A character sketch of Lieutenant William Bush

[anteros_lmc]

I'm currently reading a book that nodbear passed on to me by Anthony Price called The Eyes of the Fleet: A Popular History of Frigates and Frigate Captains, 1793 - 1815. Price has the most infuriatingly convoluted writing style but it's an interesting read, if a little idiosyncratic. One of the odder features of the book is that Price insits on treating

Comments

[eglantine_br]

I think he is a little too harsh. Bush was never slow, he was just not very introspective. He was, of course honest and modest. But so was Horatio.

[anteros_lmc]

I absolutely agree. Bush has hidden depths and abilities that Price fails to either notice or appreciate.

[eglantine_br]

Including his flair for decorating!

[anteros_lmc]

Well yes indeed! That is a serious omission on Price's part. Hornblower may have had luck, interest and talent on his side but did he have an eye for interior design? No, he did not.

[ashley_pitt]

Bush is solid, not stupid or slow. And I think he realized( without any apparent jealousy) that he was best suited to be the brawn and Hornblower the brains.

Gee, I hadn't heard of his flair for decorating,

[anteros_lmc]

I agree. I have never regarded Bush as being stupid, even if Hornblower seems to think he is!

I hadn't heard of his flair for decorating,
Oh yes!

"Most captains curtained - and furnished - their cabins with gay chintz, or even, if wealthy, with damask, but these curtains were of canvas. They were of the finest, No. 8, sailcloth to be found in the ship and had only hung there for the last two days. Hornblower thought about this pleasantly, for they had been a present to him from the wardroom; Bush and Prowse, and the surgeon, Wallis, and the purser, Huffnell, had made the presentation after a mysterious request from Bush that they should be allowed to enter his cabin for a moment in his absence. Hornblower had returned to the cabin to find the deputation there and the cabin transformed. There were curtains and cushions - stuffed with oakum - and a coverlet, all gay with red and blue roses and green leaves painted on with ship's paint by some unknown artist in the ship's company."

:D

[_likimeya]

I wonder if Anthony Price might not be the pen name of Major Cotard. XD

[anteros_lmc]

By jove! You might just be on to something there!

[eglantine_br]

I have been thinking about it. i think I know what Bush's most special quality is. He can see the good qualities in others and appreciate them-- as you say, without jealousy. He is happy when Horatio gets promoted. He is able to be the third friend to the A and H pairing, without feeling any desire to intrude. WB just proceeds at being himself. He does what he thinks is best at each moment, without Horatio's Eyore-ish self-doubt, or Archie's gentle and self-mocking sorrow. Bush is pure.

[anteros_lmc]

Yes, that's a very astute assessment of Bush's character. And I'll tell you another talent that he has that Hornblower lacks....Bush has the ability just to be happy.

[vespican]

My first thought was that this guy must not have read (or watched) the espisodes concerning RENOWN, Bush and Hornblower. Unless my memory is faulty, a very likely condition, Bush was second (not third) in both versions. Hornblower was third in film and fifth in print. Book wise, I think it was Roberts and Smith as third and fourth, or vice versa. In film of course, Kennedy was fourth. So I wonder how accurate an assessment one can give of a character is he isn't sure of what position he holds aboard ship.

BTW, Parkinson's Life and Times of HH is written as if Hornblower was a real individual, complete with supposed documentation and pictures. Reading it makes one wonder.
Dave

[anteros_lmc]

I had to look this up, as I have to confess I hadn't a clue what ranks Bush and Hornblower held in Lieutenant Hornblower! Here you go:

Buckland - first
Roberts - second
Bush - third, July '96
Smith - fourth, January '97
Hornblower - fifth, August '97

Price makes several other errors though, including referring to the Comte de Graçay as Comte de Garcay, and I spotted one or two small historical errors too.

[vespican]

Well, I did mention the condition of my memory!
Dave

[anteros_lmc]

Heh, mine too! I hadn't a clue what rank they all held before looking this up!