Seafaring Lore and Legend
1st Edition
0071486569
·
9780071486569
© 2007 | Published: January 17, 2007
"A valuable and lively resource. Jeans sorts truth from fiction with a sure hand and does full justice to both."—Peter Stanford, President Emeritus, National Maritime Historical Society“A veritable sourcebook of nautical history, beliefs, and her…
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Acknowledgments
Note to the Reader
Introduction
1. In the Beginning
Great Floods
Moses and the Red Sea
The Rainbow
Maui, Creator of New Zealand
Oceanus
King Neptune
Poseidon
Amphitrite
Aphrodite
Portunus
Castor and Pollux
Nereus
Hero and Leander
Scylla and Charybdis
Manannan, Celtic Sea God
2. Fabled Lands
Pillars of Hercules
Colossus of Rhodes
Ultima Thule
The Hesperides
Tarshish
Taprobane
Distant Ophir
Magnetic Islands
Hy Brasil
Island of Ogygia
Island of Delos
Lemuria, Lost Continent
Lost Land of Lyonesse
3. Legendary Voyages
Sindbad the Sailor
Gulliver’s Travels
Hanno the Navigator
Prince Madoc of Wales
Voyages of Saint Brendan
Voyages of Gil Eannes
Polynesian Seafarers
The Kon-Tiki Expedition
4. Sea Quests of Old
The Argosy
The Argonauts
The Odyssey
Vinland USA
The Northwest Passage
The Great South Land
Moby Dick
5. Maritime History
The British Royal Navy
Naval Salutes
Plimsoll Line
Lloyd’s of London
P&O Shipping Line
Beaufort Wind Scale
6. Nautical Custom
The Bucentaur
Crossing the Line
To Flog a Dead Horse
The Getting of Grog
Traveling POSH
7. Life at Sea
Ocean Waves
Trade Winds
The Sargasso Sea
The Seven Seas
Cape Horn
The Cape Horners
On the Spanish Main
Prize Money
First Rate
Of Knots and Logs
Scurvy
Deep-Sea Diving
Sea Chanties
8. The Captain and His Ship
Ship Types
The Age of Sail
The Clipper Ships
The Windjammers
Christopher Columbus
Lord Anson
Captain James Cook
John Paul Jones
Lord Nelson
9. A Murmuring of Men
The Batavia Wreck and Mutiny
HMS Bounty Mutiny
HMS Hermione Mutiny
Spithead and the Nore Mutiny
The Press Gang
10. Big Ships and Battles
RMS Titanic
HMS Ark Royal
RMS Queen Mary
HMS Dreadnought
The Spanish Armada
The Battle of Copenhagen
The Battle of Jutland
The Sinking of HMAS Sydney
11. Death and Disaster
USS Scorpion
HMS Royal George
The Gilt Dragon
HMS Birkenhead
RMS Lusitania
SS Waratah
The Whaler Essex
The William Brown
Wrecker’s Coast
12. Navigable Waters
The Amazon River
The Panama Canal
The Suez Canal
13. Castaways and Survivors
Robinson Crusoe
Icebound by North
Poon Lim
Herbert Kabat
John Caldwell
Tropic Island Hell
14. At Odds with the Law
Pirates
Buccaneers
Earrings for Cutthroats
Henry Every
William Kidd
Edward Teach (“Blackbeard”)
Anne Bonny
Mary Read
15. Sea Fancies
Mermaids
Sirens
The Lorelei
Selkies
Halcyon Days
King Canute
16. Myth and Mystery
Fabled Atlantis
The Bermuda Triangle
The Flannan Isles
The Flying Dutchman
The Mary Celeste
The Schooner Jenny
USS Cyclops
17. Sea Monsters
Monster Caddie
Captain M’Quhae’s Monster
Haiphong Monster
Monster Kraken
Loch Ness Monster
Rattray Head Monster
Cape Cod Monster
Cape São Roque Monster
Halifax Monster
Whaler Daphne’s Monster
Nahant Beach Monster
Jonah and the Whale
Orcs, Whales, and Leviathan
The Bunyip of the Billabongs
18. Wraiths of the Sea
Capes of Virginia Phantom
Gulf of Saint Lawrence Ghost Ship
Long Island Sound Ghost Ship
New Haven Ghost Ship
Ghosts of Dead Men
The Vikings of Solway Firth
Phantom Pilots
19. Superstition and Belief
Launching a Ship
Coin Under the Mast
Ships’ Names
Ships’ Figureheads
Departures
The Eyes of Her
Guiding Star
The Lodestone
Unlucky Ships
Women Aboard Ship
Whistling Aboard Ship
Ringing Glass Aboard Ship
Sharks Astern
Ship’s Cat
Coffins Aboard Ship
Flowers Aboard Ship
Flags, Bags, Bells, and Rags
Umbrellas Aboard Ship
The Albatross
Our Flat Earth
Saint Elmo’s Fire
Priests Aboard Ship
Ebb Tide
Wren’s Feather
Death by Drowning
Davy Jones’s Locker
Fiddler’s Green
Sources and Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
HMS Bounty Mutiny
HMS Hermione Mutiny
Spithead and the Nore Mutiny
The Press Gang
10. Big Ships and Battles
RMS Titanic
HMS Ark Royal
RMS Queen Mary
HMS Dreadnought
The Spanish Armada
The Battle of Copenhagen
The Battle of Jutland
The Sinking of HMAS Sydney
11. Death and Disaster
USS Scorpion
HMS Royal George
The Gilt Dragon
HMS Birkenhead
RMS Lusitania
SS Waratah
The Whaler Essex
The William Brown
Wrecker’s Coast
12. Navigable Waters
The Amazon River
The Panama Canal
The Suez Canal
13. Castaways and Survivors
Robinson Crusoe
Icebound by North
Poon Lim
Herbert Kabat
John Caldwell
Tropic Island Hell
14. At Odds with the Law
Pirates
Buccaneers
Earrings for Cutthroats
Henry Every
William Kidd
Edward Teach (“Blackbeard”)
Anne Bonny
Mary Read
15. Sea Fancies
Mermaids
Sirens
The Lorelei
Selkies
Halcyon Days
King Canute
16. Myth and Mystery
Fabled Atlantis
The Bermuda Triangle
The Flannan Isles
The Flying Dutchman
The Mary Celeste
The Schooner Jenny
USS Cyclops
17. Sea Monsters
Monster Caddie
Captain M’Quhae’s Monster
Haiphong Monster
Monster Kraken
Loch Ness Monster
Rattray Head Monster
Cape Cod Monster
Cape São Roque Monster
Halifax Monster
Whaler Daphne’s Monster
Nahant Beach Monster
Jonah and the Whale
Orcs, Whales, and Leviathan
The Bunyip of the Billabongs
18. Wraiths of the Sea
Capes of Virginia Phantom
Gulf of Saint Lawrence Ghost Ship
Long Island Sound Ghost Ship
New Haven Ghost Ship
Ghosts of Dead Men
The Vikings of Solway Firth
Phantom Pilots
19. Superstition and Belief
Launching a Ship
Coin Under the Mast
Ships’ Names
Ships’ Figureheads
Departures
The Eyes of Her
Guiding Star
The Lodestone
Unlucky Ships
Women Aboard Ship
Whistling Aboard Ship
Ringing Glass Aboard Ship
Sharks Astern
Ship’s Cat
Coffins Aboard Ship
Flowers Aboard Ship
Flags, Bags, Bells, and Rags
Umbrellas Aboard Ship
The Albatross
Our Flat Earth
Saint Elmo’s Fire
Priests Aboard Ship
Ebb Tide
Wren’s Feather
Death by Drowning
Davy Jones’s Locker
Fiddler’s Green
Sources and Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
"A valuable and lively resource. Jeans sorts truth from fiction with a sure hand and does full justice to both."—Peter Stanford, President Emeritus, National Maritime Historical Society
“A veritable sourcebook of nautical history, beliefs, and heritage. Every true mariner will get lost in this book.”—Boating
Seafaring Lore and Legend is a storehouse of wonders for those who love the sea. From Noah’s Ark to Thor Heyerdahl’s raft, from Atlantis to the Northwest Passage, author Peter Jeans scours the ages and the seven seas for fanciful, inspiring, and bizarre tales of sea monsters, ghost ships, lost continents, castaways, pirates, explorers, superstitions, and customs.
Discover the surprising truths behind:
- The origins of naval salutes and the Beaufort Scale
- Flogging a dead horse and other oddities of nautical custom
- Sea chanties, scurvy, and the hardships of life at sea
- Infamous and noteworthy sea captains and their ships
- Famous wrecks and mutinies
- Mermaids, sirens, and sea nymphs
- Nautical superstitions such as the albatross and Fiddler’s Green
- And much more
This is a book you can open anywhere to savor for a few minutes or an afternoon. But be careful: it's easy to lose track of time at sea.