Hornblower Fic: Cannon in D, Part 5
Title: Cannon in D
Characters: Bush, Hornblower, OCs, historical people
Warning: None
Note: If only they were mine, but the boys belong to the Hornblower Estate.
************************
Hornblower turned to the gun crews. “Men, I trust you will give that French marshal a show of the gunnery that won Trafalgar and Lissa.”
“Aye, sir. We will, sir,” the sailors replied.
“Though I doubt that the rest of these lubbers would know a carronade from a lemonade,” Hornblower said wryly. The sailors grinned, and one of them cheered, “Good, old Horny! You tell ‘em!” Clearly pleased, Hornblower pretended to ignore him.
“Rifles on deck,” young Gerard called out as a small party of soldiers marched into the courtyard. Moving in perfect step, they formed up in two neat ranks near the timpani.
These were professional soldiers, not tradesmen and farmers turned militiamen. Bush watched them uneasily, but he remembered what Mr. Bennett had said. “Those must be the muskets that Mr. Bennett was talking about,” he told the commodore. “Though I’ll be damned if I recognize their colors.”
“They’re Murat’s troops. That’s the flag of Naples.”
“They’re from the French army?” Bush had to restrain himself from shouting. French soldiers were standing less than ten feet away, and the gun crews were armed with nothing more than knives.
“Some of them are, no doubt,” Hornblower said. “Though now they give their allegiance to Naples and her allies.”
The gun crews scowled at the Frenchmen. A sailor spat on the ground and muttered under his breath, “I say a Frog’s a Frog under any colors.”
“These Frogs are on our side now,” Bush said loudly, though secretly he agreed. “And you are to treat them as our loyal allies, and any man who does not will answer for it. Is that clear?“
“Aye, aye, sir,” the men murmured with little enthusiasm.
“Such are the changing winds of politics, Mr. Bush,” Hornblower said in a low voice. “Today’s enemies are tomorrow’s allies. Murat isn’t the only one here with shifting allegiance.”
Bush nodded. “Russia.” Tsar Alexander was a former ally of Napoleon.
“And don’t forget that the Austrians changed sides to suit their own advantage.“
“The lot of ‘em have less honor than a Kingston whore, sir.” Bush thanked the Almighty that he was a simple sailor who could tell friend from foe. There was never any doubt which way to aim the ship’s cannon.
“Ah, Commodore Hornblower! There you are!” Mr. Bennett hurried up to them, his chest heaving in his flowered waistcoat. “Commodore Hornblower, may I present to you Herr Ludwig von Beethoven, composer to the Austrian Court? I am afraid that you will need to speak up---Herr Beethoven is a trifle deaf.”
“I am honored, sir,” Hornblower shouted, removing his hat and bowing.
Instead of returning the courtesy, Beethoven stared at the guns. “My cannon are here!” he exclaimed in thickly-accented English. Slowly, he walked around one of the eighteen-pounders, peered into the bore, and then patted the barrel. “Good. Very good. And which one of you is the musician?” he asked briskly, looking from Hornblower to Bush.
“I am, sir,” Bush bellowed in the voice that he used when hailing the topmen. "Captain William Bush at your service."
Beethoven pulled a handful of papers from his jacket. “Here is the part for the cannons, Captain.” He handed the papers to Bush. “As you can see, there is nothing…nothing…nothing…then the first violins play “God Save the King” and then right here-“ he stabbed at the page with his finger-“Bang!”
Seized with mad panic, Bush stared at the score. His piano lessons in Chichester had not prepared him for this. The first stave was marked cannone so he guessed that was his part. The notes for the guns were written as small black circles above the top line. Then he realized that, on the second stave, there were cues written in for him to follow. Below the words violino I were the opening measures of “God Save the King.”
“Can you follow the part? There is no time for rehearsal.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Bush shouted into Beethoven's ear.
After the composer had left with Mr. Bennett, Hornblower peered over his shoulder at the score.
“This will be quite easy, sir,” Bush explained. “We just follow the music until the fiddles play 'God Save the King'.” He pointed to the notes and hummed the tune.
Hornblower stared at the page blankly. “Of course.” Bush had forgot that the commodore was utterly tone-deaf. “But you will need to take into account the delay in firing time, Captain.”
“You’re right, sir. I hadn’t thought of that,” Bush replied, and the two of them happily discussed whether to fire the cannon using the flintlock or a timed fuse.
Edit: Hee! I found a facsimile of the score for "Wellington's Victory" and have changed the description of the artillery notation accordingly. There are actually two cannon parts--the French side and the English side, lol, and (given how long it takes to load a cannon) you would have to have a huge artillery section to play this piece.
Characters: Bush, Hornblower, OCs, historical people
Warning: None
Note: If only they were mine, but the boys belong to the Hornblower Estate.
************************
Hornblower turned to the gun crews. “Men, I trust you will give that French marshal a show of the gunnery that won Trafalgar and Lissa.”
“Aye, sir. We will, sir,” the sailors replied.
“Though I doubt that the rest of these lubbers would know a carronade from a lemonade,” Hornblower said wryly. The sailors grinned, and one of them cheered, “Good, old Horny! You tell ‘em!” Clearly pleased, Hornblower pretended to ignore him.
“Rifles on deck,” young Gerard called out as a small party of soldiers marched into the courtyard. Moving in perfect step, they formed up in two neat ranks near the timpani.
These were professional soldiers, not tradesmen and farmers turned militiamen. Bush watched them uneasily, but he remembered what Mr. Bennett had said. “Those must be the muskets that Mr. Bennett was talking about,” he told the commodore. “Though I’ll be damned if I recognize their colors.”
“They’re Murat’s troops. That’s the flag of Naples.”
“They’re from the French army?” Bush had to restrain himself from shouting. French soldiers were standing less than ten feet away, and the gun crews were armed with nothing more than knives.
“Some of them are, no doubt,” Hornblower said. “Though now they give their allegiance to Naples and her allies.”
The gun crews scowled at the Frenchmen. A sailor spat on the ground and muttered under his breath, “I say a Frog’s a Frog under any colors.”
“These Frogs are on our side now,” Bush said loudly, though secretly he agreed. “And you are to treat them as our loyal allies, and any man who does not will answer for it. Is that clear?“
“Aye, aye, sir,” the men murmured with little enthusiasm.
“Such are the changing winds of politics, Mr. Bush,” Hornblower said in a low voice. “Today’s enemies are tomorrow’s allies. Murat isn’t the only one here with shifting allegiance.”
Bush nodded. “Russia.” Tsar Alexander was a former ally of Napoleon.
“And don’t forget that the Austrians changed sides to suit their own advantage.“
“The lot of ‘em have less honor than a Kingston whore, sir.” Bush thanked the Almighty that he was a simple sailor who could tell friend from foe. There was never any doubt which way to aim the ship’s cannon.
“Ah, Commodore Hornblower! There you are!” Mr. Bennett hurried up to them, his chest heaving in his flowered waistcoat. “Commodore Hornblower, may I present to you Herr Ludwig von Beethoven, composer to the Austrian Court? I am afraid that you will need to speak up---Herr Beethoven is a trifle deaf.”
“I am honored, sir,” Hornblower shouted, removing his hat and bowing.
Instead of returning the courtesy, Beethoven stared at the guns. “My cannon are here!” he exclaimed in thickly-accented English. Slowly, he walked around one of the eighteen-pounders, peered into the bore, and then patted the barrel. “Good. Very good. And which one of you is the musician?” he asked briskly, looking from Hornblower to Bush.
“I am, sir,” Bush bellowed in the voice that he used when hailing the topmen. "Captain William Bush at your service."
Beethoven pulled a handful of papers from his jacket. “Here is the part for the cannons, Captain.” He handed the papers to Bush. “As you can see, there is nothing…nothing…nothing…then the first violins play “God Save the King” and then right here-“ he stabbed at the page with his finger-“Bang!”
Seized with mad panic, Bush stared at the score. His piano lessons in Chichester had not prepared him for this. The first stave was marked cannone so he guessed that was his part. The notes for the guns were written as small black circles above the top line. Then he realized that, on the second stave, there were cues written in for him to follow. Below the words violino I were the opening measures of “God Save the King.”
“Can you follow the part? There is no time for rehearsal.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Bush shouted into Beethoven's ear.
After the composer had left with Mr. Bennett, Hornblower peered over his shoulder at the score.
“This will be quite easy, sir,” Bush explained. “We just follow the music until the fiddles play 'God Save the King'.” He pointed to the notes and hummed the tune.
Hornblower stared at the page blankly. “Of course.” Bush had forgot that the commodore was utterly tone-deaf. “But you will need to take into account the delay in firing time, Captain.”
“You’re right, sir. I hadn’t thought of that,” Bush replied, and the two of them happily discussed whether to fire the cannon using the flintlock or a timed fuse.
Edit: Hee! I found a facsimile of the score for "Wellington's Victory" and have changed the description of the artillery notation accordingly. There are actually two cannon parts--the French side and the English side, lol, and (given how long it takes to load a cannon) you would have to have a huge artillery section to play this piece.