#William Duckworth

[sivavakkiyar]

William Duckworth’s own recording of his Time Curve Preludes are magical btw

[hellocanticle]

Emanuele Arciuli plays Duckworth

Neuma 174 I had previously reviewed an Innova release by this fine Italian pianist whose compelling musical choices and interpretive skills make him one of the bright lights on the current musical scene. And his European perspective (and affinity for) American composers provide an extremely valuable perspective for both listeners and performers. It comes as no surprise that that Innova album…

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Abraham Lincoln, Moe Bandy, Tex Beneke, Judy Blume, Josh Brolin, George Cohan’s 1906 musical GEORGE WASHINGTON, Charles Darwin, music curator Anthony Ferraro, Rick Frank (Elephant’s Memory), George Gershwin’s RHAPSODY IN BLUE (1924), Steve Hackett, Omar Hakim, Arsenio Hall, Michael Ironside, Joseph “Mr. Wilson” Kearns, Ray Kurzweil, Bill Laswell, Ray Manzerek, Cotton Mather, Christopher McCandless, Gene McDaniels, Michael McDonald, The McGuire Sisters’s 1955 single “Sincerely,” Gil Moore (Triumph), The NAACP, Chynna Phillips, Josef Reicha, Christina Ricci, Brian Robertson (Thin Lizzy), great rock bassist Joe Schermie (3 Dog Night), Bob Shad, former bandmate and one of my favorite drummers Jason Shuman, Forrest Tucker, and legendary actor-singer Lorne Greene. He’s imbedded in TV culture as Commander Adama in the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, and as Ben Cartwright in the long-running western BONANZA. Extending from that, Greene released a series of Old West-themed recordings—his 1964 cowboy story “Ringo” hit #1 (also dial up his appearances on the Johnny Cash TV show circa 1970). Greene started in radio, and his remarkable bass voice made him a perfect narrator. 

One day in 1992, I was working in a recording studio and happened across boxes of this 1976 Bicentennial COLONIAL KEYSTONE LP featuring Lorne Greene. The studio was in Northumberland, Pennsylvania—an unlikely hub for a well-appointed facility built by “local genius” Bob Spangler. That studio was an intersection for acclaimed pop/rock acts (The Badlees, Hybrid Ice, Whitney Houston) and composers (William Duckworth), and it was where I began working with Davy Jones (Monkees). One of Bob’s early career moves was to record Greene for this spoken word project. When I asked Bob about the LP, he dug out a photo album that documented Greene’s appearance—a “big star” who cheerfully accommodated the small-town citizens of central PA. The COLONIAL KEYSTONE LP was reissued on CD on the Cherry Red label. Meanwhile, HB to LG. Thank you for your hours of giving people edification and quality entertainment.

#LorneGreene #BattlestarGalactica #Bonanza #BenCartwright #ColonelAdama #TVstar #narrator #Pennsylvania #Bicentennial #Northumberland #Badlees #HybridIce #WhiteneyHouston #WilliamDuckworth #DavyJones #Monkees #ColonialKeystone #CherryRed #spokenword

[archivist-dragonfly]

Book 406

Heath Robinson Contraptions

Geoffrey Beare, ed.

Duckworth Overlook 2007

Honestly, until this book, I had no idea that in the UK a Rube Goldberg Machine is called a Heath Robinson Contraption. William Heath Robinson (1872-1944) was an English cartoonist, illustrator, and artist, who is best known for his cartoons of whimsically elaborate machines, so much so that he was known as The Gadget King by his contemporaries. By 1912, the term “Heath Robinson contraption” had gained dictionary recognition in the UK, predating a similar recognition for Rube Goldberg in the US by more than 10 years. This book presents a range of Robinson’s wonderful work, from WWI propaganda to his final sketches made during WWII.

[dare-g]

Between Time and Timbuktu (1972)

[uwmspeccoll]

Staff Pick of the Week

We recently transferred an early 1930s edition of Argentine-British writer William Henry Hudson's novel Green Mansions, published in New York by Three Sirens Press with illustrations by Keith Henderson, from the library's general collections to Special Collections. The story is convoluted and fantastical, about a wealthy Venezuelan revolutionary who flees into the Guyanese jungle (the Green Mansions of the title?), tenuously befriends a village of indigenous people, explores a sector of the forest that the villagers fear, and encounters a waif-like, "shy and mysterious girl with the melodious bird-like voice" who the villagers are convinced is the evil spirit-protector "Daughter of the Didi." Nevertheless, he continues to seek out the girl, whom he befriends and falls in love with, and eventually learns that she is the last member of her tribe. This ultimately leads, in a roundabout way, to a falling-out with the villagers and tragic consequences.

Originally published in 1904 to some acclaim, this exotic romance bears a palpable strain of ethnic superiority. The indigenous people are backwards, superstitious, and violent; the protagonist is European, thoughtful, and reasoned (and wealthy to boot); and Rima, the ethereal jungle girl, and her people were apparently based by Hudson on persistent rumors of a lost tribe of white people who lived in the mountains. Probably not a novel I will be reading any time soon, but I am quite taken by the drama in the black and white illustrations of Scottish artist and illustrator Keith Henderson (1883-1982).

Henderson created the novel's 35 illustrations for the trade and limited editions originally published by Duckworth & Co. in 1926. While there is no publishing date in this edition by Three Sirens Press, a publisher that specialized in high-quality reprints of classic texts illustrated by noted artists, there is some evidence that it was produced in 1932. I hope you enjoy these illustrations as much as I do.

View more of our Staff Picks.

-- MAX, Head of Special Collections

[ltwilliammowett]

Fire the danger of every ship

Even on board ships that were built of wood and contained large quantities of flammable materials such as gunpowder, the risk of fire was a constant issue. If a fire broke out, it was very difficult to extinguish due to the cramped conditions. To make matters worse, loaded guns were often triggered, which then fired shots unpredictably and made rescue attempts difficult. The terrible loss of HMS Ajax on 14 February 1807 was another such case.

Watercolour of HMS Ajax (1798), by unknown (x)

Her fire was caused by accident or carelessness. She was anchored off Tenedos and was under Admiral Sir John Duckworth's squadron in Malta to take part in the Dardanelles operation. There were 630 men on the Ajax at the time, of whom 250 lost their lives and 380 were rescued. Among them were many veterans who had taken part in Trafalgar.  Only what exactly had happened. An officer who had witnessed the whole thing tells the following:  

At half past nine [in] the evening, the Ajax took fire in the bread room, and in ten  minutes she was in a general blaze from stern to stern; the wind blew fresh from the  N.E. which prevented the boats of the ships to leeward from rendering any  assistance; but from those to windward, and near her, she was well enough supplied  to save upwards of 400 of her people and those may consider themselves as most  providentially preserved; as it had blown a gale all the day, and for two or three  days before, and fell moderate towards the evening – a continuance of the gale  would probably have rendered all assistance impossible.

The fire, it appears, had  been for some time, alight in the bread room before the  alarm was given; for when the first Lieutenant, and many others, broke open the  door of the Surgeon’s cabin, the after bulk head was burst down by the accumulated  flames and smoke abaft it, and so rapidly made its progress through the cockpit,  that it was with difficulty he could regain the ladder, and most of those who  accompanied him were suffocated in the attempt. On reaching the quarterdeck he  found the fire had out-run him, and Captain Blackwood agreeing with that she was  past all remedy, they both ran forward where the majority of the people were  assembled, calling most piteously on their God for that help they despaired of  getting, although many boats were approaching them, so rapidly did the fire work  its way forward, and leapt from the sprit-sail-yard, when the Canopus’s boat fortunately picked them up. At this time the boats were assembling under the ship’s  bows, and saved most who still clung to them, though many, naked, benumbed with cold, and pressed on by others, let go their hold and perished, as did everyone who imprudently on the first alarm jumped overboard.

The boats, however, cleared  her bows, though many of them were in imminent danger of swamping, from the  number of the poor creatures who were clinging to the gunwales, and who were  obliged to be forced off, and left to perish, for the safety of the rest. The ship burnt all  night, and drifted on the Island of Tenedos, where she blew up at five next morning,  with a most awful explosion … The Gunner, unhappy father! Had thrown one child  overboard, which was saved; but going down for another, perished in the flames …  One woman, out of three, saved herself by following her husband with a child in his  arms down a rope from the jib-boom-end …Amongst the lost were Lieutenants Reeve and Sibthorpe; Captain Boyd, Royal Marines; Mr. Owen, surgeon; Mr. Donaldson, master; twenty-five midshipmen; two merchants of Constantinople, and a Greek pilot. Several of the people died after they  were got on board the different ships, the rest are distributed among the squadron. in: Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy; between 1793 and 1849, by William O. S. Gilly and How to survive the Georgian Navy, by Bruno Pappalardo

What we do know is that the fire started in the bread room and how during the court martial that Captain Blackwood faced at the end of 1807. The Purser's Mate had forgotten a lantern and it had fallen over due to the movement of the ship and set fire to everything. So it was an accident that happened because of a little carelessness. However, many fell victim to it. Captain Blackwood was acquitted by the way.

[grandmaster-anne]

Court Circular | 21st March 2023

Buckingham Palace

The King, Sovereign of the Order, was present this morning at a Service of the Royal Victorian Order held in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal, Grand Master of the Order, accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were also present. His Majesty was received by the Dean of Windsor (the Right Reverend David Conner) and the Chaplain of the Order (the Reverend Canon Thomas Woodhouse). Detachments of His Majesty’s Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, The King’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard and the Military Knights of Windsor were on duty in St George’s Chapel. Afterwards The King gave a Reception at Windsor Castle for those who attended the Service. The King and The Queen Consort, Patron, this afternoon visited the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey, and were received by the Chief Executive of Historic Royal Palaces (Mr John Barnes) and the Chairman of the Royal School of Needlework (Ms P Wood). Their Majesties, escorted by Dr Susan Kay-Williams (Chief Executive, Royal School of Needlework), viewed the progress of work being undertaken for the Coronation by embroiderers and other members of Royal School of Needlework staff, before viewing displays of objects from past Coronations from the Royal School of Needlework Archive and Collection and objects from the Historic Royal Palaces Collection.

Kensington Palace

The Prince of Wales, President, the Earthshot Prize, this morning held a Meeting. The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this morning held a Meeting to launch a Business Taskforce for Early Childhood, NatWest Head Office, 250 Bishopsgate, London EC2.

St James’s Palace

The Duke of Kent, Patron, St Mungo’s, this morning visited the Grange Road Service at 41-43, Crimscott Street, London SE1, and was received by Colonel Simon Duckworth (Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London).

[this-is-such-a-bad-decision]

Me, listening to Hello from the Hallowoods: aw, it's Buck, my buddy, my anxious little sweetheart, it's so nice to hear from him again :)

Me, being struck once again with the realization that the same human that voices Buck also voices Zelda Duckworth and Diggory Graves and Lady Ethel Mallory and--: William Wellman what the actual fuck.

[kwebtv]

One Sunday Afternoon - CBS - May 16, 1949

A Presentation of Ford Theater (Season 1 Episode 8)

Drama

Running Time: 60 minutes

Stars:

Burgess Meredith as Biff Grimes (his television debut)

Hume Cronyn as Hugo Barnstead

Pat Harrington Sr as Nick

Francesca Bruning as Amy Lind Grimes

Augusta Roeland as Virginia Brush Barnstead

Additional Cast Members

James Sullivan

Claire Kirby

William Brower

Dorothy Duckworth

Martin Harvey

Peggy Cass

James Hagan's Play was filmed three times earlier

One Sunday Afternoon (1933) w/ Gary Cooper and Neil Hamilton

The Strawberry Blonde (1941) w/ James Cagney and Jack Carson

One Sunday Afternoon (1948) w/ Dennis Morgan and Don DeFore

[corallapis]

Mural in All Saints Church, Thorney Hill by Phoebe Anna Traquair (1920-2), commissioned by the 3rd Baron Manners, commemorating the loss of his wife and two of his children. The mural depicts the Manners family and others, including at least four members of the Coterie who were killed in action in WWI — Capt. Bron Herbert; Lt. Raymond Asquith; Lt. Edward Horner; and Lt. John Manners — as well as Betty Asquith (née Manners), Katharine Asquith (née Horner), and Laura, Lady Lovat (née Lister) as the Madonna. The Manners family is depicted as they were in 1904, the year Molly Manners died.

1. 2. 4.  all sons of the Bishop of Exeter (see 11 below): Lt. Randle Gasycone-Cecil (1889-1917), Capt. John Gascoyne-Cecil (1893-1918), and Lt. Rupert Gasycone-Cecil (1895-1915)

3. Eric Gill (1882-1940), carver of the chapel, as St. John the Baptist

5. Charles Gore (1853-1932), as St. Peter the Apostle

6. Constance Manners (née Hamlyn-Fane), Lady Manners (1861-1920)

7. Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), as St. John the Evangelist as prophet

8. Capt. Auberon ‘Bron’ Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas (1876-1916)

9. William Blake (1757-1827), as St. John the Evangelist as writer

10. Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936), self-portrait of the artist

11. Lord William Cecil (1863-1936), Bishop of Exeter, as St. Joseph

12. Hon. Frances Manners, later the 4th Baron Manners (1897-1972), as the Christ child

13. Laura Fraser (née Lister), Lady Lovat (1892-1956), as the Madonna

14. Angela Manners (1889-1970), as an angel

15. Lt. Hon. John Manners (1892-1914), as a pilgrim child

16. Katharine Asquith (née Horner) (1885-1976)

17. Lt. Raymond Asquith (1878-1916)

18. John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Baron Manners (1852-1927), as St. George killing the dragon

19. Lt. Edward Horner (1888-1917)

20. Hon. Mary ‘Molly’ Manners (1886-1904)

21. Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister (1827-1912)

22. Louis Pasteur (1882-1895)

23. Hon. Betty Asquith (née Manners) (1889-1962), as an angel

photos and identification credit to E. J. Duckworth

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Friday 21 July 1837

6

11 ¾

fine morning F57 ½° at 6 55 and out – with Robert Mann + 3 (Sam Booth, Jack Green, and Michael Ryle) John Duckworth had taken put and was off – Parkinson and his partner Gray and 2 wallers and 2 labourers at the top terrace walls – Robert + 3 helping them to get stone down – leveling up and this evening moving the Portugal laurels the line of which Mr. gray wished to change – Joseph Mann came to say the pit pump shaft was cast too short – what was to be done – Delay again – must have a new shft – very well – so then it must be – but Mr. Harper would be here this morning – Mawson’s 2 one horse cart and 5 fillers sinking the upper road to the house and bringing the stuff to level up the terraces – breakfast at 8 ¾ (1/4 hour tête-à-tête with A- before Mr. Gray came) – at 9 ½ went into the cellar – an hour there making migma i.e. mixture of ½ sherry ½ marsala given as sherry – Mr. Jubb came about 11 to give Mrs. Hannah Heap’s arm the last dressing before setting off on her journey home – he told us Mr. Charles Norris was elected clerk to the navigation in the place of his brother Mr. William Norris – had got such a no. of proxies, nobody could oppose him – no fit opponent offered himself but Mr. Garlick a quondam bookseller in the town, and very respectable – he at once gave up all opposition – Mr. Charles N- said to be a good man of business – salary £400 per annum – Mr. Harper came about 11 ½ and went away at 1 40 told him about the engine pit pump shaft – he at once came in to the opinion that the well at Northgate had best be in the middle of the middle court – ordered about west tower lightening conductor and thought we could not do better than counter floor my [?] roof with  strong brown paper and dry sand – he had Holt the engineer – then Messrs. G- and Harper had luncheon about 12 – I sometime with A- then with Mr. H- again – he had been at the wheel-race  - had set all right so that the shaft would do without casting another – Holt’s estimate delivered this morning for Listerwick corn mill work = £670 and some things more to the amount of £70 came into Holt’s estimate then into Bates’s – Bates’s estimate = about £950 – Mr. Harper will make Mallinson right up the wavy skirting boards at Northgate – speaking of the hot-houses said I thought they were to be about 24ft. – H- said 70ft. long of Hot house heating = heating apparatus about £150 glass about £100

Extras walling etc 50

350

Miss Grimstones and Dr. Simpsons conservatives at York burnt each a chaldron of coal last winter – H- said he should not exceed his estimate at Northgate – he had said £6000 and should save as much out of it as would paint the great room – which was not originally included the painting it as originally intended would cost £200 said I should have it done – would not be ready for painting before next spring – and to be done then – to be done as soon as it could – Mr. Paris the man who pained the bazaar in Oxford street to do it – had said he would engage it at £200 – the designs according to Mr. Harper’s to be down as soon as they could – I hoped to be off abroad in November sooner or later – at any rate to be off before Xmas – asked H- to give me a little plan of 2 small houses at the top of the Northgate hotel  top court to let for £10 or £12 per annum – for a butcher and baker – to be habitable by next May-day – H- said they would be done for £120 to £130 a piece – I thought (in my mind) of Empsall  with A- from 1 40 when Mr. Harper went away to 2 ¼ when I got off with her to Leeds in the carriage taking on their way home again Little Mary and Mrs. Heap – out from 2 ¼ to 8 – with Mr. Gray and Robert + 3 at the terraces till off to Hipperholme quarry at 4 55 and there in 20 minutes at 5 ¼ and staid an hour seeing Hartley and Ben fit up the blocks and tackling for dragging along a piece of rag = nearly 2 tons to be ‘boarded’ (split with wedges) into 2 for the terrace walls – home a few minutes after 7 – Robert and co. stayed till 8 ¼ and Mr. Gray and I with them and sauntering about till came in at 8 – dinner at 8 5 to 9 ¼ - then came to my room and wrote the last 27 lines of today when A- came back at 9 ¾ - tea and coffee – skimmed over the newspaper – A- and I came upstairs at 11 at which hour F54 ½° - very fine day – the remainder of my hay (about not quite 1/3) put into cock and left safe for stacking tomorrow saw A- was low and went to sleep with her and she thanked me

a man in helping about the timber waggon (a stranger) at Whiskum top gate broke his arm – 3 oak logs came to Shibden hall

Timber from Leeds this afternoon early – 2d. a load – had 2 horses again to help up to Little marsh

[mirandamckenni1]

Google Translate Sings: "The Wellerman" ft. MALINDA and Tom McGovern Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel 🎉. Get 6 months FREE when you sign up for 6 months ➡️ Here: https://ift.tt/NV9leyR NEW SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS BELOW!! PATREON: http://bit.ly/MKRsupport MERCH: https://ift.tt/M4qFJyO Follow us on: Instagram: https://ift.tt/DkdaIyz Twitter: https://twitter.com/TxdTranslations TikTok: https://ift.tt/1Fs0Q3t Facebook: https://ift.tt/SVMRyIT Follow Malinda on: Music channel: https://bit.ly/2D11Onl Twitter @missmalindakat https://twitter.com/missmalindakat Facebook https://ift.tt/6awEemi Instagram @missmalindakat https://ift.tt/xQMJk5w Follow Tom on: Instagram: https://ift.tt/13W9Mm5 TikTok: https://ift.tt/CUYR7X6 Spotify: https://ift.tt/TN2B7F8 For business inquiries: mkreesebusiness@gmail.com For autographs and snail mail: 3430 Connecticut Ave NW PO Box 11855 Washington DC 20008 Mix by Johnny Deltoro Track by Cristian Villagra https://bit.ly/2IORv7q **EQUIPMENT** (all links are affiliate links, so if you buy from here you support me too!) AUDIO For singing: http://amzn.to/2wwYXRo For vlogging: http://amzn.to/2wyQfSE A great start mic: http://amzn.to/2xhkScb Interface: http://amzn.to/2fAxFyM VIDEO Camera: http://amzn.to/2hi08JS Lens: http://amzn.to/2fABZ14 Vlog camera: http://amzn.to/2xnN4vT I use Logic and Final Cut Pro to edit audio and video respectively :) THANK YOU PATRONS!! Christian Ashby Ed Banas Russ Billings Caleb Bukowsky Heather BookCat Bree Campbell Douglas Charles Will & Sheila Cole James Copple Stephanie Burns Mariah Dierking Samuel Duckworth Adrian Durand Fr. Joe Fessenden The Fishers Andy Fowler Mariah Fyock-Williams Robert Gibbons Jr Mimi Ginsburg Marlo Delfin Gonzales Pippa Hillebrand Brian Hughes Jonathan Isip Joseph K. Dave Jones Rita K Balazs Kis Raphael Lauterbach Mathieu Landru Kiara Maken Alex Molloy Ben Mobley Geoffrey Morgan Eystein Nicolaysen Jonathan Neese Noble Monster Comics TK Ostinato Rachel-Maya RC Christine Violet Rose P.S. Norbert Schmitz Martin Schorel Christoph Schreiner Jeff Schwarz Alexis Sullivan Steven Snyder Mary Hall Surface Theodore Ts'o Danny Underwood Hank van Deventer Reinier van Grieken Yum Van Vechten David Vollbracht Andrew Walliker via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzoIUPfBgSk

[alexsfictionaddiction]

The Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist is here!

Tonight is the night! The announcement of the Women's Prize for Fiction longlist is such an exciting day. It is, as many book lovers call it, Bookish Christmas, as we're presented with 16 books that have been judged to be examples of fantastic female writing. Looks like it's going to be a good year!

The Women's Prize for Fiction is an annual book prize that is open to any full-length novel originally written in English by a woman. This year, books must have been published in the UK between 1st April 2023 and 31st March 2024. I have been following the prize for at least five or six years now and my favourite thing about it is that it often introduces me to books that I've never heard of and possibly wouldn't have picked up otherwise. I cannot explain how exciting that is to me and I know that some of you feel the same too.

So, here is this year's longlist!

A Trace Of Sun by Pam Williams. Published by Legend Press on 1st March 2024.

Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan. Published by Vintage on 13th July 2023.

Hangman by Maya Binyam. Published by Pushkin ONE on 3rd August 2023.

Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy. Published by Faber & Faber on 2nd May 2023.

The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright. Published by Vintage on 31st August 2023.

The Maiden by Kate Foster. Published by Mantle on 27th April 2023.

8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster by Miranae Lee. Published by Virago on 4th May 2023.

Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie. Published by Oneworld on 13th June 2023.

In Defence of the Act by Effie Black. Published by époque Press on 13th July 2023.

Western Lane by Chetna Maroo. Published by Picador on 11th May 2023.

Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville. Published by Canongate Books on 2nd November 2023.

River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure. Published by Duckworth on 25th January 2024.

Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan. Published by Viking on 29th June 2023.

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad. Published by Vintage on 6th April 2023.

The Blue, Beautiful World by Karen Lord. Published by Gollancz on 31st August 2023.

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott. Published by Allen and Unwin on 28th September 2023.

I am delighted to know that I own half of them, which means I can get started on reading them as soon as possible. However, I have currently read zero, so I have a lot to read!

I think a lot of people will be surprised to see some big names omitted from this list, as Zadie Smith, Ann Patchett, Naomi Alderman and Jesmyn Ward all had eligible novels. I watched quite a few prediction videos and I don't think I saw anyone get more than two or three of these right, so, it's certainly a year of surprises. However, for me that makes it even more exciting, as I probably wouldn't have read the half of the list that I don't own. I cannot wait to get stuck in!

The shortlist will be announced on 24th April and the winner will be announced along with the winner of the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction on 13th June.

What do you think of the longlist? How many have you read? How many are you interested in? Let me know!

[napcomposing]

Milton Babbitt and Lou Harrison being relatable as fuck

I recently had to read two interviews from William Duckworth's Talking Music, in which he interviews a bunch of composers. I just had to share some of the things I wrote while reading.

Firstly, the stuff my therapist will be seeing (as soon as I actually get one, that is):

I was really shocked at how specifically relatable these points were to me. Especially Harrison with the "mindlessness". Babbitt struck me as well, but I imagine that writing solely for oneself isn't something exactly rare to find in composers, especially neurodivergent ones. Harrison actually also touches on that kind of feverish-ness of needing to create:

Lastly, some general observations:

Really good read. I highly recommend this book; it's extremely comprehensive. I'll probably put a few more of these in here as the semester progresses.

[ltwilliammowett]

Elizabeth Bowden - Ship’s boy

I promised you all that I would present two female Sailors yesterday. Now I didn't manage the second lady because I had misplaced the court martial report. But here she comes.

There is not much to say about her as she is a bit of a mystery like William Brown. But - and here's the big but - we wouldn't know anything about her if it wasn't for a court martial on 2 October 1807 aboard HMS Salvador del Mundo against the first lieutenant of the ship she was serving on, the Sloop Hazard. Now before I get to this case - there is a huge trigger warning here, because this is about child abuse. if you have problems with this, in any form, please read no further.

Cabin Boy, by Thomas Rowlandson 1799 (x)

The court martial was convened because 22-year-old Lieutenant William Berry was accused of sodomy and buggery. His victim was under 14 year old Thomas Gibbs, ship's boy 2nd class. (The fact that the boy must have been under 14 years of age is shown by the fact that he was not charged, which was quite common at the time, even if it was the victim, but under 14 year olds were excluded).  The following case was tried, because all the other events that happened before it could not be 100% reconstructed. On 23 August, Berry allegedly called the boy to him and forced him to perform sexual acts. Afterwards, the boy ran crying to gunroom steward John Hoskin and told him about the abuse, which had probably been going on for weeks. Hoskin only knew about it and thought it was enough and reported the incident to Captain Charles Dilkes, who immediately placed his lieutenant under arrest and convened a court martial. The trial was held on HMS Salvador del Mundo under the chairmanship of Admiral Sir John Duckworth, who questioned all the witnesses. First, he had Gibbs tell him everything in detail. (I will spare you these at this point) Berry defended himself against the accusations by portraying Gibbs as a liar, which he was known to be on board. Captain Dilkes confirmed this, but doubted that the boy would lie about such an important matter. This was also confirmed by the Surgeon who, although he could not find any harm on the boy, could not believe that he was lying. Neither could Steward Hoskin.

The crucial witness, however, was a boy of 14 named John Bowden, classified as a ship's boy 3rd class, who appeared in the great cabin in a blue coat and long trousers. However, the crew of the Hazard were well aware of who was really behind John, because it was not a boy, on the contrary. John's real name was Elizabeth Bowden and she was an orphan girl from Truro in Cornwall. She had been looking for her sister in Plymouth and eventually enlisted in the Navy as a boy.  She also managed to hide her gender for six weeks when she was discovered. However, Captain Dilkes did not abandon her at the nearest port, but gave her a single cabin and placed her with the gunroom steward as an assistant.

She had to tell the court that she had once looked through the keyhole of the lieutenant's cabin and seen Thomas Gibbs playing with the lieutenant's private parts. But when she told the steward about it, he dismissed her and condemned her to silence.

Finally the steward was questioned again and he admitted that he knew what was going on and that he had seen the boy being called into the cabin several times. Berry tried to defend himself with all his might, citing relatives and his fiancée who all gave him a good reputation and even William Sandell, an apothecary and male midwife, who testified that Berry could not have sex because the man was highly impotent. This was of no use and Berry was sentenced to death for sodomy (oral sex) and buggery (anal sex). Seventeen days later Berry was hanged from Hazard's starboard foreyard-arm. Unfortunately the hanging was botched in that the knot twisted under his chin. Berry had a 32-pound shot tied to his legs but still it took 15 minutes for him to strangle to death. He appears to have been one of only two naval officers hanged for buggery during the Napoleonic Wars (the other was Captain Henry Allen of the sloop Rattler).

What became of Elizabeth, however, is unfortunately not known.