James Anthony Gardner

“ So much for the wisdom of Sir John. What could induce him to think of such a thing was only known to himself. Everyone at first thought it a hoax until they took the trip. I have heard many men say how dearly they liked the West Indies; the heat was so fine and conducive to health. Much good may it do them; and I, for one, shall never envy them taking up their quarters with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
The day before we left Port Royal happened to be sweet May Day and I shall never forget it. The squadron ordered home had to send as many of their stores as they could spare to the dockyard. ”

“ Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me.—Moore. When I was on board the Boreas and Conqueror with my father I had nothing to do with the midshipmen, as I lived in the gunroom of the former and wardroom of the latter. But in this ship I took my degrees (not as a doctor of Oxford, thank God!) but as a midshipman in the cockpit of H.M. ship Panther, with some of the best fellows that ever graced the British navy. I joined her early in 1782 fitting in Portsmouth Harbour, commanded by Captain Thomas Piercy of glorious memory. ”

“ Had the gale continued at south, nothing could have saved us. With a tremendous sea, and breakers at no great distance, there was no chance of reaching the Downs as we could not get round Dungeness; when in a dreadful squall of thunder, lightning, hail and rain, the wind shifted to north or NNW, which is off the land, and blew with the utmost violence. But towards daylight it got more moderate and we stood for the Downs, where we anchored with part of the convoy in a shattered condition, the remainder coming in soon after. ”

“ The day after we arrived at Trapani, near thirty Sicilian clergymen came on board to see the ship, and while on the quarter deck making their observations, Palmer, our fourth lieutenant, in a frolicsome mood, went up to one of them and, while bowing and scraping, said, ‘Pray, sir, were you ever knocked down with a fathom of ——?’ when, to Palmer’s horror and amazement, the other answered in good English, ‘Never in my life, sir,’ and then addressed his companions, who cast their eyes upon Palmer and began to laugh at his expense. ”

“ When we had the command in Torbay, before the arrival of Lord Howe, we exercised great guns and small arms every day, with loosing and furling sails, and it was remarked by the fleet that they never looked at the Barfleur without seeing the men crawling up the rigging ready for some manœuvre and keeping them constantly on the alert. I have absolutely been midshipman in the foretop when the sail has been loosed and furled nineteen times ”

“ But our soldiers were called up and the French were sent below, and not so many allowed to be on deck at a time.
On the passage we were frequently sent as a whipper-in among the convoy. On one occasion, a master of a merchantman was rather slack in obeying the signal and gave tongue when hailed; upon which Captain Wallis sent the first lieutenant and myself to take charge of his vessel. It was in the evening, blowing fresh, with a heavy sea, and we had great difficulty in getting on board; our boat cut as many capers as a swing at a fair, and in returning got stove alongside. ”

“ Jack Barrett (who commanded the Minotaur, 74, when she was lost) was another droll hand, the life and soul of the ship. He was a most worthy fellow and departed this life with the character of a brave and meritorious officer, lamented by a numerous acquaintance. James McPherson Rice, my worthy messmate, thou art also gone. A most excellent fellow, a great mathematician, well read, and respected by everyone that knew him. ”

“ One of the commissioners (Harmood) was an intimate friend of my father’s; and Sir Samuel Marshall, the deputy comptroller of the navy, was a particular friend of Admiral Parry, my mother’s uncle. To these I was recommended; but notwithstanding I could not get the better of my dread, until Commissioner Harmood, after a few questions had been put to me, said, ‘I think we need not ask any more.’ Captain Clayton, another of the commissioners, in reply said, ‘I shall merely ask one question more. You have a close-reefed main topsail set, blowing a gale of wind; you cannot carry it. ”

“ In the calendar stands Saint Bryan O’Lynn. I have left out four verses as being rather out of order. I have heard the old gunner sing this when the sea has been beating over the forecastle and the ship rolling gunwale under. We used to get a tarpaulin in the weather fore rigging as a screen, and many a pleasant hour have I passed under its lee, with a glass of grog and hearing long-winded stories. Alas! how dead are times now. Captain Wallis behaved very kindly to me. ”

“ His own boat went down with the ship. It was a sad sight to see the dead bodies floating about Spithead by scores until we sailed. The poor admiral and several officers were never found. Captain Waghorn (the admiral’s captain) was saved and tried by a court martial and acquitted. God knows who the blame ought to light on, for blame there must have been somewhere, for never was a ship lost in such a strange and unaccountable manner. ”

“ His lordship soon after made the signal to bear up and sail large through the Gut, it not being his intention to engage until clear of the Straits. The enemy’s fleet stood after us with every sail they could pack. It was a very beautiful sight to observe the evolutions of the two fleets and a fair trial of who could sail best. I well remember the Victory, Edgar, Raisonnable, and Royal William, with their topsails on the cap, running ahead of some with topgallant sails set. Our old ship, once called the Flying Panther, would have out-sailed any of them, had her masts not been altered. ”

“ We had a rugged-headed, squint-eyed boatswain’s mate, who early one morning passed the word for all those who were quartered on the main deck to come below and fight the lower-deck guns. He was instantly obeyed, and the people of their own accord were absolutely going to bring the French 74 to action, and the above boatswain’s mate as the head of the party was in the act of setting the example, when the second lieutenant snatched the match out of his hand just as he was going to fire. ”

“ For haste, the proverb says, makes waste. And so it happened; for a little before six, when he was within gunshot, the greedy fellow let another reef out of his topsails, and just as he had them hoisted, away went his fore yard, jib-boom, fore topmast and main topgallant mast. The other line-of-battle ship was hull down astern. The chase lasted twelve hours, during which time we ran near forty leagues. Shortened sail and wore ship, and as we passed to windward, we counted fifteen ports of a side on his lower deck. ”

“ But the very serious objection to such practices on board ship was that—as is now common knowledge—the most inveterate practical joker is the most annoyed when the tables are turned and he himself is made the victim of the joke; that quarrels are certain to arise, which, in a small society and among armed men, are both dangerous in themselves and detrimental to the service. ”

“ After pulling in the boat thirteen miles, I had to walk seven miles on a wild goose chase, for we never heard anything more of the runaways; and the wind shifting, we had to pull all the way back to Yarmouth. Before I close my account of the Orestes, I must say a word or two respecting Lieutenant Jeynes (letting the law of Solon sleep for a day) . He was without exception the most cold-blooded and bad fellow I ever met with. I have seen him thrash the men with the end of a rope in the most unfeeling manner, until he was tired, making use of the most abusive language ”

“ We led a very lazy life at Spithead for several months, and it was expected we should strike upon our beef bones, as we never shifted our berth. We had nothing to do but row guard and go for fresh beef. Captain Bourmaster lived at Tichfield, and if anything particular happened a boat was sent with a midshipman to Hellhead or near it with the orders. On one occasion Mr. S——s, a midshipman, was dispatched in the cutter and took some of the boat’s crew with him to Tichfield. On their return, passing by a farmyard, a flock of ducks and geese began to quack and hiss at them. ”

“ They called repeatedly, but got no answer from Webb, who was making off in terror and dismay; and what alarmed him more was hearing the men say, ‘D’ye see him now? Where the hell can he be got to? He must be hereabouts.’ At last he got out of the mud and set off for Chatham in a nice pickle, and told his tale; but the boat had arrived before him and the men in great tribulation had given their version, being fearful of prosecution, expecting that Webb was smothered or drowned; and glad enough they were when he arrived at Chatham and also to join in the laugh against him. ”

“ When I got on board our men were in a state of mutiny, and every ship at Spithead and St. Helen’s the same. I had the first watch that night, and the master relieved me at twelve, and everything seemed quiet; but about three bells in the morning watch I was sent for by the captain, and on my coming on deck I found the ship’s company assembled there and the captain, in the most impressive manner, requesting them to return to their duty, but all to no purpose. Had we been the only ship, we should soon have driven the scoundrels to the devil ”

“ Looking down the lists of old shipmates and messmates, the eye is necessarily caught by the frequency of such entries as ‘too fond of grog,’ ‘did not dislike grog,’ ‘passionately fond of grog,’ ‘a drunken Hun,’ a term of reprobation as a bully, rather than as a drunkard, ‘fond of gin grog,’ ‘mad from drink,’ ‘insane from drink,’ and so on, passim. For the officer of the watch to be drunk scarcely called for comment; it was only when, in addition to being drunk, he turned the captain out at midnight to save the ship, that he narrowly escaped being brought to a court martial ”

“ And one bright waste hides all the works of men;
The circling seas, alone absorbing all,
Drink the dissolving fleeces as they fall.—Iliad. In such a season as the above I arrived at Hastings on the 30th of January 1806. I was appointed to the station by Lord Garlies, one of the lords of the admiralty, who behaved to me in the kindest manner. After waiting on Captain Isaac Schomberg, who superintended the Sea Fencibles from Beachy Head to Dungeness, I proceeded to join my station about three miles to the eastward of Hastings. ”

“ We had several French emigrants on board who were in the greatest tribulation for fear of being taken; and fortunately for them and for us the Jacobin squadron got on the wrong scent. I don’t know how it happened, but some people kept an odd kind of reckoning, and we had some idea of making the banks of Newfoundland instead of the British Channel. However, at last we got to the northward and westward of Scilly, with the wind at SW; but it must be understood, to give the devil his due, that we had not an observation for a long time, and our dead reckoning was not to be trusted ”

“ Of one only does he speak bitterly; it is Edward Hamilton (p. 172) , whose celebrated recapture of the Hermione might induce us to suspect that Gardner was merely expressing the spleen roused by the loss of his kit, did we not remember that, at this time, Hamilton was only 23, and that he was but 30 when his active career was brought to a premature end by a court martial dismissing him the service for cruelty and oppression. It is true that he was specially reinstated six months later, but he never afterwards commanded a sea-going ship, nor, as an admiral, did he ever hoist his flag. ”

“ But there are certainly many of our older officers who would say that a sound and intelligent knowledge of history is more likely to be profitable to the average captain or admiral than the most absolute familiarity with the processes of the differential or integral calculus. ”

“ A quartermaster’s wife and three others jumped out of one of the lower-deck ports into this boat, and casting off the painter pulled away for the hospital beach as well as any bargemen, leaving their husbands to take care of themselves.
August the 29th, one of our fleet, the Royal George, 100, Rear-Admiral Kempenfelt (blue at the mizen) , being on a careen, to the astonishment of every person upset at Spithead, and more than two 24thirds of her crew drowned, and among the number that brave and meritorious officer Admiral Kempenfelt, a man that has never been surpassed as an able tactician. ”

“ We kept the crew as part of our ship’s company, but they contrived to desert at different times with the exception of four.
I well remember while lying in Dublin Bay, and being at breakfast with Captain Lee, in course of conversation he observed that the four remaining smugglers were the best men in the ship and that he was very proud of them. He had hardly made the observation when the officer of the watch reported that the jolly boat was missing; the hands were immediately turned up to muster, when it was found that the four worthies had set off in the boat, when or where nobody could tell. ”

“ We had also to be constantly on the watch to give notice in case of smugglers being on the coast, and to prevent prisoners of war making their escape from the vicinity of our station, a signal for that purpose being made from one post to another; so that we had no relaxation from duty except in a thick fog, which sometimes would take place for nine or ten days together, during which time we had only to walk round the cliffs and along the seashore. I have heard many say that a signal station was an easy berth, and only fit for old and worn-out officers. ”