Help: Patrick O'Brian's Desolation Island

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: MMario
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 12:15 PM

okay - I don't know the book - but if they sailed under a Letter of Marque - then by common practice and nomenclature they WERE privateers. if without they would be pirates.

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 12:11 PM

"Letter of marque" is the expression we're all struggling for! Let us know the moment you write any more songs, Jed (Liam?).

Steve

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 12:04 PM

Hi, Jed! Nice ballad. What's its name?

I too would strongly suggest reworking the ballad so you can avoid the term "privateer" even if it does rhyme nicely; you'll avoid unnecessary broadsides from the more nautically sophisticated. As I recall "the horrible old Leopard" (be nice to get that line in somewhere) was a fourth-rate, a 50-gun heavy frigate. Good luck!

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: MMario
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 11:01 AM

well - the online dictionaries show that all the words ending in -zaamheid are things like courage, intractibility, sutbborness, fidelity, etc.

bezwaar is "trouble"

"waak"doesn't show in my dictionary as a word or a prefix. it shows only as a suffix in "slovak"

My sense of Waakzaamheid as a name is "DOOM"

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: Les from Hull
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 11:00 AM

I hope that nice Captain Aubrey doesn't hear himself described as a privateer! You'll get a checked shirt at the gangway.

Fine words, though.

Les

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: JedMarum
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 10:47 AM

Well - here are the lyrics:

My name is Liam Devlin,
in Galway I was born
In eighteen hundred seven
to the English Crown I was sworn
I sailed with Captain Aubrey
in the prime of his bold career
A terror to all rival trade
was the English privateer

With Cockney, Moore and Irish lads
We made a handsome crew
Our ship was called the Leopard
And her officers brave and true
Our strength at sea was matched by few
And we made our way without fear
A terror to all rival trade
Was the English privateer

Chorus:
Low moans the wind, the cold Antarctic wind
Low moans the wind, the cold Antarctic wind

'Twas well below the Southern Cross
Bound for Botany bay
With a score of Irish prisoners
And the bounty sacked on the way
"Sail Ho, Sail Ho" the lookout called
three miles off to the larboard side
that's when I feared we'd met our match at last
the Dutchman Waakzaamheid

Chorus

We turned and ran before the wind
In a race straight toward the pole
The Waakzaamheid was thrice our size
And her captain bold as our own
For four longs days we ran from her
'til a mountainous sea rose high
that's when I feared we'd met our match at last
the Dutchman Waakzaamheid

Chorus -Instrumental

The Dutchman closed to a thousand yards
And let her cannon roar
We'd taken damage fore and aft
Captain Aubrey was wounded sore
But with one blessed shot her fore mast smashed
And the Dutchman rolled hard on her beam
And with all brave hands she sank beneath
The cold Antarctic sea.

Chorus

c Jed Marum 2001

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: JedMarum
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 10:39 AM

Oh, Peter T. I know better about the spelling of his name. I guess I'm cross brained today! Sorry about that! thanks for the link.

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: JedMarum
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 10:37 AM

Waakzaamheid?? Hmm, shouldda known! Thanks, MMario. Ok Ducth speakers; what's mean??

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: MMario
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 10:30 AM

Waakzaamheid.

source = http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hfc/pob/aw.html

Subject: RE: Help: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: Peter T.
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 10:18 AM

Not to be too picky, but it is "O'Brian" -- we fans hate the misspelling. Read them all. The earlier ones are better than the later ones, I think. He was a weird cat, made up all kinds of stuff about his life. The premiere Web site is: here.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: Patrick O Briens Desolation Island
From: JedMarum
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 10:11 AM

My father turned me on to a wonderful series of books by English author, Patrick O'Brien. The 19th century historical novels follow the exploits of a ficticious English Captain, Jack Aubrey and his ship's Irish surgeon and Steven Maturin. One of those books, Desolation Island tells the adventure of the very near demise of these two heros and their ship, when they were very nearly destroyed by a Dutch Man-of-War in high seas in the Antarctic. The ducth ship was called, I believe the "Voxenhied" - my question is, since I no longer have the book, and since I have written a song about this encounter is how do yo spell, Voxenheid?? Are there any Patrick O'Brien fans out there in Mudcat land? Does anyone else remeber this marlvelous story?