Rosemary Sutcliff

Born December 14, 1920 in Surrey, England
Died July 23, 1992

Rosemary Sutcliff was an English writer of historical fiction, primarily for children, and the author of some sixty books. As Neil Philip describes her work, Sutcliff "does not bring 'history' to the reader but involves the reader in the past - not just for the duration of a book, but for ever."

Beyond her wonderful capabilities as a writer, Sutcliff is admirable as a person who overcame terrible circumstances to find her own talents and create new things for others to enjoy.

Sutcliff, born an only child into a naval family, moved frequently as her father's career as a naval officer dictated. They resided for a period in Malta, but most of her youth was spent in England. Tragically, Sutcliff developed Still's Disease and was wheel-chair bound with rheumatoid arthritis for much of her life.

Due to her illness, she was unable to attend school for much of her early life. While confined at home, her mother loved reading to her so much that Sutcliff herself did not learn to read until she was nine. Later she was to attend Bideford Art School where she studied miniature painting, with the general plan being that she would be able to support herself despite being an invalid. It is arresting to consider a time not so long ago when a middle-class family, with an invalided maiden daughter, would have to consider this type of planning for her.

Fortunately for the rest of us, Sutcliff soon came to realize that she did not really want to be a painter and turned instead to writing. In reading her books, it is easy to see in them some residual impact of those early days as a miniaturist as she has an eye for striking detail and is noted for her descriptions of terrain and countryside. This eye for detail is an especially critical attribute for a writer of historical fiction as it is in the details or shining light on what is unexpectedly different that helps carry the reader to the past and convince him that he is in a different time and place.

In an earlier essay on Lois Lenski, another writer of historical fiction, we noted Lenski's habit of going to live in a locale that was the setting of her story, sometimes for many months, in order to pick up the vernacular and the detail of the environment. Given Sutcliff's physical incapacities and inability to follow a similar pattern of preparation, her descriptive powers become even more notable.

Even if she was unable to live or easily visit the settings of her books, Sutcliff did invest a great deal of effort in researching the details of her books - not just the broad outlines of the history, but the everyday activities of farming, eating, soldiering, and speech. In fact, one of the fine balances that she strikes is in the area of speech. It took her two or three books to strike the right note, but she incorporates just enough of the rhythm and style of speech from an era to remind you of the difference in speech patterns without their becoming an impediment to the flow of the story. Instead they become a pinch of verbal seasoning as it were.

The other thing that is striking about her books is their capacity to be read at a couple of different levels. I suspect I was ten or eleven when I first read a Sutcliff book, The Eagle of the Ninth. At that age I read it simply as an action packed tale set in a distant Roman Britain. And I enjoyed it tremendously. I read others of her books over time as I was able to get my hands on them. By fourteen or fifteen, I went back and re-read The Eagle of the Ninth. On this second reading, and with a somewhat more developed emotional maturity, I was able to read a much different story, one not just about action and adventure.

Most of Sutcliff's books are structured in a way that the protagonist has to either carve some path between two opposing loyalties and/or has to strike some reconciliation of values of the past with the needs of the present and future. Basically they are all about those aspects of change that are so characteristic of a child's middle years and I think that is one reason that they remain so popular. They are not simplistic reads at all and they are not a story wrapped over a loom of social concern. They are not patronizing - a child can and will read them for the entertainment that they are and will only later realize that they read and learned much more than they were aware of.

Sutcliff is, as mentioned above, primarily noted as an author of children's historical fiction, though that rather desiccated term doesn't really do justice to her style or the impact the books can have on a child. Among the historical eras with which she dealt, she is probably best known for her Roman Britain trilogy (The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, and The Lantern Bearers), and for her Arthurian knights trilogy (The Light Beyond the Forest, The Sword and the Circle, and The Road to Camlaan). I think two books of hers published after her passing, Black Ships Before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus, should belong among those top-rated books as well. They are a rather different style of writing for her, but they capture much of the essence of the original stories. And, most critically, they are not dumbed down. They are written for a middle or advanced independent reader, but as an illustrated book can serve as a fine story to read to children much younger, say five to ten.

Rosemary Sutcliff was commissioned to write Black Ships Before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus by the famous British publisher Frances Lincoln as part of a project to retell the three classics of the ancient Greco-Roman world: the Odyssey, the Iliad, and the Aeneid. Sutcliff was able to complete only the first two before her passing. The trilogy was subsequently completed by Penelope Lively who also writes children's history. Her version of the Aeneid is titled In Search of a Homeland.

So for anyone interested in gripping, action oriented, historical fiction which also has deeper layers of development and change, Sutcliff would be your writer. For independent readers, start with The Eagle of the Ninth, and if you find you enjoy it, move on to her other works. I would strongly recommend both Black Ships Before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus to parents seeking to introduce their children at a young age to the library of Greek literature. I would start with The Wanderings of Odysseus.

Independent Reader

Black Ships before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Alan Lee 1993 Highly Recommended

Outcast by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Richard Kennedy 1955 Suggested

Sword Song by Rosemary Sutcliff 1998

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by C. Walter Hodges 1954 Recommended

The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1959 Suggested

The Light beyond the Forest: The Quest for the Holy Grail by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Shirley Felts 1979

The Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1965

The Road to Camlann: The Death of King Arthur by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Shirley Felts 1981

The Shield Ring by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by C. Walter Hodges 1956

The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff 1990

The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1957 Suggested

The Sword and the Circle: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Shirley Felts 1981

The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Alan Lee 1996 Highly Recommended

Tristan and Iseult by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Victor Ambrus 1971

Warrior Scarlet by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1958

Rosemary Sutcliff's Complete Bibliography

The Chronicles of Robin Hood by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by C. Walter Hodges 1950
The Queen Elizabeth Story by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by C. Walter Hodges 1950
The Armourer's House by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by C. Walter Hodges 1951
Brother Dusty-Feet by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by C. Walter Hodges 1952
Simon by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Richard Kennedy 1953
Black Ships before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Alan Lee 1993
Outcast by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Richard Kennedy 1955
Lady in Waiting (novel) by Rosemary Sutcliff 1956
Sword Song by Rosemary Sutcliff 1998
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by C. Walter Hodges 1954
The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1959
The Rider of the White Horse (novel) by Rosemary Sutcliff 1959
The Light beyond the Forest: The Quest for the Holy Grail by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Shirley Felts 1979
The Bridge-Builders by Rosemary Sutcliff 1959
Rudyard Kipling by Rosemary Sutcliff 1960
Knight's Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1960
Houses and History by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by William Stobbs 1960
Beowulf: Dragonslayer by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1961
Dawn Wind by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1961
Dragon Slayer by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1961
Sword at Sunset (novel) by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by John Vernon Lord 1963
The Hound of Ulster by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Victor Ambrus 1963
Heroes and History by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1965
A Saxon Settler by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by John Lawrence 1965
The Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1965
The High Deeds of Finn MacCool by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Michael Charlton 1967
The Chief's Daughter by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Victor Ambrus 1967
A Circlet of Oak Leaves by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Victor Ambrus 1968
The Flowers of Adonis (novel) by Rosemary Sutcliff 1969
The Witch's Brat by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Richard Lebenson 1970
The Road to Camlann: The Death of King Arthur by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Shirley Felts 1981
The Truce of the Games by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Victor Ambrus 1971
Heather, Oak and Olive: Three Stories (containsThe Chief's Daughter by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Victor Ambrus 1972
The Capricorn Bracelet (based on BBC scripts for a series on Roman Scotland) by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Richard Cuffari 1973
The Changeling by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Victor Ambrus 1974
(With Margaret Lyford-Pike) We Lived in Drumfyvie by Rosemary Sutcliff 1975
Blood Feud by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1976
Shifting Sands by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Laszlo Acs 1977
Sun Horse by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Shirley Felts 1977
(Editor with Monica Dickens) Is Anyone There? by Rosemary Sutcliff 1978
Song for a Dark Queen by Rosemary Sutcliff 1978
The Shield Ring by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by C. Walter Hodges 1956
Three Legions: A Trilogy (contains The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, and The Lantern Bearers) by Rosemary Sutcliff 1980
Frontier Wolf by Rosemary Sutcliff 1980
The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff 1990
The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1957
Eagle's Egg by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Victor Ambrus 1981
Bonnie Dundee by Rosemary Sutcliff 1983
Blue Remembered Hills: A Recollection (autobiography) by Rosemary Sutcliff 1983
Flame-Coloured Taffeta by Rosemary Sutcliff 1985
The Roundabout Horse by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Alan Marks 1986
Mary Bedell (play) by Rosemary Sutcliff 1986
Blood and Sand by Rosemary Sutcliff 1987
The Best of Rosemary Sutcliff by Rosemary Sutcliff 1987
Little Hound Found by Rosemary Sutcliff 1989
A Little Dog Like You by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Jane Johnson 1990
The Sword and the Circle: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Shirley Felts 1981
Chess-Dream in a Garden by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Ralph Thompson 1993
The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Emma Chichester 1993
The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Alan Lee 1996
Tristan and Iseult by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Victor Ambrus 1971
Warrior Scarlet by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Charles Keeping 1958


ADDENDUM: March 13, 2008 - The estimable British literary magazine, Slightly Foxed has published a pocket edition of Sutcliff's Blue Remembered Hills. Should you wish a copy, please contact them directly at the link.

John Lloyd Stephens

Idol at Copan by Frederick Catherwood 1841


Also in this month's (December) edition of American History is a good article on John Lloyd Stephens. Unfortunately the article is not available electronically but the magazine should be on the news stands for a while. Stephens was the explorer who in the early 1840's first brought to the attention of a wide audience the Mayan ruins in Central America with his two travel books

Incidents of Travel in Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens and illustrated by Frederick Catherwood Suggested

Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens and illustrated by Frederick Catherwood Suggested

While the language, views and style are a little archaic, there is a certain freshness that is appealing. If there is anyone amongst young adults interested in archaeology, this might be an intriguing tidbit to put in front of them. The illustrations are a big part of the allure of the book. They make you feel as if you were there, back when it was all fresh and untrammeled.

Levittown

There is an interesting article on the history of Levittown in this month's American History magazine.

Harvest

As I write, I look out a window onto a crisp autumn day. The green woods, with daubs of color here and there, don't really look like fall is here, but as you sit still and listen, you hear the occasional patter of acorns falling to the ground, squirrels more busily going about their business, and even occasionally the honk, caw and cackle of various flocks beginning to gird themselves for their next big migration. The sun, instead of beating down from a bleached sky, as it did but a couple of months ago, now quietly slants in from the side, the air seeming crisper, the light more revealing. The shadows are different and the clean light plays about the leaves, showing off a broad palette of greens and yellows, grey and black.

There is something to love in every season and its turning. Once, years ago, I worked on a land-based oil rig for a few months. It was a rewarding experience but one of the things I enjoyed most, (and in contrast to most of working life), was that there were definable milestones and points of completion. You came onto a new site, you drilled the well, you finished it off and then moved to the next site. Planning, action, outcome. Progress.

Though most of us have long departed the land, Autumn is like that as well. In our culture, in our adages, in our folktales and in our storytelling, we still recognize Autumn as being that point where you do two things. You harvest the outcome of your efforts from the Spring and Summer. And related, but different from that, you prepare for the approaching trials of winter. In PoliSci terms, you might say that Autumn is the season of capitalists where you receive the return on your investments and manage your approaching risks.

In our separation from the land and our insulation from the vagaries of weather, we have removed ourselves and our children from some of these lessons which I think is unfortunate. As parents, one of the things we are constantly seeking to instill is a comprehension that there are consequences to actions. They may seem, from the perspective of a child, to be disproportionate, or unfair, or inconsistent but it is critical that they understand that there are consequences. No matter how much you may dislike them, there are decisions that need to be made, priorities established, hard choices elected and consequences borne. Nature's vagaries are a good reminder to children that the seeming unfairness of consequences are not something reserved to them but happen to us all.

I love the language of the King James Bible and one of my favorite passages is from Ecclesiastes 9:11,

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Every year in early October we have the privilege of sharing a weekend in the mountains of western North Carolina with a community of friends. One of our family traditions on these occasions, is to spend part of the morning on Sunday before our return to Atlanta, picking apples in an orchard crowning one of the high crests in these mountains. Were we to do nothing at all, it would still be beautiful, looking out over the magnificent spread of views of the Appalachians.

There is a delight to children and parents alike in this process: the little ones climbing to pick just the right apple that no one else can reach, the parents watching the running, eager excitement of fresh-faced kids. No one can long resist the temptation of eating one of the sun-ripened sweet (or tart) apples, with dripping, sticky juice getting out of hand. On our return home, the sack of apples sits there in the corner of the kitchen for a week or so, a daily challenge to eat as many as we picked, and in the end the sensory delight of apple pies and apple crumble.

But this year there was more of a lesson than a traditional picking experience. We had sharp, late spring frosts in the mountains, just as the apple trees were in blossom. What survived that, perished in the continuing drought we have experienced. The kids could not finish the weekend without at least visiting our favorite orchard. While there was no picking to be done, we were able to support the farmer by purchasing apples trucked in from Virginia - not the same experience, of course, but a token of concern.

It was a sobering reminder that harvest does not always bring us what we expect, that good efforts and planning can come to nought, and that there is an inherent unfairness in life that in fact is life. It is our preparation for the unexpected and our commitment and support of one another that makes things not only bearable but rewarding. These are complex lessons easily burdened down by seriousness but Autumn frames them clearly in ways that are very comprehensible to children.

The flip side of this experience, though, is the manifest richness and bounty all about us. I can never decide when Nature is at her most flagrant, Spring or Fall. Here in the US we of course have the wonderful traditional holiday of Thanksgiving that marks the celebration of harvest completed - marked by feasting and celebrating.

Below is a collection of stories marking the bringing in of the harvest, of Autumn, of pumpkins and of apple picking.


Picture Books

Christopher's Harvest Time by Elsa Beskow Recommended

The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh and illustrated by Helen Sewell Suggested

Little Red Hen by Paul Gadone Suggested

The Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney Recommended

Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh and Illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen Highly Recommended

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey Highly Recommended

Puss In Boots by Charles Perrault and illustrated by Fred Marcellino Suggested

The Ant and the Grasshopper by Aesop and illustrated by Amy Lowry Poole Suggested

Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney Suggested

When the Frost is on the Punkin by James Whitcomb Riley and illustrated by Glenna Lang Out of Print Suggested

Little Red Hen by Margot Zemach

Independent Reader

The Classic Treasury of Aeseop's Fables by Aeseop and illustrated by Don Daily Suggested

The First Thanksgiving by Jean Craighead George and illustrated by Thomas Locker Suggested

Possum's Harvest Moon by Anne Hunter Suggested

N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by N.C. Wyeth Suggested

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder Recommended

P.J. Lynch

Born March 2, 1962 in Belfast, Northern Ireland

P.J. Lynch, a Belfast born illustrator and winner of two Kate Greenaway medals is something of a J.D. Salinger of children's illustration. Despite our times that so often demand celebrity and self-exposure, it is rather hard to find much information about him, leaving you, as it mostly should be, to judge and enjoy him for the work he produces.

Lynch was born into a working class fmaily in Northern Ireland. His mother came from the country and he had the opportunity to spend periods of time in his childhood on the family farm. He took his art training in Brighton Art College. After Belfast, he lived for a period of time in England and then settled in Dublin, Ireland. As can be seen by the books he chooses to illustrate and as he has indicated himself, Ireland, its history and its culture have a continuing significant influence on his work.

Much of Lynch's works are illustrations of traditional tales and Irish legends, though, oddly, the two books for which he is most noted fall into neither category. He works in watercolor and gouache paints and is noted for the realism and accents of detail in his paintings. He is very much a traditionalist, looking to N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, Edmund Dulac, and Arthur Rackham as inspirational influences on his work.

One of the pleasures of Lynch's work is how much detail he packs into his pictures. If you are unfamiliar with his style, take visit to the PJ Lynch Gallery to see some of his work. His realism is not that of a photographic snapshot but rather of an ambience with the realism accentuated by selected details. Lynch will often create an unusual angle of view of a scene that helps move a story along and, which combined with the telling details within the frame of the picture, is what I think make his style so effective.

Lynch spends a great deal of time researching the visual aspects of a story before he ever puts brush to canvas. This research takes the form of discussing with the author, sometimes visiting the locations where the tale is set, researching clothing and architectural styles for the period in which the story occurs, collecting pertinent photographs, etc. This research period along with the act of painting the pictures themselves means that Lynch has been producing about a book a year since his first publication in 1986 (A Bag of Moonshine by Alan Garner.)

The two books for which Lynch is most noted and for both of which he won the Kate Greenaway medal are The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and published in 1995, and When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest and published in 1997.

We were not familiar with Lynch's work at the time, but even so we were fortunate enough to pick up a copy of Jonathan Toomey, the year it was published and it has been a favorite Christmas-time story ever since. Although Toomey and Jessie, are about entirely different subjects, they both are emotional stories that are kept on a tight leash. There is not a lot of gushing but as you read them to your child, like as not, there will be a scene or two where your voice catches. Partly this controlled emotion is attributable to the respective authors, but I think part of it is also a testament to Lynch's visualization of the story and how to make it "work".

If you have not read any of the books illustrated by Lynch, I suggest starting with The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey and then add When Jessie Came Across the Sea. Catkin by Antonia Barber is not currently in print but has always been a favorite among our children. Catkin is told in the style of folktale and is basically a retelling of the Demeter and Persphone myth in an unidentified western European setting. I hope it will be republished soon, but till then, keep your eyes open in your local used book store. After that it kind of depends on your interests. I am inclined towards Oscar Wilde then the Irish folktales and then the Anderson stories but your children are likely to enjoy any of them even if solely for Lynch's beautiful paintings.




Picture Books

East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon by Author, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

Grandad's Prayers of the Earth by Douglas Wood, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

Ignis by Gina Wilson, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

Melisenda by Edith Nesbit, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

Oscar Wilde Stories for Children by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

The Bee-Man of Orn by Frank RIchard Stockton, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Highly Recommended

The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christensen Anderson, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest, illustrated by . J. Lynch Recommended

Independent Reader

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

Tales from Shakespeare by Tina Packer, illustrated by P. J. Lynch Suggested

Bibliography
In order of publication

A Bag of Moonshine by Alan Garner and illustrated by P.J. Lynch
Raggy Taggy Toys by Joyce Dunbar and illustrated by P.J. Lynch
Melisande by E. Nesbit and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Suggested
Fairy Tales of Ireland by William Butler Yeats and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Suggested
East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon translated by George W. Dasent and illustrated by P.J. Lynch
The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Anderson and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Suggested
The Candlewick Book of Fairy Tales by Sarah Hayes and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Suggested
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Suggested
Catkin by Antonia Barber and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Recommended
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Highly Recommended
The King of Ireland's Son by Brendan Behan and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Suggested
When Jessie Came across the Sea by Amy Hest and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Recommended
An ABC Picture Gallery by P.J. Lynch Suggested
Grandad's Prayers of the Earth by Douglas Wood Suggested
The Names upon the Harp: Irish Myth and Legend by Marie Heaney and illustrated by P.J. Lynch
Ignis, by Gina Wilson and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Suggested
The Bee-Man of Orn, by Frank R. Stockton and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Suggested
A Christmas Carol, By Charles Dickens and illustrated by P.J. Lynch Recommended

HMS Victoria

Illustration of H.M.S. Victoria.
Source: Index to late 18th, 19th and early 20th Century Naval and Naval Social History


In last week's mention of Rudyard Kipling's "Soldier an' Sailor too" under the header The Birkenhead Drill, his final stanza mentions the "Victorier."

The HMS Victoria, so named in celebration of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, was a British battleship launched in 1887 and which sank in 1893 in the eastern Mediterranean following a tragic accident arising from miscommunication and obedient adherence to orders even when those orders were suspected to be erroneous.

I read of this incident as a relatively young child, perhaps eight or ten, in one of the first of many anthologies of sea mysteries, tragedies, shipwrecks, etc. which I have read over the years.

Admiral George Tryon commanded a squadron of British ships and was in the process of putting on a display of maneuvers. He had two lines of ships lined up in parallel and instructed that they were to turn in to each other and come around heading in the opposite direction in parallel with one another again, but now much closer together.

His watch officers questioned whether the distances were sufficient for such a maneuver but he dismissed their concerns and they obeyed their orders despite their misgivings.

The HMS Camperdown and the HMS Victoria, leading their respective lines, turned in towards one another. The distances were indeed insufficient and the Camperdown rammed the Victoria with the latter ship sinking within half an hour with the loss of more than half her crew; 358 men including Admiral Tryon who elected to remain at his post saying "It's all my fault."

I had never heard of the Royal Marines playing a particular role in this disaster so am not sure what Kipling is referencing but am guessing that this is the incident (rather than some other HMS Victoria) to which he is referring given that the ballad was written close to the time of the tragedy.

The wreck of the HMS Victoria was discovered by divers three years ago. Uniquely, the ship rests in a perpendicular position above the sea floor as reported at that time in the Cyber Diver News Network.

There is also a memorial to the Victoria in Portsmouth in the UK.

There is also a Wikipedia article on the incident.

A footnote to the sinking is that the one of the survivors was the executive officer, the second-in-command, of the HMS Victoria, John Jellicoe. Jellicoe later became Admiral and commanded the British fleet at the classic clash of battleships, the Battle of Jutland in World War I. Later in the war he became the First Sea Lord of the entire British navy.

The Metaphor by Louis Untermeyer

I have a ten year old in the house learning the elements of language, so this passage seemed especially pertinent when I came across it.

The metaphor is something more than an amusing literary device; it is a continual play of wit, an illuminating double entendre, a nimble magic in which writer and reader conspire to escape reality. Perhaps"escape" is the wrong word - the play of metaphor acts to enrich reality, even to heighten it. The average reader enjoys its intensification so much that he cannot help employing it. "My heart leaps," he says, knowing quite well that it contracts and expands quietly within the pericardium. Or, he declares still more mendaciously but earnestly, "my heart stopod still." Even while he scorns poetry, the ordinary man helps himself to its properties and symbols; his daily life is unthinkable without metaphor. Having "slept like a log," he gets up in the morning "fresh as a daisy" or "fit as a fiddle"; he "wolfs down" breakfast, "hungry as a bear," with his wife, who has a "tongue like vinegar," but "a heart of gold." He gets into his car, which "eats up the miles," steps on the gas, and, as it "purrs" along through the "hum" of the traffic, he reaches his office where he is "as busy as a one-armed paper-hanger with the hives." Life, for the average man, is not "a bed of roses," his competitor is "sly as a fox" and his own clerks are "slow as molasses in January." But "the day's grind" is finally done and, though it is "raining cats and dogs," he arrives home "happy as a lark."

Sea Adventures

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Psalms, 107:23-30, KJV

The ships have gotten bigger and bigger, but there are fewer and fewer people that earn their living from the sea. How many people do you know that travel upon the water for their livelihood? It is sort of like farming; once nearly everyone made their living from the land, but we are down to one or two percent at this point. The jolly tar and salt-sea sailor are endangered species.

If there are fewer people than ever plowing the oceans, still the literature of the sea holds us in its grip. At the moment I am in the process of building a book list, Adventures on the High Sea. I knew there were going to be a lot of good candidate books when I started, but even so I have been taken aback by just how many there are. It seems every time I cast my mind to the list, I have thought of four or five more that I had overlooked.

What is it that holds our fascination so long after we have separated ourselves from the sea other than when we, lemming like, go down to the sea in summer, to wash away some of our city living and reconnect to that ancient body of water?

They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains
the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the most urgent.
D.H. Lawrence "Whales Weep Not!"

Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Perhaps it is the ancestral sea from which we all emerged. It is said that the chemistry of our blood, in its mineral elements, matches that of the sea. Perhaps it is that for so many thousands of years we never strayed far from the shore. For the first twenty thousand years after emerging from Africa, modern man survived by living close to the shoreline, gathering sustenance from land and sea.

We are as near to heaven by sea as by land.
Last words of Sir Humphrey Gilbert (see Thing Finder)

Perhaps it is simply that the sea lends itself to great stories. A tale set at sea combines confined spaces on open waters, hierarchical control of the ship yet at the mercies of the unpredictable elements, the struggle for survival not only against the elements but often against fellow man, and the chance for nobility to be displayed in the face of peril (See Thing Finder for the story of the HMS Birkenhead). And always the peril, the ever-present danger.

No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned. . . . He who would go to sea by choice would go to hell for recreation.
Samuel Johnson in Boswell's Life

A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.
Grace Murray Hopper

A great ship asks deep water.
George Herbert

Herman Melville uses this primeval attraction of the sea at the very beginning of his novel to launch Moby Dick.

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth;
Whenever it is damp, drizzly November in my soul;
Whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing
before coffin warehouse,
And bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet;
And especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me
that it requires a strong moral principal to prevent me
from deliberately stepping into the street,
and methodically knocking people's hats off - then,
I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can

There is plenty of material for a speculative dissertation, but whatever its source, the tie between man and sea still exists, still fascinates. Stories, true and fictional, are still being written. Below is the barest smattering of books to do with the sea. Check out the book list Adventures on the High Sea for a more complete and ever growing list.

Picture Books

Tim and the Brave Sea Captain by Edward Ardizzone

The Little Ships by Louise Borden

Arabella by Wendy Orr

The Edmund Fitzgerald by Kathy-Jo Wargin and illustrated by Gijsbert Van Frankenhuyzen

The Ballad of the Pirate Queens by Jane Yolen and illustrated by David Shannon

Independent Readers

Shipwrecked The True Adventures of Japanese Boy by Rhoda Blumberg

Powder Monkey by Paul Dowswell

The Story of the H.L. Hunley and Queenie's Coin by Fran Hawk and illustrated by Dan Nance

Midshipman Bolithio by Alexander Kent

Young Adult

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D. Hornfischer

Endurance Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

In the Heart of the Sea The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk