Tag: sea

A hellish monster from the deep

The poulpe colossal – don’t try catching this one!

I’ve been very entertained this week by this illustration from a book called Strange Sea Mysteries, published in 1926 and written by a chap called Elliott O’Donnell.

The preface is good too, and just the thing to read to children on a dark winter night:

‘In compiling this volume of unpleasant happenings connected with the sea great care has been taken to select those only that are authentic.’  July 1, 1926

The chapters include ‘The massacre on board the E A Johnson‘, ‘The Ship of Strange Smells’, ‘The Ramsgate Mystery’ and ‘The Great’The Corpse Box of Hell Gate’. Oooo-errr! I can’t find any copies at ABE Books but I’d guess that one is likely to turn up some day – and if you do it might make a good book to read out loud when afloat late one night…

These tales may be entertaining at this distance in time, but I wonder how many of these stories were real tragedies in someone’s life? Does anyone know?

[ad name=”link-unit-post-bottom”]

The concertina at sea

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Dan Worralll article Concertinas at sea

This weekend I was lucky to meet Dan Worrall, an anglo concertina player from Texas who has written a series of fascinating articles about the instrument.

His latest paper examining the widely-held perception that the instrument has a strong connection with sailors is required reading for those of us with an interest in sea songs and music!

For some years there has been a widely held view that the ‘tina-playing sailor was a myth – they might bring a concertina bought on the quayside home as a present, but they would be impractical instruments on a boat because steel reeds would be subject to corrosion. With no real evidence to work from, I tended towards this view myself.

However, from the evidence Dan has found, it turns out that sailors in times past did play concertinas. In a way, that should be no surprise when one considers the limited options sailors have had for entertainment during their precious leisure hours at sea – ask a ex-merchant navy seaman over fifty years old who remembers voyages made before video players were widely available, and he’ll usually tell you how important music making was on board ship.

That being so, then why shouldn’t an instrument as popular as the anglo concertina in the late 19th and early 20th centuries be an important part of the music-making scene on board ship, if a way can be found of keeping the instrument dry? After all, many types of instruments are susceptible to damage from damp and salt, not least the fiddle.

For shanties and other sea songs, see Stan Hugill’s books at ABE Books

[ad name=”link-unit-post-bottom”]

Ripples in a glassy sea, buoys leading far away – serene backgrounds for busy computers

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Sky reflected on seawater photographed by Gavin Atkin

Sky reflected on seawater photographed by Gavin Atkin

Sailing out of Oare Creek into the Swale yesterday my pal Jim and I had some splendid sailing during the morning, and then a glassy calm in the afternoon brought some striking light – so I pulled out my digital camera and took a few shots.

I hope these may appeal to some of you as potential wallpapers for your computers. If you’re a PC user, I think it should be possible to open the big image by clicking on the small photo, and then to set it as your desktop by pressing the right-hand mouse button, and then setting the picture to either centre, or to stretch. Good luck.

Buoys in the Swale photographed by Gavin Atkin

Buoys in the Swale, photographed by Gavin Atkin