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Dispatch
dated 21st
October 2003 NO. 2 ! TRAFALGAR DAY'
'England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty'
Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson's penultimate [1] signal.
11.15am, 21st October 1805.
Today, 21st October, is TRAFALGAR DAY, the
anniversary of Admiral Lord Nelson's last and greatest triumph at the Battle of
Trafalgar in 1805. His posthumous
victory against the combined French and Spanish fleets put a seal on England's
supremacy of the sea and, better still, ended Napoleon's longstanding ambition [2]
of invading our islands. If we
laboured under a less patrophobic political culture it would be a national
holiday.
On this day Nelson's inspiring signal is once again hoisted
up the yardarms of his flagship, HMS Victory [3], in her dry dock at
Portsmouth. Better still, since
Trafalgar the tradition has arisen of toasting 'the
immortal memory' of Horatio Nelson each 21st October with a
tot of rum or grog.
A Brief Digression on RUM & GROG
Around the time of Trafalgar, each sailor was entitled to a ration
of 2 gills (½ pint) of rum per day, equally split between morning and evening
issues, in the ratio of one part rum to 3 parts water. The resultant cheering mix was called grog. A cynical
pseudo-Marxist interpretation would be that the intention was to keep the proles too
bemused and befuddled to ever query their harsh servitude in a cause not their
own. On the other hand, at least it
gave them something to look forward to, prior to premature death or impoverished
old age.
Post Trafalgar, rum acquired the nickname 'Nelson's Blood'.
One explanation for this derives from the fact that his body was
preserved in a barrel of spirits for the long journey home to honoured burial [4].
Legend then accounts for natural evaporation of
the spirits by alleging thirsty sailors had refreshed themselves with
them.
Alternatively, there's talk of the term originating in some sort of folk communion thing
, whereby sailors connected poorly understood eucharistic notions to their daily
rum ration and thus a communing with their beloved Admiral's spirit.
Hmmm …
Maybe, just maybe, it was a metaphor. Presumably even badly educated and ill-treated 18th
century Jack Tars were up to metaphors, weren't they ?
The rum ration was progressively reduced and by steam-navy times sailors could forego it in return for a slight increase in
wages. The Royal Navy finally
dispensed with the quaint custom on 31st July 1970 ( 'Black Tot Day'
).
To revive it in the comfort and privacy of your own home, here's a
cultured grog recipe:
1 teaspoon sugar ( finer the better ).
Lime juice to suit.
Cinnamon stick if you fancy.
Hot water ( put a metal spoon in the glass so it doesn't crack.)
Combine all the above.
Stir and imbibe - or
chuck it out the window - I don't care: it's your house and loss.
But I digress.
It is more seemly and in keeping with the day to conclude with Nelson's prayer, written in his personal diary on what proved to his last day on earth: [5]
"May
the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the benefit of
Europe in general, a great and glorious victory; and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the
British Fleet.
For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me,
and may His blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my country faithfully.
To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend.
Amen. Amen. Amen."
TO THE IMMORTAL MEMORY !
Notes
[1] The truly last
signal was
almost as good ( and useful as a rule of life ): 'Engage the enemy more closely'.
&
In
my normal writing I'm not allowed many footnotes. I like footnotes. I'm
going to indulge myself.
[2] In
August of 1805, Napoleon wrote to his admirals: "Come
into the Channel. Bring our united fleet and England is ours. If you are only
here for 24 hours, all will be over, and six centuries of shame and insult will
be avenged."
[3]
The oldest commissioned warship in the world !
Launched on 7th May 1765, She is still on the official 'books
of the Royal Navy and is manned by RN Officers and Ratings.
The Victory currently serves as the flagship of the Second Sea Lord and
Commander in Chief Naval Home Command.
[4]
Nelson had expressed a preference not to be put
overboard.
[5] Pedants and/or
accountants will contend that it was his last day on water.
******
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