Hi Nigel, thanks for reading and glad you found it fascinating, it was an incredibly interesting piece to research on! Perhaps we can get the painting of the Baffin back in its home one day. Best, Dani
Very interesting and absorbing piece. Reading this took me off on a tangent, and reminded me of a piece of music from the 70's; Nantucket Sleigh Ride, by Mountain. I read many years later, that the title referred to a whaling tragedy, the Whaling ship Nantucket, was once out on a whaling voyage, they spotted a whale and hunted it down, crew members where despatched in a longboat to finish it off .
They speared the Whale, but the Whale was far from dead, and in order to escape from its captors dived under water. Unfortunately for the crew, they got dragged along, caught by the ropes attached to the harpoons, and eventually got dragged down. This tragedy apparently became known as "The Nantucket Sleigh Ride," and was often used in Whaling terms to refer to such a tragedy.
For anyone who might remember the Sunday Politics Programme "Weekend World" back in the 1970's , this was the theme tune to that programme
Thanks for taking the time to read Baz. And what a great tangent, though it is a rather jaunty name for such a tragedy. When I was writing the piece I had to try and steer clear of tangents, though some historical details I was fascinated by (again, if not a bit morbid) was that Moby Dick was inspired by a real white whale nicknamed Mocha Dick and in 1820, a whale ship called Essex was attacked by a sperm whale and the surviving crew had to resort to cannibalism.
Thanks very much for taking the time to comment. Never ever read Moby Dick so obviously only know a few bits about it, so in that sense the article was a bit more enlightening for me. That could take me off on another tangent on one of my favourite drum solos, but I'll leave that for a more appropriate time! :-D
Fascinating account of a forgotten but important piece of Liverpool’s maritime history. Would Hull like to loan our Maritime Museum the painting?
Hi Nigel, thanks for reading and glad you found it fascinating, it was an incredibly interesting piece to research on! Perhaps we can get the painting of the Baffin back in its home one day. Best, Dani
Great piece
Very interesting and absorbing piece. Reading this took me off on a tangent, and reminded me of a piece of music from the 70's; Nantucket Sleigh Ride, by Mountain. I read many years later, that the title referred to a whaling tragedy, the Whaling ship Nantucket, was once out on a whaling voyage, they spotted a whale and hunted it down, crew members where despatched in a longboat to finish it off .
They speared the Whale, but the Whale was far from dead, and in order to escape from its captors dived under water. Unfortunately for the crew, they got dragged along, caught by the ropes attached to the harpoons, and eventually got dragged down. This tragedy apparently became known as "The Nantucket Sleigh Ride," and was often used in Whaling terms to refer to such a tragedy.
For anyone who might remember the Sunday Politics Programme "Weekend World" back in the 1970's , this was the theme tune to that programme
Thanks for taking the time to read Baz. And what a great tangent, though it is a rather jaunty name for such a tragedy. When I was writing the piece I had to try and steer clear of tangents, though some historical details I was fascinated by (again, if not a bit morbid) was that Moby Dick was inspired by a real white whale nicknamed Mocha Dick and in 1820, a whale ship called Essex was attacked by a sperm whale and the surviving crew had to resort to cannibalism.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-true-life-horror-that-inspired-moby-dick-17576/
Thanks very much for taking the time to comment. Never ever read Moby Dick so obviously only know a few bits about it, so in that sense the article was a bit more enlightening for me. That could take me off on another tangent on one of my favourite drum solos, but I'll leave that for a more appropriate time! :-D
Excellent piece, many thanks.