Tough yarns, vol. 1 (of 2) : $b A series of naval tales and sketches to please all hands, from the swabs on the shoulders down to the swabs in the headBarker, M. H. (Matthew Henry)
General
Tough yarns, vol. 1 (of 2) : $b A series of naval tales and sketches to please all hands, from the swabs on the shoulders down to the swabs in the head
Barker, M. H. (Matthew Henry)
Sea stories, English; Seafaring life -- Fiction
“Well, d’ye see, close upon our quarter came the Trimmer-rare, 98,
and as we hauled up a little, we brought our larboard broadside to
bear upon the great Spanish four-decker;--there, that’s she in the
picture showing her galleries, just by the Victory’s starn:--so we
brought our broadside to bear, and oh, if you had but have seen the
eager looks of the men as they pointed their guns, determined to make
every shot tell,--and a famous mark she was, too, looming out of the
water like Beachy-head in a fog. ‘Stand by,’ says Sam Windsail,
looking along the sight with the match in his hand; ‘stand by, my boy;
so, so,--elevate her breech a bit,--that will do. Now, then, for the
Santizzy-mama-Trinny-daddy, and I lay my life I knock day-light through
his ribs. Fire!’ and the barking irons gave mouth with all their
thunder. A few minutes afterward, and slap we poured another raking
broadside into the Spaniard, and then fell aboard a French seventy-four.
“Well, there, d’ye see, we lay, rubbing together with the muzzles of
the lower deckers touching one another. When our guns were run in for
loading, the ports were instantly occupied by the small-arm men, and
several attempts were made to board the enemy. At this time one of the
Frenchmen kept thrusting at us with a boarding-pike, and pricked Tim
Doyle in the face. ‘Och, the divil’s cure to you,’ bawled Tim; ‘what
do you mane by poking at me in that way. A joke’s a joke, but poking a
stick in a fellow’s eye is no joke, any how; be aisey then, darlint,
and mind your civility.’ As soon as we had fired, in came the pike
agen, and Tim got another taste of it. ‘Och bother,’ said Tim, ‘if
that’s your tratement of a neighbour, the divil wouldn’t live next door
to yes! But faith, I’ll make you come out o’ that, and may be you’ll be
after just paying me a visit.’ So he catches hold of a boat-hook that
was triced up in a-midships, and watching his opportunity, he hooked
Johnny Crapeau by the collar and lugged him out of one port-hole in
at the other, without allowing him time to bid his shipmates good-by.
‘Is it me you’d be poking at, ye blackguard?’ said Tim, giving him a
thump with his fist. ‘Is it Tim ye wanted to spit like a cock-sparrow
or a tom-tit? Arrah, swate bad luck to yes,--sit down and make yer life
aisey; by the powers there’ll be a pair o’ ye presently.’ But Tim was
disappointed, for they let down the lower deck ports for fear we should
board them through the port-holes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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