Give you Joy

Give you joy, and welcome aboard.

I'm not a big reader of fiction but I can read historical fiction and just picked up another novel by Patrick O'Brian set in the era when Britannia ruled the waves. I think it's my 8th in his series of 18 or so.

Everyone has a creative gift in them and I find mine coming out when I read this type of fiction. I'm lost aboard the ship, sails set or guns blazing, lost in the history of an era well past but somehow still resonating inside of me. I love the pictures of leadership, decisive action and duty to the King (King George I think). And I love the language: 'give you joy' is a greeting given to everyone coming on board the vessel.

Interestingly, each Man of War ship had a Parson aboard, charged to see the souls of all the men through, be it to heaven should they perish in battle, or back to their homeland should they survive, without falling into grevious sin in either case. Church was rigged each Sunday on the foredeck where the men turned out in their best suit of clothing, sang hymns and listened to the word preached.

Sailors were incredibly superstitious, believing in such things as the spirit of Jonah which was manifest in a disastrous voyage where the whole ship was imperiled. The 'Jonah' had to be found out and quitely tossed over the side before the Parson could catch you, or, better yet, be convinced to jump over on his own accord.

I hope to meet some of these Parsons in heaven some day. You'll find us sitting down by the docks chatting away while the tall ships sit silent in the harbour. Join in, you'll have lots of time to hear stories from an age where men were perhaps more gallant and certainly more durable. And ready to die for King and country.

Pa