suggestion that it is, there is just a teensy possibility that they are completely innocent and we are the ones being smutty.... ;P

[gayalondiel.livejournal.com]

Us? Smutty? Heaven forfend!

[esmerelda-t.livejournal.com]

I bet there was 19thc porn where a nubile young middie 'persuaded' the exams board to pass him.

and I bet that's the sort of torid thing Lord H writes

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I bet that's the sort of torid thing Lord H writes
*nods* Published under the nom de plume of Horky Tercero ;)

Btw I have a couple of edited volumes of the Victorian gentleman's porn magazine The Pearl but it's all gen and almost invariably dire. Most of it seems to consist of graphic limericks!

[esmerelda-t.livejournal.com]

Most of it seems to consist of graphic limericks!

Sent in by Mr. K no doubt.

The Pearl's a rather classy name for a porn mag I think!

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Sent in by Mr. K no doubt.
I think even Mr K would be mortified by some of those offerings! Although I wouldn't put it past him to submit them under Lord H's name ;)

The Pearl's a rather classy name for a porn mag I think!
It is indeed, but it's the only classy thing about it. I've just had another look at it, I was going to copy an example out for you but they're too embarrassingly awful even for LJ!

[nodbear.livejournal.com]

Archie regularly applied for new volumes from the Garrison Library under HH's name if they were outrageous.
Actually the minutes of the early committees there reveal the constant battle to keep the porn out of the hands - well of whom?
the committee reported that the signatures on the petition in 1798 to save the English language edition of the " Adventures of the Chevalier Faublas" from destruction contained the 'signatures of many senior officers,alas'
- apparently it was considered safe to keep the French edition ...
Which begs the question of what the Captain and Mr Bracegirdle et al were reading at the time of course;) it had always been a good ruse on both their parts to lay claim to les French than they actually possessed ...

And as for Horky Tercero...

[nodbear.livejournal.com]

Sir Edward writes: Humph! Moi? Tiens, cette Madam Nodbear, elle a un sacre culot...*

You won't find my signature or Braceys on those petitions
( actually we found a case of something soothing to the librarian was a far more efficacious persausion)

Horky Tercero? - is none other than the mangled way the Dons pronounced the name of His late Majesty George III, God save him - and I believe Madam Anteros has been reading the fine story that CAptain Hall tells of his visit to the theatre in Spain when we- that is to say ourselves and the Dons- were friends again - allegedly.

but Bracey, who knows all things lower deck, tells me that Mr Kennedy has seen fit to nickname Mr hornblower Horky for the duration - alas,I forsee an unsettled few days . Squally with winds from the east I would say.

* that Madam Nodbear, she has a dammed cheek !

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

My dear Sir Edward,

Nothing indeed escapes your perspicacity! Horky Tercero is of course good King George III as mangled by the Dons and recorded by Mr Hall. Might I enquire if you happened to be present at the theatre on the night in question? I am prompted to ask as the escapade involving the storming of the ladies box as related by Mr Hall bears the stamp of some of your younger officers I believe!

The more we stared, the more the ladies smiled, till the boleroes and fandangoes of the stage were well-nigh forgotten in these performances of the audience. The simplicity of the naval uniform presented such a strong contrast to the splendour of that worn by the Hussars near us, that we soon saw there was no sort of chance at such long bowls; and therefore, prompted and supported by the brazen god of impudence, we resolved to pay these black-eyed Spanish lasses a visit; and off we set accordingly to introduce ourselves. I cannot say that we entered the box without some few misgivings; for there lay before us the risk of being coldly received by the senoritas or their duenna, which would have been followed by the triumphant ridicule of the soldiers in the pit. The military stared in great amazement when they beheld their amphibious rivals marching into the very centre of the place against which they had been expending so much ammunition during the early part of the evening."

I am as always, your most devoted and fond, etc.
Anteros

Re Madam Nodbear, I would advise caution when casting aspersions in her direction, I fear she she may be a spy.

[nodbear.livejournal.com]

My dear Ma'am

Of course she is - but as the ADM2 files are beginning to reveal, I was something of a spymaster in my quieter hours myself...I will keep an eye on her however....

As to the storming of the box - I was not there but agree it bears the hallmarks of some junior officers known to us both.In which case they were a credit to the uniform (maybe for once, given those two and their usual record, miraculously smartly worn) - I am glad to see they have learned much about carrying an action by b....I fear me this is getting too much into the line of innuendo for so early in the day...

but as ever, of course, my dear lady,
etc
EP

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Sir Edward,

A spymaster?! I must say you have not lost your capacity to surprise! I shall look forward with fascination to hearing more about your exploits in espionage.

Regarding the storming of the box I can imagine precisely which brazen god of impudence prompted and supported the amphibious company to carry the action by b....

Oh my, please excuse me I appear to becoming somewhat flustered!

I am as always, etc, etc.

A.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Archie regularly applied for new volumes from the Garrison Library under HH's name if they were outrageous.
I'll bet he did! And no doubt Mr HH was affronted. (And then mortified when caught reading them ;)

'signatures of many senior officers,alas'
*snigger* Ever it was thus!

[weeboopiper.livejournal.com]

Basil Hall is my favorite RN officer. I've been collecting items related to him for some time now. My greatest prize is his calling card.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sailingnavies/302222440/

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's amazing! What a beautiful thing to have. The first edition of The Midshipman I got is rather tatty but I'm very fond of it and am thoroughly enjoying reading it. I'll post some pics of it soon. Where does the image in your icon come from btw?

[weeboopiper.livejournal.com]

He was a very popular author in his day. I especially like his sense of humor.

The portrait comes from a book called Travels in India, Ceylon, and Borneo, which consists of various parts of his Fragments of Voyages and Travels volumes. It is attributed to Raeburn. I've tried to locate it, with no luck so far. Just found the portrait of his father, Sir James. I took the book and showed it to the curator of the NMM's artwork when he was here for a Captain Cook exhibit. He had no knowledge of it.

The ship comes from one of the Fragments volumes. The signature comes from a letter.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised he was such a popular author, his writing is charming! he has a great eye for detail and a wonderfully self deprecating sense of humour.

It's a lovely portrait and your icon is beautiful. Have you tried the National Library of Scotland or the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh to track it down? The NLS acquired an 1812 letter of Hall's in 2009 which includes an engraved portrait apparently. This acquisition also sounds fascinating:

Letter, 1817, of Captain Basil Hall to Sir Hudson Lowe, Governor of St Helena, sending a copy of a work of his father (Sir James Hall, Bt) for the use of 'the man of the Mountains', i.e. Napoleon. Acc 11985

Btw the icon of Hall is from an NLS exibition on Audubon

[weeboopiper.livejournal.com]

Contacting the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh is on my to do list. I just haven't had the time over the past few years because most of my free time is tied up with the Falls of Clyde.

When he was a young man, Sir James Hall met Napoleon while he was studying in France. Napoleon granted Basil an interview because he was Sir James' son.

The icon image is based on a sketch currently in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.

He was definitely a unique individual!

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I am not surprised your free time is taken up. I follow your blog and I am in awe of the time and energy you devote to that ship. It's people like you that help to ensure our shared history survives.

Fascinating about Sir James Hall and Napoleon. I wonder if like so many Scots he sympathised with the green linnet?