Inferno (53 page)
Authors: Julian Stockwin
As an aside, the Crown Prince, fleeing with frail King Christian, was stopped by one of Keats's patrols but in a cunning disguise they made it through, an incident I ascribe to Bowden in
Chapter 60
. Even more improbably, the ancient Crown Jewels of Denmark could not be evacuated in time and were successfully hidden in a coffin in the crypt of a church, preserved to this day for visitors to admire in the undercroft of Frederiksborg Castle.
One could be forgiven for thinking that the inhabitants of this charming city, which endured twice at the hands of the British, might set their face against an Englishman, but my experiences when researching this book and in quite another role as a naval liaison officer during the Cold War have been nothing but warm and friendly.
I especially think of Kaptajn Poul Grooss, who very kindly undertook a battlefield tour for me, and Jakob Seerup and Søren Nørby who pointed me in the right directions academically. There was also Marcus Bjørn, who went out of his way to make my path smooth, and Henrik Hey of the superbly preserved Skibsklarerergården, with its archives where ships' masters cleared for the Sound, and Peter Kristiansen at the Rosenborg Castle with his insights into court life at the time.
And never forgetting the larger-than-life retired Danish submarine captain Johan Knudsen, whose reflections sailing under the Orlogsflaget were essential to this tale.
As usual, my sincere appreciation of their efforts must go to my editor at Hodder & Stoughton Oliver Johnson and his team, my agent Carole Blake, and my wife and literary partner Kathy â never forgetting Chi and Ling, our pair of Siamese author cats who run a very tight ship indeed!
barky | affectionate term for ship |
beckets | small lengths of rope used to tidy or secure |
between wind and water | close to the waterline |
block sheaves | the grooved moving part at the interior of a block |
breeks | trousers |
canvas-backing | sleeping in one's hammock |
chinks, a hill of | an impressive pile of coin |
claw dog | two-armed hinged hooking device |
cobbs | generic term for coin, unknown Spanish |
cully | colloquial neutral form of address |
curlicue | flourish of adornment in older forms of calligraphy |
dan-buoy | small buoy used temporarily to mark a position at sea |
dimber | exceptionally fine, admirable |
Exchange | London Stock Exchange |
fanfaronade | swaggering ostentation |
firkling | Scottish; rummaging about as in a pocket |
flamming | fooling |
geggy | Scottish; mouth |
hard a-weather | put the helm down to come perilously close to the wind |
havering | talking to no purpose |
hookum snivey | tricks with hook and line that a burglar uses to lift articles from a house |
jorum | the amount of liquor a large vessel, like a bowl, contains |
juggins | thick-headed low-life |
kiddleywink | Cornish; tavern |
killick | anchor |
knaggy | behaving objectionably |
long bowls | firing at a range where a hit is uncertain; after lawn bowls where jack is at a distance |
lubbardly | acting like a novice |
Manzanilla Pasada | fino sherry |
Ministry of all the Talents | the administration put together following Pitt's untimely death |
mort | a lot |
Mr Vice | vice president of the wardroom; traditionally the most junior officer present |
mucker | close friend on a potentially dirty job |
neats-leather | cowhide treated to make it pliable |
oragious | superlative |
pawky | diminutive |
pennon | long, narrow banner, normally atop a lance |
poxy shicer | diseased and worthless |
puckle-headed loon | fool with vacant expression, like a fish |
put a reef in y'r jawin' tackle | cease talking |
Receiver of Wreck | appointed to ensure the Crown's interest in a salvage |
refulgence | bright quality of light emitted from an object |
rhino | hard coin |
runnel | a thread of water sufficient to flow |
rutter | old style book of sailing directions |
scroat | useless and of no ambition |
shant o' gatter | a quart of good dark ale |
shicer | worthless person |
shoal | water shallow enough to hazard a ship |
skerries | dangerous half-submerged rocks lying just offshore |
small repair | where a ship has no need to enter a dry dock |
stayed traveller | a block free to move along a stay, sifting the point of lift |
strake | one of the lengths of side-planking of a boat or ship |
strop | a spliced circle of rope |
syebuck | common sixpence |
taphouse | common tavern |
threepenny ordinary | cheap meal |
to clap t' your tally | to add to your reputation |
train oil | whale oil; Dutch traan |
trots | piles driven into the river or sea bed to enable vessels to moor |
Ward's drops | patent medicine of doubtful efficacy |
younker | young person |
1773 | Thomas Paine Kydd is born 20 June, in Guildford, Surrey, son of Walter and Fanny Kydd. | Â |
1789 | The Storming of the Bastille, 14 July. | Â |
1793â1794 | Louis XVI executed, 21 January 1793. | Â |
 | France declares war on England; Kydd, a wig-maker by trade, is press-ganged into the 98-gun ship-of-the-line | KYDD |
 | The Reign of Terror begins, 5 September 1793â28 July 1794. | ARTEMIS |
 | Transferred aboard the crack frigate |  |
1795 | The Netherlands is invaded by France, 19 January, and becomes the Batavian Republic. | SEAFLOWER |
 | In the Caribbean, Kydd continues to grow as a prime seaman. |  |
1797 | Battle of Cape St Vincent, 14 February. Mutiny at the Nore, 17 April. | Â |
 | Kydd is promoted to acting lieutenant at Battle of Camperdown, 11 October. | MUTINY |
1798â1799 | Kydd passes exam for lieutenancy; now he must become a gentleman. | QUARTERDECK |
 | From the Halifax station, Kydd and his ship are summoned to join Nelson on an urgent mission. |  |
 | The Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798. | TENACIOUS |
 | Britain takes Minorca as a naval base from Spain, 16 November 1798. |  |
 | Siege of Acre, MarchâMay 1799. |  |
1801â1802 | Prime Minister Pitt resigns February 1801. | Â |
 | Battle of Copenhagen, 2 April 1801. |  |
 | Kydd is made commander of brig-sloop |  |
 | Peace at Treaty of Amiens, 25 March 1802. | COMMAND |
1803 | War resumes 18 May, with Britain declaring war on the French. | Â |
 | Unexpectedly, Kydd finds himself back in command of his beloved | THE ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER |
 | Kydd is dismissed his ship in the Channel Islands station. | TREACHERY |
1804 | Napoleon's invasion plans are to the fore. | Â |
 | May, Pitt becomes Prime Minister again. |  |
 | Napoleon is crowned Emperor, 2 December 1804. | INVASION |
1805 | Kydd is made post-captain of L'Aurore. | Â |
 | The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805. | VICTORY |
1806 | The race to empire begins in South Africa. British forces take Cape Town, 12 January. | CONQUEST |
 | A bold attack on Buenos Aires is successful, 2 July 1806. | BETRAYAL |
 | Effective end of The Fourth Coalition, 14 October 1806. |  |
 | In the Caribbean, the French threat takes a new and menacing form. | CARIBBEE |
1807 | Napoleon tightens his Continental Blockade and moves on the Levant to break out of Europe. | PASHA |
 | Balked of empire by Trafalgar, Bonaparte strikes east and crushes proud Prussia. | TYGER |
 | Crowning his vanquishing of all Europe with treaties at Tilsit, Bonaparte is free to strike at England but is thwarted by a desperate British assault on neutral Denmark. |  |