A close look at the Queen Mary in Long Beach shows that this is the step that Disney omitted.Originally Posted by brian daley
Even at the deck levels you could see that they just painted over the rust. Luckily I don't think it can sink since there is only a foot or two under the keel IIRC.
This was a few years ago, but I'm sure it hasn't got any better recently - such a shame.
Please forgive the quality of these pictures,I had a hell of a job lifting them from a 74 year old magazine called Shipping Wonders of the World.
The first picture is of the Orient liner Orion ,built in 1935 for the Australian Mail and passenger service, a classic looking ship.
Next we have a Harrison liner ,the Inanda. She was built in 1925 for service to Natal,hence the Zulu name. She was transferred to the West Indian run and was registered in Liverpool.
Thirdly we have a(then) modern motor Tramp ship,the Sutherland. Built in 1935 and registered in Newcastle,this type of vessel was built by the mile and cut off by the yard,very popular with Tramp ship companies.
Next is a good looking Shaw Savill and Albion liner,the Waiwera,shje was built in 1934 for the New Zealnd meat trade ,perhaps some old salts out there could fill us in about their fate during WW2.
Finally, we have a great Canadian Pacific liner, the Empress of Japan. Built in 1930 for the Vancouver and the Far East run. She looks every inch an Empress !!
BrianD
When Liverpool was the second greatest city in the Empire and the port was the second greatest in the world, there was a great demand for seamen to man the vessels. There were no national sea schools back then in the 19th century and some unscrupulous boarding house masters helped to fill this void. One of the most famous ,or, should I say,notorious ,was a man called Paddy West. There are so many tales atttached to this man and his wife about his "sea school" and the the money he made from getting crews for the ships that no sane or experienced sailor would touch ith a barge pole. One sea shanty tells of an innocent at large,
"Oh, as I wuz a-rollin' down Great Howard Street,
I strolled into Paddy West's house;
He gave me a plate of Am,erican hash , an' swore that it wuz English scouse;
Sez he,"Look 'ere young feller,ye're very jist in time,
To go away in a big clipper ship,an' very soon ye'll sign.
Paddy boasted that he could turn any landlubber into a fully fledged Able Seaman in just a matter of days.
His house was usually full of bums and stiffs taking advantage of the low fees for lodging. When he thought that they had worn out their welcome he would start their "tuition" so that he could get them signed on an outward bounder. first he would get the candidate used to deep sea fare,dressing him in clean dungarees,
with a nice rope yarn for a belt.
Practise in stowing sails came next,Paddy would send them up to the attic to furl the "main royal", or rather the window blind. More seamanship was acquired in the backyard,where Paddy had a ship's wheel rigged up. The apprentice had to stand by the wheel, and before he had spun it around twice,Paddy's wife, Maggie Ann,would have thrown a bucket of water over him- his baptism by a cold nor' wester. Next the rube was called into the "passage" ,where he would have to step over a piece of string , before entering the parlour,or front room. Here on the table stood a cows horn, around which he was ordered to march.
Paddy explained that this ritual was so that when the mate of the outward bounder asked our new made sailor to what parts of the world he had sailed ,the candidate could honestly answer that he had "crossed the line and been round the Horn ten times" Paddy would warn them not to say it was a cow's horn.
Then the potential sailor was handed the papers of some real sailor who had been knifed or bludgeoned in a drunken brawl.
Paddy would then give the new A.B. a sea chest full of second hand gear, and **** near useless it was too,he put in carpet slippers but no sea boots,"Must'nt damage dem nice wooden decks Bhoy!"
Of course Paddy did'nt do this out of the goodness of his heart, he made sure that the new sailor got an advance note on his first months pay ,which went into Paddy West's pocket.
A lot of sailormen from the recent past could tell you many tales of advance notes,.but the crimps and the shanghai men had long passed into history by the time our old sailormen arrived on the scene,
BrianD
I came across this yarn years ago when I picked up a book by that great old Cape Horner and Shantey Man ,Stan Hugill,the last time I saw him was when he led the singing at the Farewell to the Tall ships in the '80's.
I have dug out the words to the shanty Paddy West, I don't have the music but I think the Spinners recorded it
Paddy West
As I was walkin' down London Street,
I come to Paddy West's house,
He gave me a dish of American hash;
He called it Liverpool scouse,
He said "There's a ship and she's wantin' hands,
And on her you must sign,
The mate's a *******, the captain's worse,
But she will suit you fine."
Chorus:
Take off yer dungaree jacket,
And give yerself a rest,
And we'll think on them cold nor'westers
That we had at Paddy West's.
2. When we had finished our dinner,
Boys, the wind began to blow.
Paddy sent me to the attic,
The main-royal for to stow,
But when I got to the attic,
No main-royal could I find,
So I turned myself 'round to the window,
And I furled the window blind.
Chorus:
3. Now Paddy he pipes all hands on deck,
Their stations for to man.
His wife she stood in the doorway,
A bucket in her hand;
And Paddy he cries, "Now let 'er rip!"
And she throws the water our way,
Cryin' "Clew in the fore t'gan'sl, boys,
She's takin on the spray!"
Chorus:
4. Now seein' she's bound for the south'ard,
To Frisco she was bound;
Paddy he takes a length of rope,
And he lays it on the ground,
We all steps over, and back again,
And he says to me "That's fine,
And if ever they ask were you ever at sea
You can say you crossed the line."
Chorus:
5. To every two men that graduates,
I'll give one outfit free,
For two good men on watch at once,
Ye never need to see,
Oilskins, me boys, ye'll never want,
Carpet slippers made of felt,
I'll dish out to the pair o' you,
And a rope yarn for a belt.
Chorus:
6. Paddy says "Now pay attention,
These lessons you will learn.
The starboard is where the ship she points,
The right is called the stern,
So look ye aft, to yer starboard port
And you will find northwest."
And that's the way they teach you
At the school of Paddy West.
Chorus:
7. There's just one thing for you to do
Before you sail away,
Just step around the table,
Where the bullock's horn do lay
And if ever they ask "Were you ever at sea?"
you can say "Ten times 'round the Horn"
And Be Jesus but you're and old sailor man
From the day that you were born.
Chorus:
Put on yer dungaree jacket,
And walk out lookin' yer best,
And tell 'em that you're an old sailor man
That's come from Paddy West.
If anyone out there is interested in the tales of Shanghaiing and Liverpools murkier past ,please let me know and I can put up some more tales,
BrianD
Here's the YouTube Clancy Brothers version, Brian
Thanks a million Oddsocks, now I know the tune I will be able to practise and then get out busking while the good weather lasts,
BrianD
Fiddlers Green
In every major port the world over there were places that sailormen frequented and where there every need was catered for, after months at sea they were both thirsty and needful of feminine company. Liverpool’s Fiddlers Green was large ,it was to be found down Paradise Street and St Johns Street ,along Castle Street, around St Georges Church in Derby Square and in Brunswick Street. An army of prostitutes infested these thoroughfares as far as Exchange Flags and Rumford Street. The customers of these “Liverpool Judies” ,were ,in the main, sailormen. “The Liverpool; Judies have got us in tow..” was the chorus of a popular capstan song in the old days . They would accompany the drink befuddled sailors down to the docks to say goodbye to them as they sailed ,standing on the quayside yelling bawdily, as they lifted their many coloured petticoats with obscene gestures ; “Take a good look Johnny,it’ll be a long time afore yez’ll see anudder wan!!”
Around Strand Street,the Goree Piazza’s, and Back Goree, under the arches, was another hangout of these “ business girls” ; after dark they used arches as a public brothel. A lot of the “painted ladies” frequented most of the low class ,gas lighted concert-halls and theatres that Jack ashore visited. There were dance halls ,too ,such as the the Hops ,near the Teutonic Hotel ,where in the 1850’s,a sailor would dance the new fangled polka with some painted doll before going to her louse bound crib in some back jigger close by. Theatres and concert-halls fraternised by the seafaring class were Henglers Circus, where a cheap “drunk was to be had by imbibing some “rational gas”. Waitresses would circulate among the drinkers carrying goats bladders that were inflated with “laughing gas” ,two old pennies would give them a draught strong enough to make them high , a second draught would render them unconscious, and terrible things could happen to Jack ashore when he was hors de combat .Liverpool could be dangerous for the unwary!
To be continued
Liverpool Judies,
From Liverpool to 'Frisco a-rovin' I went,
For to stay in that country was my good intent.
But drinkin' strong whiskey like other **** fools,
Oh, I soon got transported back to Liverpool, singin'.
Chorus:
Roll, roll, roll bullies, roll!
Them Liverpool judies have got us in tow.
2. A smart Yankee packet lies out in the Bay,
A-waitin' a fair wind to get under way.
With all of her sailors so sick and so sore,
They'd drunk all their whiskey and can't get no more.
Chorus:
3. Oh, here comes the mate in a hell of a stew.
He's lookin' for work for us sailors to do.
Oh, it's ``Fore tops'l halyards!'' he loudly does roar,
And it's lay aloft Paddy, ye son-o'-a-*****!
Chorus:
4. One night of Cape Horn I shall never forget,
'Tis oft-times I sighs when I think of it yet.
She was divin' bows under with her sailors all wet,
She was doin' twelve knots wid her mainskys'l set.
Chorus:
5. And now we are haulin' way on to the Line,
When I thinks of it now, sure, we had a good time.
Them sea-boys box-haulin' them yards all around
For to beat that flash packet called the Thatcher MacGowan.
Chorus:
6. And now we've arrived in the Bramleymoor Dock,
And all them flash judies on the pierhead do flock.
The barrel's run dry and our five quid advance,
And I guess it's high time for to git up and dance.
Chorus:
7. Here's a health to the Captain wherever he may be,
A bucko on land and a bully at sea,
But as for the chief mate, the dirty ol' brute,
We hope when he dies straight to hell he'll skyhoot.
Again ,my thanks to Stan Hugill ,from whom I learned these tales,
BrianD
A seafaring song from an Australian lad named Reg Kear
This lad was a true Seaman, and he brings back all those memories we may have forgotten , all the words we used and the things we did. He certainly knows what he is talking about.
I think he is the Best one. He is...........
Reg Kear of: Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia
Sea Shanty Audio version at the bottom of this page....Sea Shanty.mp3
SEA SHANTY
There was Port and there was Starboard,But they used to call Port: Larboard.And the two dogs on the fo'csle held the chain.Then there's For'd and there's Aft Which is (from A'beam,) A'baft, And the Mizzen never stands A'fore the Main.There were Farmers (without pigs,) A-rabs, Lascars, Schooner Rigs, Lots of (right hand,) feeding after Ramadan.There was Panama and Mokes, And a mob of red eyed blokes From the 12 to 4 Watch, eyeing the Blackpan. You could Heave To, Broach, Careen,Two of fat and one of lean Hungry Harrisons' (from out of Liverpool.) Or 'buff with black on top 'Where the Bosun's name was Bop, And both his thumbs were Fids, (a splicing tool.) You could 'Stand By' or 'Turn To'Take the Trick from twelve til two 'Rig a Jumbo or just Holystone the Deck; Chippin'ammer 'cross the Atlantic, Whitelead'n'tallow the Triatic, Watch the Stemhead break the ice up near Quebec. There were Tabnabs, there was Scouse,Scuppers, Bulwarks, a Wheelhouse, And drums were lashed A'baft the Lazerette. You could 'Skin Out' of a Tanker,Paint the Truck a'top the Spanker, Soogie Funnels, hung on Gantlines, Fleet by Fleet.You could 'Sign On' and 'Pay Off',Turn your head away and cough; Get the 'Channels' when the orders were Lands End. Shackle to a Samson Post, Blame the Liverpool Man's Ghost, Or there's always an Allotment you could send. There were Ratlines and Crosstrees, No Blue Jeans, just Dungarees; Fifteen hundred 'Girls' for hire down in Recife. There were 'Plummers' down the 'Mouth', One of Ropner's heading south, Where the mail would go ashore at Tenerife.There were Shifting Boards and Dunnage And you knew the average tonnage Of a Port Boat, steaming by at Fifteen Knots. The Welsh Donkeyman from Hants And the slack in Trimmer's pants, And the 4 to 8 Watch, stinking in their cots. Shonky Bum Boats at Port Said, Gun'ls, Gimbals and Redlead; Roaring Forties, Round the Horn and Abadan.There were Palm and Needle Whippings, Lots of Mother Carey's chickens, And a Fine Bone China Tea Set, from Japan. There were Doxfords and Twin Screws, And the strangest looking stews Came from Galleys' where the cook was often called Names that questioned if his Dad Had been married, or just mad, Or just needed all his tackle overhauled. The Red Duster, Carrick Bend,Take a turn on the Drum End; Starboard Helm, now, Steady As She Goes. Port Side Bitts, Pacific Swells, 1 to 6 HEAVE, Seven Bells; Get that Stopper on, LOOK LIVELY ON YOUR TOES. Stockholm Tar and Cleaning Tanks, Liberty Ships and Dogger banks, Shifting Ship round to the Royal Edward Dock. Monkey's Fist, Splice with the Lay, First and Last, Logged two day's pay ,Last Pierhead Jump before She's through the Lock.Hatchboards, Coamings, Bosun's Chair,Bowsed right in under the Flare,New Year's 16 Bells (in Denmark's Esbjerg Sound.)Mouse that Hook and Masthead Light,Malacca Straits, Australian Bight,Sixteen Indian Rupees to the Pound.Oakum, Sextant, Fo'csle Head;Maracaibo, Swing the Lead;Drop the Pilot, Single Up and Spit a'lee.Capstan Full Strength, On the Rake,Sounds that sailors used to make;Merchant Seamen's sounds that floated on the sea.All these strange sounds; now they're gone;Merchant Seamen lost their song;The Iron Ships rust; the Wooden Men quietly gaze,Reminiscing in their beer,"Remember: Elson...Hopton...Kear...??""I wonder what they're doing, now-a-days."Reg Kear © 1992. AustraliaAttached Files Sea Shanty.mp3 (1.60 MB, 13 views)
That was wonderful Brian, a sailors life in one short passage.The man was a poet, was it ever recorded ?
BrianD
it is recorded, I am trying to find the Link.
Seaman_sPoem.mp3
Seaman_sPoem
I cant get it to work Brian. spent all day on it. I click onit at home but it does not transferr to here.
It is really good and it is to music.
The Henglers
As many of you Yo! Regulars will know, the Hippodrome theatre was once known as, Henglers Circus . My mother’s maiden name was Hengler and her family was Walton based.
I did not discover the Circus /theatrical connection until the middle of the 1950’s when I was watching the programme ,This Is Your Life, on the BBC. That was back in the days when Eamonn Andrews was the host. His subject that night was the ,then ,oldest working British actor,A.E. Matthews.
It was just another programme for me until Eamonn told the viewers that “Matty” ,as he was fondly known, had started out his life in show business working as a stable boy at Henglers Circus ,which was now The London Palladium. I near fell off my chair because the name was very uncommon ,apart from my close relatives ,there were no other Henglers in Liverpool.
The provenance of the name seemed to be “forgotten” ,so that night I asked my mother if there was a connection to the circus family. She was very vague in her answer, she said “ Could be son,I don’t really know.”
The next time I saw the name was in an Edwardian photograph of an old London tramcar, the advert that was on the side of the tram was for Henglers Circus. So,the mystery started to intrigue me , this was in the age before the internet and my researches were limited to asking mums siblings what they knew “not very much” was the answer. My Uncle Bill had the same streak of curiosity, he had looked for more Henglers in Phone books when he was in other towns. His job as a lorry driver took him all over the country, and he drew blanks wherever he went. One day he had to deliver a grand piano to the Shakespeare theatre , it was for the Hengler Brothers ,a duetting act. When he delivered the intrument ,he sought out the Brothers Hengler to ascertain if they were related. It turned out they were from Poland and they had picked the name Hengler from an old circus advert, they thought it was easier for advertising than their real names which was very hard for non Poles to pronounce; another dead end.
When they started to knock down the Hippodrome in the 70’s ,the original façade was exposed for the first time in near 50 years, there was a roundel upon which was the legend “Henglers Circus”
An enterprising reporter from the Liverpool Echo sought out my Uncle Bill and did a little feature ,it gave the history of Henglers Circus ,the family came from Denmark during the building of Liverpool in the 19th century. The docks ,railways and canals were all being constructed and a vast army of workmen were employed on the building. Tented cities sprang up to give shelter to the navvies and tradesman. And what they needed was, entertainment ,music halls and drinking establishment proliferated and Charles Frederick Hengler decided to come to Liverpool to make his fortune. There were something like 500,000 men employed in the building of our town , and they came from all over the world. The California Gold Rush was what some contemporary reporter reporters likened the building rush too.
The Henglers purchased some land on the site now occupied by the Grafton ,Locarno right down to the what became the Hippodrome. They built a permanent circus and had a huge menagerie too. They proved to be massively successful ,so much so, that Charles sent the elder of his two sons down to London to do the same there. The reporter from the Echo took a photo of my uncle standing in front of the newly exposed facade and the link was established, we were descended from a famous circus family.
A local brewery built a pub nearby and called it Henglers Circus and invited my uncle to open it.
But the question remained, how did our family go from riches to rags?.
45 years ago I found a book, by Stan Hugill, in a second hand bookshop. It was about Sailor towns of the world, it told of the lowlife side of the worlds major ports during the heyday of Sail. It listed the towns from A to Z and ,when I came to Liverpool I got the shock of my life. He rated Henglers Circus as the lowest of the low. Old Charles was dead and his youngest son found that there was more money to be made out of prostitution and the selling of drunken sailors to crimps who then supplied the stiffs to the shanghai merchants ,of which Liverpool had more than a few. To ensure that he got his quota of stiffs ,he introduced the “rational gas” ,two pennorth would get you drunk as you sucked it out of the goat bladder, two pennorth more would knock you out for the count and you would very likely wake up on a coffin ship that was bound for Davy Jones’s locker as part of an insurance scam by crooked ship owners and evil ship masters. Things became so bad that the City fathers closed the circus and it was turned back in to a place of proper entertainment. Was this why my Grandma never spoke of Henglers Circus? I dined out on the tale for more than a few years,if you are going to have a skeleton in your cupboard it’s best if they are “interesting”.
My young cousin Robbie started to do a family tree through the internet, he got right back to the 1850’s when he hit a block. The man who was the founder of our family was picked up in Jersey ,he was an Alien with very little English, his name was so unpronounceable that he was given an easier name, one from a circus poster…….Hengler.
That was the real reason, we were not Henglers at all !!!. I ‘d love to find out where my great, great Grandfather came from,
BrianD
Brian , he actually came from Bolton, so you are decended from a Woolyback. He was from a family of Flemish weavers who where asylum seekers fleeing the Huguenot Persicutions of the 17th century.
I'll have to get my young cousin to investigate that Brian, I don't mind being descended from a stateless alien,but bugger being descended from a Woollyback,
BrianD
Wreck of the Mexico
On the evening of December 9th 1886 the German barque `Mexico`, originally named John Bull and built in 1860 by Oswalds of Sunderland before being bought by Messrs Ostling Gerbruder and renamed `Mexico`, got into difficulties off the Southport coast.
Three lifeboats carrying 44 men went to her rescue, only one lifeboat and 17 men returned. Two lifeboats and 27 men were lost resulting in the worst tragedy ever in the annals of the RNLI. Subsequently Lifeboat Saturday was conceived, bringing in much-needed funds to the completely voluntary RNLI service.
The wreck of the MEXICO
Up goes the Lytham signal, St. Annes has summoned hands,
Knee-deep in surf the lifeboat is launched abreast of Southport Sands,
Half-deafened by the screaming wind, half-blinded by the rain,
Three crews await their Coxswains to face the hurricane.
The stakes are death or duty, no man has answered No !
Lives must be saved out yonder, on the good ship Mexico.
Did ever night look blacker, did sea so hiss before !
Did ever women's voices wail more piteous on the shore,
But from three ports of Lancashire that night went lifeboats three,
To fight a splended battle, manned by Warriors of the Sea.
When on dark nights of winter, fierce storms of wind and rain
Howl round the cosy homestead, and lash the window-pane,
When over hill and treetop we hear the tempest roar
And hurricanes go sweeping on from valley to the shore,
And those we love the best on earth are gathered in our homes,
Think of the sailors round our coasts who, braving sleet and snow,
Leave sweethearts, wives and little ones when duty bids them go.
Think of our sea-girt Island, a harbour where alone
No Englishman to save a life has failed to risk his own
Then when the storm howls loudest, pray of your charity
That God will bless the lifeboat, and the Warriors of the Sea.
Poem writer is unknown.
Painting by that wonderful Artist E.D. Walker.
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