Faded roses and soiled lilies
I'm hoping to have a review of Burg's Boys a Sea1 up shortly but I thought this quote deserved a little post of its own.
Although noting that the "depraved character" of sailors tends to be over exaggerated Burg quotes Baynham's description of the service as offering a refuge for:
"Highwaymen, burglars, pickpockets, debauchees, adulterers, gamesters, lampooners, bastard-getters, imposters, panderers, parasites, ruffians, hypocrites, threadworn beaux, jack-a-dandies [and] those with their roses faded and their lilies soiled."2
Who cares if it's an exaggeration with language like that!
1. Burg, B. R., (2007), Boys at Sea: Sodomy, Indecency, and Court Martial in Nelson's Navy, Palgrave Macmillan.
2. Baynham, H., (1969), From the Lower Deck: The Old Navy, 1780-1840, Hutchinson, London.
Although noting that the "depraved character" of sailors tends to be over exaggerated Burg quotes Baynham's description of the service as offering a refuge for:
"Highwaymen, burglars, pickpockets, debauchees, adulterers, gamesters, lampooners, bastard-getters, imposters, panderers, parasites, ruffians, hypocrites, threadworn beaux, jack-a-dandies [and] those with their roses faded and their lilies soiled."2
Who cares if it's an exaggeration with language like that!
1. Burg, B. R., (2007), Boys at Sea: Sodomy, Indecency, and Court Martial in Nelson's Navy, Palgrave Macmillan.
2. Baynham, H., (1969), From the Lower Deck: The Old Navy, 1780-1840, Hutchinson, London.