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Maeve Haran
In the
Summertime
Contents

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
With Thanks
The Greek Holiday
In a Country Garden
An Italian Holiday
A Very French Wedding
For Cresta Norris, for years of fun and friendship and for coming
with me to a lot of car washes. Also to her wonderful family who
almost feel like my own.
 One

‘Bad luck always comes in threes.’

Gina tried to ignore the sound of her grandmother’s voice in her
head. She’d loved her gran but the old lady had been ludicrously
superstitious, always telling you that seeing a lone magpie was bad
luck, or that you shouldn’t cross on the stairs, or pick red and white
flowers. She’d also had a firm belief in horoscopes, predictions and
even the fortune teller on the end of the pier in the seaside town
where Gina had grown up.
Besides, should you call the fact that your husband was a
compulsive gambler, who had been lying to you and taking money
from the antiques business you ran together, one piece of bad luck
or two?
Gina held on to a French armoire to steady herself. She mustn’t
break down for her daughters’ sake.
Ever since she’d discovered his addiction to betting on horses,
she’d tried to persuade him to seek help but he’d laughed in that
irritatingly charming way of his, telling her she was such a killjoy. It
wasn’t as if he was some sad addict stuck in his bedroom gambling
away the household budget. Maybe he overdid it a bit occasionally,
but he had it all under control. All the same, he kept disappearing
without saying where he was going. Like today.
She told herself she wouldn’t think about Mark and what to do
about him until she felt a bit stronger. Instead, she tried to focus on
the holiday in Sicily she was supposed to be going on with her friend
Evie. But should she even go? Gina closed her eyes, imagining the
small and charming Hotel Siciliana, right on the beach, with its own
vineyard in the hills behind, run by the delightful Bambieri family.
 Instead of a grey English spring there would be sea, sunshine and
Prosecco! It was exactly the balm for the soul she needed. For
months now she’d been feeling anxious and harassed, wondering
what to do about her husband’s problem.
Gina straightened her back. It was painfully stiff from moving
stock around. She really ought to do some yoga again and she’d
promised herself this holiday would give her the chance. She smiled,
imagining herself doing sun salutations on the Sicilian beach. Then
reality bit. Of course, she couldn’t go. She’d have to persuade Evie
to make it another time.
A message pinged on her phone. It was from the Villa Siciliana:

Cara signora Lewis,

I regret to have to tell you that we are closing the hotel for the month due
to a sudden death in the family. We are happy to accommodate you for an
alternative period and hope you will understand the situation that necessitates
this unfortunate step.
Cordiali saluti
Signora F. Bambieri

‘Bad luck number three,’ her gran’s voice intoned cheerfully.

‘Well, actually, Gran,’ Gina argued, trying to smile, ‘it’s good luck
really because now we won’t lose our deposit and Evie can’t blame
me.’
As if she’d been listening in, Gina’s mobile rang and Evie’s name
popped up. Eve Beeston, her best friend since age eleven, was a
highly successful divorce lawyer who had resisted marriage on the
grounds that, in her experience, so many ended up in acrimonious
argument. Ironically, Gina had often tried to persuade her that most
marriages were perfectly happy.
‘Gina, guess what?’ Evie asked. ‘You remember Ruth O’Halloran?’
‘Of course I remember Ruth,’ replied Gina. ‘How is she?’ Gina
pictured the hearty large-framed Ruth, their third musketeer at
school right up to sixth form, last seen when she’d come up to town
to get a Geri Spice haircut for her wedding, which neither of them
dared to tell her made her look more like Ron Weasley. ‘How lovely
to hear from her.’
 ‘She wants you to go and stay.’
‘In Southdown?’ demanded Gina, stunned. Southdown was the
sleepy seaside town where they’d all grown up together, which Gina
and Evie had wanted to leave as soon as possible. Through their
eighteen-year-old eyes Southdown had represented narrow values
and limited aspirations. London was the place to be! To their
astonishment, Ruth had married at nineteen and happily settled
there.
‘Why on earth does she want me to stay with her?’ Gina enquired.
‘I haven’t seen her for years!’
‘She’s got some job she wants you to take on,’ continued Evie. ‘It’s
to do with antiques. Sounds barmy to me, but I told her I’d let you
know. Typical of Ruth to have lost your phone number. Anyway, you
can’t go, as I explained to her, because we’re off to Sicily! And not a
moment too soon—’
‘Evie, about that—’ Gina attempted to interrupt her with the bad
news.
‘You know what it’s like with holidays . . .’ Evie bulldozed on. ‘You
don’t even think about them, then you wake up feeling like you’ll die
if you don’t have one. That was me this morning! This last divorce
has done for me. How people who say they loved each other can
behave like hyenas descending on a wildebeest is beyond me. I
really need a break.’
‘Evie,’ Gina tried again to interrupt her. ‘About Sicily—’
‘Can’t talk now,’ Evie replied. ‘Due back in court. Just wanted to
warn you about Ruth.’
Any hope of telling her about Mark and asking her advice was
dashed as Evie rang off with a cheery, ‘Catch up soon. Byee . . .’ And
she was gone, leaving Gina to wonder what on earth this job in
Southdown could be.
Before she did anything else she had to talk to their accountant
about how much money Mark had removed from their business and
what it meant for their financial future.
Not long after they were married they had started the company
selling and valuing antiques and built themselves quite a reputation
as the people to go to if you needed the contents of a stately home
valued or your granny had started hiding her jewellery in the salad
crisper and you needed someone canny and tactful to sort it out.
Gina had thought of the name Whitehall Valuations, which gave the
company the ring of governmental authority while in fact the
Whitehall referred to was the road where they lived, a row of
Victorian villas off one of the main arteries out of London. Now a lot
of their antique trading was done online.
After the call with Evie, Gina steeled herself to get in touch with
their accountant.
‘Andrew . . .’ she greeted him hesitantly.
‘Gina!’ he replied instantly. ‘I’m so glad you’ve called. What the hell
is Mark up to? Doesn’t he realize he’s put you on the verge of
bankruptcy?’
Gina felt her stomach tighten and had to battle a bout of nausea.
‘How much has he taken exactly?’
The sum the accountant told her was devastating.
‘Oh God, Andrew, I had no idea it was that much! I’ve been trying
to get it out of him, but he’s never given any sign there was any
problem.’ They had two business accounts. One for everyday costs,
which she managed, and another for their major outlays, which Mark
took care of. ‘Is there anything I can do to save the company?’ she
asked anxiously, trying to stifle the desperation she was feeling and
think straight.
‘Shut down these accounts and stop Mark having access to the
money! Is there any way you could find yourself a job and live off
your earnings for now? And Gina . . .’ There was something in his
tone of faint embarrassment that put Gina on her mettle. ‘You could
sell the house and think about downsizing.’ He hesitated a moment
then barrelled on. ‘I mean, you do live in a big house and the area’s
become quite desirable. The estate agents call it the Whitehall
Quarter.’
Gina had to admit he was right. Victorian houses with big gardens,
in the catchment area for a highly rated school and handy for the
tube, were what agents called ‘highly sought after’. Funnily enough,
Gina had noticed how popular it had become with actors. She kept
seeing faces she recognized from TV dramas in the local
greengrocer. It could be quite embarrassing, because without
realizing it you found yourself smiling at them as if you knew them.
She’d even said hello to one woman and tried to work out how they
knew each other until the woman had put her out of her misery and
replied. ‘Actually, I don’t think we’ve met but I’m on TV.’
Letters and flyers from local estate agents were forever coming
through the door, and even the occasional handwritten one
announcing that the writer really wanted to live in the road and if
they were thinking of selling we could both save on fees and do it
privately.
Yes, they probably could sell the house extremely easily. But
where would they find to live that was half as nice? And how would
the girls feel about their family home being sold?
She realized Andrew had asked her something. ‘By the way, I
assume the house is in both your names?’
With a jolt of relief Gina remembered that the house was in fact in
her name. She’d thought it strange at the time when Mark had
suggested it a few years ago. He’d given her some complicated
explanation and it wasn’t until recently she’d realized he was scared
about his gambling debts and that the bookies might come after him
and take the house away.
‘OK,’ she replied, still feeling dazed, ‘I’ll think about it.’
It was only as she was driving home that she remembered the call
from Evie. Something about Ruth having a job she wanted her to do
– in Southdown of all places. What on earth could it be?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the car phone ringing. It was
her younger daughter, Sadie. Strange. Sadie never called, insisting
that phoning was for old people. She only texted or WhatsApped.
Her older daughter Lisa was the one who usually rang to chat.
‘Mum,’ for once Sadie’s confident tones, which Gina admired and
envied, sounded very wobbly. ‘What on earth’s Dad up to? I’ve been
messaging and phoning with absolutely zero response. He hasn’t
done a bunk with Doris, has he?’
In spite of her anxiety Gina had to laugh. Doris, who supervised
the warehouse where they kept their stock, was over seventy with
uncompromising short grey hair.
 ‘I don’t think Dad is Doris’s type.’ Gina attempted a joke which
unsurprisingly fell flat. ‘Look, I’ll get him to ring you as soon as I find
him. Better not chat while driving. Bye darling.’
Once she was back in her own home, Gina stared at her reflection
in the hall mirror. There were shadows under her eyes and her face
was pinched with anxiety. People often told her what a good-looking
woman she was with her arresting eyes that curved slightly upwards
and her chiselled cheekbones, accentuated by the line of her stylish
haircut, still almost black with only a stray grey hair. She had the
look of a Slav from the Steppes, they teased, rather than coming
from generations of solid citizens in Southdown.
She was still standing there when the door opened and her
husband Mark slipped into the house. He was reading an official-
looking letter, which so absorbed his attention that he almost didn’t
see her.
‘Gina!’ he blurted, as if his wife was the last person he’d expected
to see in their own front hall. ‘I thought you were at the warehouse.’
‘I just got in,’ she replied. ‘What’s in the letter?’
‘Oh, it’s just one of those silly scam letters pretending to be
important.’ He attempted one of his boyish grins and shook his thick
curly hair, which he always kept slightly too long, in a gesture Gina
recognized as another tool in his arsenal of charm.
She grabbed the letter out of his hands. It was from a firm of
bailiffs, threatening to come round if he didn’t meet one of his
gambling debts.
‘Mark, stop lying to me! I’ve just been talking to Andrew. He says I
should close the business accounts down.’
‘Bloody typical!’ he accused, his eyes blazing, in a tone that
combined resentment with a kind of suppressed loathing. ‘Going
behind my back! Just like you always did with the girls. Always
undermining my authority.’
Gina almost had to laugh. ‘What authority did you ever have? You
were always off at some racecourse or other while I brought them
up.’
‘What about the good times?’
 ‘You mean the times you won and took us all out to some
expensive restaurant when the girls just wanted a takeaway and to
watch some silly telly on the sofa with you?’
‘You always had to put me down, didn’t you Gina?’
Gina looked at him levelly. ‘No, Mark. I tried to cover for you and
keep running the business. I even told myself you had qualities I
didn’t have, and that was part of our success.’
‘Oh, yes, you’re such a saint, aren’t you?’ he flashed back. ‘Sweet,
patient Saint Georgina!’
‘Well, Saint Georgina’s coming to the end of her patience,’ Gina
replied caustically. ‘We’re going to pay the debts as best we can. I’m
sure these companies are realistic and will recognize something’s
better than nothing.’
‘No, they’re not, they’re sharks!’ Mark threw back at her. ‘And
you’re going to throw me to them!’ His voice was full of hate.
‘Not if you go to Gamblers Anonymous and we tell them so!’
His answer was a laugh so scathing that it chilled her to the bone.
Gina almost went towards him to try and reason, and finally she
saw the truth. There was no vestige of the man she’d once known
and loved in this sad and angry figure.
‘Mark,’ she announced, a break in her voice, ‘we can’t go on like
this.’
‘Too bloody right,’ he replied. ‘I’ve lived with your holier than thou
sanctity for too long. I’m leaving right now. I can’t think why I
stayed with you so long. Except for the girls, of course.’
He ran upstairs and she could hear him opening cupboards and
drawers and throwing things into a bag.
It was the end of her twenty-eight year marriage. Her
grandmother was right. Back luck did indeed come in threes. When
he came back downstairs he refused to even look at her.
‘Mark, where are you going? The girls will need to know.’
‘I’ll tell them as soon as I find somewhere. Goodbye, Gina.’ He
slammed the door behind him and walked off down the street.
Gina felt as if some malevolent god had turned her to stone. She
wanted to cry. To scream. Yet nothing happened. And then the
phone rang and because she thought it might be one of her
daughters she made herself answer it.
‘Gina, hello! I hope you don’t mind me contacting you out of the
blue? Evie gave me your number.’
It was Ruth.
And somehow the spell of desperate paralysis was broken and she
felt as if she were herself again. Ruth suited the role of good fairy.
‘As a matter of fact, I was going to ring you soon,’ Gina replied,
relief flooding through her. ‘How’s life in sunny Southdown?’
‘Well, er . . . sunny!’ laughed Ruth. ‘It’s awful to celebrate climate
change and of course we must cut back on greenhouse gases, but
it’s turned Southdown into St Tropez! A hundred solid days of
sunshine last summer and it’s started brilliantly this year too. You’d
hardly think it was the same place we grew up in!’
Gina thought of all the damp summers of her childhood spent
sheltering from the rain in bus shelters and bandstands, and the
August Bank Holiday carnival procession that was regularly cancelled
due to summer deluges, and laughed. ‘Too right! Doesn’t sound like
the Southdown I knew at all. So, what’s this job you’ve got for me?’
‘Do you remember Rookery Manor?’
‘That amazing medieval place on the way to the Downs?’
‘That’s the one.’
Gina smiled at the memory. How many times had she and her
friends made up stories about the owner while they were out
walking? Miss Havisham from Great Expectations still wearing her
wedding dress, fifty years after being jilted? An eccentric rock star
seeking privacy? A witch? The place had certainly stirred the
imagination.
‘A lovely old lady called Maudie lives there,’ Ruth continued. ‘I’m
friends with her great-niece, Lucy. The whole house is stuffed with
antiques and Lucy suspects some of them are disappearing. You
know, small things no one might notice. She’s heard about your
antiques business and she wants you to go and stay as a sort of
companion and while you’re there do a valuation and keep an eye
open about what’s going on.’
 Gina’s first instinct was to refuse. It sounded like one of the
Famous Five mysteries she’d adored as a child. Strange shenanigans
in lonely manor houses. At least Rookery Manor wasn’t on a clifftop.
‘What does Maudie think of the idea?’ she asked.
‘Maudie adores company apparently,’ replied Ruth. ‘Lucy’s sure
she’d love it.’
‘What about the rest of the family?’
‘I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that.’
‘But surely if stuff’s disappearing it’s a matter for the police?’
suggested Gina.
‘That’s what I thought,’ seconded Ruth, ‘but Lucy’s adamant the
family would absolutely loathe that.’
Andrew the accountant’s words that she should and get a job rang
in her head. The offer seemed heaven-sent. But shouldn’t she be
staying and comforting the girls? How would they react when they
knew their father had left?
Then again, it wasn’t as if she’d be out of reach in Southdown. It
was only an hour and a quarter by train, simple for her to dash back
if they needed her, and they could easily reach her by mobile. And if
she wanted to save the business, following Andrew’s advice might be
her only option.
‘Oh Gina,’ Ruthie’s effervescent enthusiasm bubbled over in her
voice. ‘I can’t tell you how glad I’d be if you came! It’d be just like
old times! Do you remember how we used to hide in the airing
cupboard at Wolsey and share all our secrets?’
The memory of those innocent times suddenly overwhelmed Gina
– when their deepest secrets were about boys they fancied, and how
they would die of misery if the boys didn’t fancy them back.
And she knew she had to tell someone.
‘The thing is, Ruthie, I really need to come. Mark’s just left and
he’s taken a lot of money out of the company. I’m about to talk to
the girls, and I haven’t even dared tell Evie yet. She’s never liked
Mark and I’m sure she’ll say it’s all for the best!’
‘And that isn’t what you want to hear right now.’ Ruthie’s
comforting tone was a balm to Gina’s drooping spirits. ‘I can’t wait to
have you here and give you the biggest hug you can imagine. And
Gina . . .’
‘Yes?’ Gina replied, feeling her depression lifting with Ruthie’s
reply.
‘We’ll have a bloody good time too. I promise!’
 Two

‘What do you mean, the hotel has cancelled our holiday?’ Evie
protested, waving her brimming glass of Pinot Grigio in outrage,
when Gina told her next day. They were enjoying the April sunshine
outside a wine bar in Lamb’s Conduit Street. ‘I’ve been fantasizing
about it non-stop!’
‘There’s been a death in the family. Italians take death very
seriously. And family.’
‘And I take holidays very seriously!’ fumed Evie. She took in Gina’s
shocked expression and laughed. ‘It’s OK, I’m not as selfish a cow as
I seem. I was decimated when my Gran died. I just needed to let off
a bit of steam. We’d better get out our diaries and rearrange.’
‘Can we leave it for a little while?’
‘This isn’t to do with Ruth’s offer, is it?’ Evie asked suspiciously.
You’re not actually considering going? I mean,’ Evie pronounced
loudly, ‘moving in with an old dear in a medieval manor as a sort of
lady’s companion! It’s like something out of Jane Austen!’
‘Well actually,’ grinned Gina, ‘more Miss Marple!’
‘If Miss Marple had any sense, she’d stay away from Southdown,’
replied Evie. ‘Far too dull. Don’t you remember what it was like when
we were growing up? Everyone was ancient. Shops closed on
Sundays, not to mention early closing on Wednesday afternoons,
and the tide seemed to be permanently out! No wonder we couldn’t
wait to leave!’
‘Ruth says it’s got much better,’ Gina noted that Evie was drinking
impressively fast – the current divorce case must a stressful one. As
usual they were attracting a lot of interest. With her shiny copper
bob and flashing green eyes, Evie was always the centre of attention
in legal circles. There was a kind of electric energy she gave off that
always seemed to draw the eye.
Gina studied her friend over her glass. Evie was quite a
conundrum. Terrifying as an opponent in court, yet generous and
fun with those she loved. And steadfastly single. Gina couldn’t recall
even one serious romance. Evie’s career really did seem to have put
her off men and marriage. Which was a pity because she was very
attractive and adored her many godchildren.
‘She would say that, wouldn’t she?’ replied Evie sarcastically. ‘She
stayed there and married that Robin and had God knows how many
children.’
‘That Robin, as you call him, is very nice and Ruth sounds very
happy.’ Gina had to hold onto herself at the thought of Ruth’s happy
marriage. She’d been building up to tell Evie about Mark and ask her
advice, but now that she was sitting across a table from her she
found that she didn’t want to. It would make it too real, too final.
Evie had never liked Mark and would probably tell her it was a
blessing in disguise, something she wasn’t ready to hear.
‘Listen to you,’ teased Evie. ‘You’d better watch it or you’ll be
moving back there permanently!’
‘Of course I won’t,’ protested Gina. ‘But lots of people are. City
life’s got so expensive, and now that people are working from home,
places like Southdown are suddenly in vogue.’ To take her mind off
Mark, Gina had spent last night doing some research into her home
town. ‘Londoners are moving there in droves. Look at this.’ She held
up a property supplement from The Times and read an extract,
putting on her best posh estate agent voice: ‘Attracted by the
nearby seaside and the charming cobbled streets and artistic
atmosphere of its old town, Southdown is becoming highly sought
after by families seeking a calmer and cheaper way of life.’
‘Charming old town, my arse!’ Evie refilled their glasses. ‘A few old
warehouses and fishing huts turned into second-hand shops!’
‘Come on, Evie.’ Gina guessed her friend’s objection had nothing
to do with the burgeoning attractions of Southdown; it was the
prospect of losing her best friend and wine bar buddy, even for a
few weeks, that bothered her. ‘I’d only go for a while. You could
come down and rediscover the joys of Southdown at the weekend.’
Evie looked at her as if she had completely lost her mind. ‘Not
going to happen. I come out in hives if I’m more than a couple of
miles from Piccadilly.’
‘What about Mauritius and Jamaica and jolly old Sri Lanka?’ Gina
started to giggle. Evie was famed for her luxurious and exotic winter
breaks.
‘That’s different,’ pronounced Evie pompously. ‘Those places need
the tourists.’
‘Well, who knows,’ Gina teased her. ‘Maybe Southdown does too.’

On the tube home she thought hard about Ruth’s offer. She’d only
been back to her hometown a couple of times since her parents died
twelve years ago, and one of those visits had been with her brother
Neil, to clear her parents’ house. How different their attitudes had
been to that task! Her brother had wanted to simply junk the lot.
‘Mum and Dad never had any taste,’ Neil had shrugged, leafing
through the Yellow Pages for house clearance companies.
‘Maybe they couldn’t afford any,’ Gina had gently reminded him.
‘They saved all their money to send you and me to private school.’
‘They should have saved their money. Minor public schools are
worse than state schools.’ She’d looked at her brother then,
wondering when he’d become such a crashing snob. Besides, she’d
liked her school. Wolsey Hall had been small and eccentric, and it
was there she’d met both Evie and Ruth.
Her brother had wanted virtually nothing from the house, but Gina
couldn’t resist taking a few pictures she remembered from her
childhood, a pair of clocks that didn’t work because her parents
couldn’t afford to have them mended, and some of the artwork from
Lisa’s GCSEs which her mother had insisted on keeping. At the last
minute she’d added a box of keepsakes her mother had hoarded
over the years: old school reports, postcards Gina had sent from ski-
trips or her brother from rugby tours, invitations to special
occasions. Finally she’d slipped in a couple of photo albums with
attempts at funny inscriptions like Gina does it again! beneath a
picture of a fat baby version of herself in a frilly dress taking a
tumble on the lawn.
She closed her eyes, overcome with emotion. Her parents’ life had
been so much simpler than her own. The idea of Dad, who worked
as a middle manager for the same company all his life, turning into a
secret gambler who removed large sums from their joint account
was unimaginable. Her father had always been the steady, reliable
type. Of course, he lacked Mark’s raffish charm, but look where that
had got Gina.
Damn you, Mark! Where the hell are you? she wondered. He’d
ignored all her messages and calls. Maybe it was time to accept that
their marriage really was over. Trust had to be at the root of a
relationship, and she certainly couldn’t trust Mark. She would help
him all she could for her daughters’ sake, but that would be it.
It was only a five-minute walk from the tube to her home. It came
as a shock to find her husband was standing outside the door about
to put his key in the lock. With his curly brown hair and hazel eyes,
he looked so like her elder daughter, Sadie, that she had to take a
deep breath to keep herself under control.
Gina stopped dead, paralysed by conflicting emotions. What if he
had changed his mind? Would she take him back?’
‘Gina, hi.’ Was that a rare note of apology in Mark’s voice? ‘I
thought you’d like to know. I’ve decided to get help.’
‘Mark,’ there was no doubt now in her response. ‘That’s absolutely
wonderful.’
‘The thing is,’ he continued, avoiding her eyes. ‘I haven’t been
entirely honest with you. Three months ago I met someone else. At
the races, for God’s sake. She used to be a bit of a gambler herself
and she’s making it a condition of us staying together that I get
treatment, and I’ve agreed. I’m sorry, Gina, but I want a divorce.’
Gina stood frozen, the front door half open. You bastard! she
wanted to scream at her husband, remembering the numerous times
she’d tried to persuade him to go for treatment herself. And yet for
this new woman he was prepared to do it with virtually no
argument! The pain was almost too much to bear.
 For the sake of her dignity, she kept her emotions in check. ‘You’d
better leave then,’ she replied coolly. ‘You can expect to hear from
my lawyer. And good luck to your new partner – I suspect she’s
going to need it.’
She stepped inside the front door and slammed it before he could
follow her.
There was no longer any question about whether to take the job
in Southdown. She was desperate to leave right away. If Mark could
start a whole new life, then so could she.
The moment she heard him drive away she got out her phone and
rang Ruth.
‘Ruthie, hello. It’s Gina. About the job. How soon can I start?’
‘I’ll call Lucy, but I don’t see why you shouldn’t come as soon as
you like.’ Ruthie replied with her usual gutsy enthusiasm. ‘I’ll book
you somewhere and you can come down and get reacquainted with
Southdown for a day or two first.’
‘That sounds great, thank you.’
She really ought to ring Evie and ask her advice about Mark, but
she still didn’t feel ready to face it. Maybe she’d do it tomorrow after
she’d told the girls. For now she had to face the moment every
woman dreaded – breaking the news to her beloved daughters that
their parents’ marriage was over.
She wandered restlessly round the house where they had lived for
most of their married life. Everything was so familiar. The
comfortable sofa where they’d all squeezed in to watch silly films
together; the photos of the girls through all their stages of growing
up; the huge kitchen table where so many friends had shared meals
with them. It had seemed a happy house until she’d begun to
suspect her husband’s behaviour was becoming secretive. The irony
was, she’d suspected an affair, not a growing obsession with betting.

‘This is nice, us having a proper family supper,’ Sadie commented

when she and Lisa came round the next day in answer to Gina’s
summons. She was helping her mother lay the table in the kitchen.
The French windows to the garden were open to let in the cool
Another random document with
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use since the beginning of the seventeenth century, and it was not
until 1840 that a Yankee skipper took it into his head to introduce the
sail which is known as the cro’jack. The French, since from this spar
no sail was set, called it the “barren yard”—vergue sec.[106] It was
during this century that the frigate proper as a fast cruiser was
introduced into the English Navy. Still stirred to energy by the activity
displayed by the French, the dimensions of English ships were
constantly being increased during the last years of the eighteenth
century. The capture, in 1792, of the fine three-master Commerce de
Marseilles, with a tonnage of 2747, and a length of over 200 feet,
came as a welcome prize to our fleet which had nothing to equal her
in respect either of size or armament. Again the design embodied in
her was carefully studied by our experts, and before the close of the
century two important improvements were made in English men-of-
war. The first was to cease placing the lower battery so low down to
the water. The reader will readily see that if the enemy were to
leeward—as in all probability he should be—our lower ports must
necessarily be kept closed unless there were only such a faint
draught of wind as scarcely caused the ship to heel over. The French
were thus at a great advantage in being able to fire from every one
of their guns down to the lowest tier. The second improvement
consisted in giving our newer ships a length far greater in proportion
to the beam.
 CHAPTER VIII.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAILING SHIP IN

THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES.

shall endeavour in this chapter to conclude the

narrative of the large sailing ship, all of whose
sails, excepting her triangular headsails and the
staysails and the new shape which we have seen
the mizzen take, are square, and carried athwart
the mast. Neither the fore-and-aft rig, nor those
hybrid developments of squaresail and fore-and-aft
rig, will be considered until the following chapter, in
order that our attention may not now be distracted from the older
form, and also that we may be able presently to consider, without
break of continuity, the story of that newer rig which had its origin
during the sixteenth century.
In 1801 the Union Jack was modified by the introduction of a
saltire for the Union of Ireland with Great Britain. The white, red and
blue admirals, with their corresponding ensigns, continued. Thus the
Red Ensign had not become yet the exclusive use of the Merchant
Service nor the White Ensign of the Navy, but all three colours were
in use to indicate the rank and place of flag-officers. At Trafalgar we
fought under the White Ensign solely. After the practice had grown
up of the whole fleet, for the sake of convenience, flying one colour,
the three were in 1850 abolished, and the White Ensign became the
colour of the Royal Navy.
One of the first war vessels to be laid down in the new century was
the Caledonia, 205 feet long and of 2616 tons. This was in the year
1802, but she was not launched until six years later. Carrying 120
guns she was a first-rate, and was based on the design of the
Commerce de Marseilles, which we mentioned in the last chapter.
There is a model both of the Commerce de Marseilles and of the
Caledonia in the Royal Naval College Museum, Greenwich. The
latter was broken up only as recently as 1907. Up to the beginning of
the nineteenth century ships of the Royal Navy were painted with
blue upperworks, bright yellow sides, and broad black strakes at the
waterline. The interior was generally painted red.[107] But Nelson
had the hulls of his ships painted black with a yellow strake along
each tier of ports, but with black port-lids, and this chequer painting
distinguished all men-of-war, both at Trafalgar and after. White was
soon introduced as a substitute for the yellow. This white band has
survived to this day on many of our biggest sailing ships, and is well
seen in Mr. Charles Dixon’s sketch of the four-masted barque
reproduced in Fig. 78.
Among the innovations which came into use during the early years
of the nineteenth century were the lifeboat and the prototype of the
modern rocket life-saving apparatus. In 1774 Captain (afterwards
Admiral) Schank, while stationed at Boston, built the first craft that
ever possessed a sliding keel. This invention was put into actual use
by the English fleet during the wars in which our country was
engaged at the beginning of the century. By its means those ships
thus fitted were able to sail closer to the wind without making so
much lee-way. They were made better on the helm, and they could
take the ground with less possibility of damage. There is in the
Greenwich Museum an excellent model of the 50-gun frigate
Cynthia, fitted with these sliding keels in 1795.
The strenuous years that formed the beginning of the new century
in which England was constantly at war, gradually increased the size
of her Navy to the enormous total of 644 ships which was reached in
1813. When we mention that at the beginning of the present year,
1909, the British Navy, including certain ships not yet completed, did
not exceed 517 warships of all kinds, one can readily realise how
great had been the extension of the fleet, and, in consequence, how
great an incentive to shipbuilding and the seafaring life had been
given. But this number had as quickly diminished to 114 four years
later, when the outlook of peace seemed bright and hopeful. In 1812
the unfortunate war broke out between the United States and Great
Britain, and for another two years naval activity was renewed. What
the immediate result of the American war had on the development of
the sailing ship is not difficult to estimate. As regards English
shipbuilding, owing to the great success of the American frigates and
their superiority to our own vessels, a sudden wave of enthusiasm
swept over the British naval authorities for frigates. In the panic, this
was pushed to foolish extremes, and bigger ships were cut down
and converted into frigate-shape. In America, the building of frigates
of such unusual size first called the attention of naval architects to
the advantages and possibilities of large vessels. It was thus that the
way was paved for the coming of the early clippers in 1851.[108]
It is time now to refer to the powerful influence exercised over our
naval architecture by Sir Robert Seppings. It was he who in 1804
introduced the round bow in place of the straight wall-like structure
which had been inherited from the previous centuries. Similarly,
instead of the square stern, he gave his ships a circular one. But
more important still was the diagonal method of placing the timbers
of a ship which he introduced in 1800. The advantage of this was
increased strength and ability to resist the hogging strains, which the
Egyptians also had to overcome.[109] A large model showing
Seppings’ method of construction will be found in the Greenwich
Museum. The system, while no doubt being efficacious in preventing
the “working” of a ship’s component parts, must necessarily have
added very considerably to her weight. It was about this time, too,
that teak was used occasionally for the construction of ships. During
the first quarter of the century whatever improvements were made in
British naval architecture owed their origin almost entirely to the
knowledge gained from the numerous prizes captured from the
French. One of the finest ships ever built in France was the Sans
Pareil, which we had taken from the enemy in 1794. She was of
2242 tons and carried 80 guns. (The reader will find a block-model of
this ship in the Greenwich Museum). The influence which this vessel
exercised over our naval architecture was not inconsiderable. So
much admiration did she receive that as late as 1845 there was
designed on similar lines and laid down at Devonport a British ship.
She was never launched, however, as another Sans Pareil, but while
on the stocks was altered, her length was increased, and she was
eventually given the addition of a screw propeller, and thus launched
in 1851.

Photo. Hughes & Son, Ltd.

Fig. 70. The “Newcastle,” an East Indiaman.

The progress which had been made in the ships of the Royal Navy
had its counterpart in the mercantile marine. Gradually through the
centuries since the Crusades had opened up the Mediterranean to
English trade our ancestors had acquired bigger and bigger ships for
the purpose of carrying merchandise. The discovery of the West
Indies, of North America, the Newfoundland Fisheries, and
subsequently the founding of the East India Company, had step by
step developed the ships which were used for purposes of
commerce. Especially favourable for merchant shipping had been
the East and West Indian trade. The voyages and discoveries made
by Dampier, Anson and Cook increased still further the scope of
English trade, and, consequently, the need for both ships and
seafaring men became greater. Wars obviously arrested the
progress already made, but by 1821 the tonnage of the shipping of
the British Empire amounted to the significant sum of 2,560,203, in
spite of the keen competition now made by the United States. The
East India Company at the beginning of the nineteenth century
occupied the position now held in the twentieth century by the
principal companies owning the biggest liners to-day; that is to say,
the largest and finest merchant ships belonged to them. And profiting
by the monopoly which they owned, paying very handsome profits,
they could afford to build their ships well and strong. Consequently it
is not to be wondered that the East Indiamen from the
commencement of the century down to the last of their race became
historical for their building and capabilities. Fig. 70 shows the
Newcastle, a well-known East Indiaman of the early part of the
nineteenth century.

Photo. by Hanfstaengl.
Fig. 71. Spithead: Boat’s Crew recovering an Anchor.
From the painting by J. M. W. Turner, R.A.
 During the eighteenth century brigs of about a couple of hundred
tons had been used for coasting trade, and especially for carrying
coals from Shields and Newcastle: but with the advent of the steam
collier the days of these ships were numbered. The illustration in Fig.
71 is from the painting by Turner in the National Gallery entitled
Spithead: Boat’s Crew recovering an Anchor. It was exhibited in the
Royal Academy in 1809, and is here included in order to provide a
contemporary picture of the full-rigged ships of the beginning of the
nineteenth century.
Not till about 1810 was iron introduced for knees, breast-hooks
and pillars, although the use of iron had been tried for the whole
structure in a small boat as far back as 1787. The real introduction of
building ships of iron occurred in 1829, yet it was not till the ’forties
that opposition was entirely swept aside and iron came to be
recognised as a suitable material for ships.

Fig. 72. A West Indiaman of 1820.

But we have digressed from the period before us. If the East India
trade was a monopoly, commerce with the West Indies was
unfettered by any such condition. Not unnaturally, therefore,
competition was keen on this route, and as a result a number of
excellent cargo-carrying ships were built, able to endure the trying
conditions of the Atlantic without being deficient in the virtue of
speed. The illustration in Fig. 72, taken from a print dated 1820, in
the British Museum, will give some idea of the appearance of a
contemporary West Indiaman. Gradually the similarity between
purely mercantile and exclusively naval ships was disappearing, and
we shall see presently how this gulf was widened still further.
Sir Robert Seppings was succeeded by Captain Sir William
Symonds, R.N., who was Surveyor to the Royal Navy from 1832 to
1847, years full of importance in the history of the sailing ship. We
have referred more than once to the slavish copying of French
models which had been a feature of our naval architecture. This was
now to end. Just as before, and many times after, England had
shown herself to possess a genius not so much for inventiveness as
for improving on the ideas of others, so now she began to design
and build vessels that could not be surpassed even by the French
themselves. During Symonds’ régime the golden age of the wooden
walls of England was reached. It was he who was responsible for the
design of such ships as the Vernon (fifty guns), the Queen, and
about one hundred and eighty others. Seaworthiness combined with
speed were their outstanding virtues, and these he obtained by
improving their underwater lines and making them less heavy and
clumsy.[110] Internally the ships were constructed so as to provide
more room and air. Symonds completed the work of Seppings in
getting rid of the mediæval stern which had lingered with certain
modifications for so long a period. Instead of the circular, he gave his
ships an elliptical stern, and devised a system whereby not only
were the different spars of one ship interchangeable, but the spars of
different ships and different classes of ships. There is a very fine
large model of his Queen in the Greenwich Museum which has been
rigged with the greatest regard to accuracy in every possible detail,
so perhaps in studying her we shall get as good an example of
Symonds’ ships as we can desire. Built in 1839, this 110-gun ship
had a tonnage of 3104. Her length was 204 feet 2½ inches, her
breadth 60 feet 0½ inch, her depth 23 feet 9 inches, and she carried
a crew of 900. She had been laid down as early as 1833, and her
name had originally been the Royal Frederick, but after the
accession of Queen Victoria she was named Queen at her
launching. Later, in 1859, she was given the addition of a screw
propeller.
In the Greenwich model she is seen as a sailing ship pure and
simple, with three decks. As to her rigging I have had the pleasure of
talking with more than one of those who served in this, the first three-
decker that was launched during the reign of Victoria. One of the first
points that strikes one is that the Queen is seen to have relinquished
the historic hempen cable for the chain. The rounded bow instead of
the square shape already alluded to is immediately obvious. The
yard of the spritsail athwart the bowsprit still remains, although this
sail remained longer in the merchant service than in the Navy, being
used but rarely in the latter at this late period. She possesses a
bowsprit in three parts, i.e., bowsprit proper, jib-boom and flying-
boom. To encounter the downward strain the ship by now has also a
dolphin-striker. The Queen carried stun’sails (studding-sails) of
course, square in shape, which were often weighted down by shot at
the outboard end. Many merchant ships of that time, however, had
them cut not square but triangular, and these were then set, not as
the modern yacht sets her spinnaker with the apex of the triangle at
the top, but at the bottom. In the edition of “Falconer’s Marine
Dictionary” revised by Burney, and published three years before the
Queen was laid down, he speaks of and illustrates stun’sails only for
the courses, topsails, and t’gallant sails. Royal studding sails most
probably never were seen, although I notice that E. W. Cooke, R.A.,
whose life was covered by the period between 1811 and 1880, who
was one of the most faithful marine artists of the time, whose father
was well known as an engraver of Turner’s pictures, who himself
was also at one time largely engaged on similar work, has an
illustration showing a British frigate with both t’gallant and royal
stuns’ls. It seems unlikely that so accurate an artist as Cooke should
make such a mistake, although the weight of evidence is decidedly
against him.
 Falconer says that lower studding sails were used on the main and
fore. The booms were generally hooked on to the chains by a
gooseneck, and kept steady by a guy. Topmast and t’gallant studding
sails were spread along the foot by booms which slid out from the
yards. This is well seen in the Queen and many another model which
the reader will no doubt have examined. In a similar manner the
head of the sail had small sliding yards for the same purpose. The
sail on the mizzen mast now called a driver or spanker was chiefly
used when on a wind, being usually stowed when running. The
boom will be found to project very far over the stern, even to an
almost incredible extent, yet this is quite accurate for the period. As
is still the custom, the gaff was kept up when the sail was not in use,
contrary to the practice on a modern cutter-rigged vessel. The origin
of this sail we have seen develop from the old lateen, and modified
in its transition by Dutch influence. Now, one characteristic of the
Dutchman was his love of brails, and even when the boom was
added and the diagonal sprit taken away from this sail on the little
fore-and-afters the brailing system clung tenaciously to the sail. We
have a very good instance of this in the mainsail of the bawley (see
Fig. 86), which has neither boom nor sprit, but which can be brailed
up all the same. The barge has a sprit but no boom, and stows her
sail by brailing. When this sail came to be used as the driver on
square-rigged ships and the boom was also added, using a loose-
footed sail, the brails still survived as we see them on the Queen. In
furling the driver, therefore, the brail hauled the sail to the mast: then
in order to make a neat job of it a kind of clew-garnet drew the leach
end of the foot diagonally across the sail to the mast also. This will
be noticed in many contemporary prints of this period and earlier. I
have talked with one old sailor who remembers, when the ship had
got into the favourable trade-wind, not merely setting every stitch of
canvas the vessel had to put up, but even stepping the masts of the
ship’s boats lying on deck and hoisting the sails of these boats to
drive the ship along yet faster still. The reader may remember that
Nelson’s Victory, one of the fastest line-of-battle ships of her day,
went into action at Trafalgar with studding sails set.
We have already shown that it was not long in the new century
before iron was introduced in connection with shipbuilding, though it
was some time before it was able to take the place of wood for the
hulls of ships. By the ’thirties steam was becoming gradually to be
reckoned with as a serious menace to sail, and in the Navy the
Tartarus, of four guns and a tonnage of 523, was classed as a
paddle sloop. Nevertheless, paddle-wheel steamers attached to the
fleet were regarded with scorn and spoken of as “dirty old smoke-
jacks.” As a distinguished naval officer and explorer, happily still with
us, Admiral Moresby, says: “There was obviously no future for this
type in the service, and sails would continue to waft us as they had
done from the beginning. So we thought; but one day a long, low
craft, barque-rigged, and possessing no outward sign of a steamer
but the funnel, joined the fleet. She was the Rattler, the first man-of-
war screw-ship. We viewed her with interest but did not realise her
significance. Pitted against her in every trial was the Alecto—a
paddle-sloop of equal tonnage and horse-power—the Rattler an
easy first in all circumstances. Finally they were lashed stern to stern
in a ‘pull devil, pull baker’ grip, and ordered to put forth all their
strength to see which could tow the other—a strange scene which I
well remember. It was a calm day, with a long, heaving swell.
Alecto’s paddles were revolving and churning the foam like a whale
in a flurry, while a slight ripple under the Rattler’s stern alone showed
that there was power at work.... Alecto, in spite of frantic struggles,
was dragged slowly astern, and the era of the screw had begun.”[111]
The same author relates an amusing instance as showing the
manner in which steam was contemplated by the old school. A
certain captain was bringing his ship into harbour under steam and
sail. As he ran up he shortened sail and came to anchor in
handsome style, but unfortunately forgot that his engines were still
going, with a result that could only spell disaster!
There was between the naval ships of the ’forties and those of the
time of Charles II. a similarity a hundredfold closer than that which
can be found to exist between the former and those of King
Edward’s ships to-day. With a change in ships came a change in
personnel. “The officers of the early ’forties,” writes Admiral Moresby,
“with few exceptions, were content to be practical sailors only. They
had nothing to do with the navigation of the ship or the rating of the
chronometers. That was entirely in the hands of the master, and no
other had any real experience or responsibility in the matter. For
example—I recall a captain, whose ship was at Spithead. He was
ordered by signal to go to the assistance of a ship on shore at the
back of the Isle of Wight. In reply he hoisted ‘Inability. The master is
ashore.’ He was asked, ‘Are the other officers aboard?’ and signalled
‘Yes.’ But to the repeated order, ‘Proceed immediately,’ he again
hoisted ‘Inability,’ and remained entrenched in this determination
until a pilot was sent to assist him.”
But to come back to the merchant service, to the old East
Indiamen “with their stately tiers of sails and splendid crews of
trained seamen,” although they were much finer in their lines and
less unhandy than the vessels in the Royal Navy of this period, their
rig was in most respects akin to the latter.[112] They carried three
courses—foresail, mainsail and cro’jack, three topsails (in each of
which there were three or four reefs), and three t’gallant sails and
royals, or twelve sails on the three masts. The fore-and-aft sails
were: on the bowsprit and jib-boom, a fore topmast staysail, an inner
jib and outer jib and flying jib. Below the bowsprit was set on the
spritsail yard, what the reader has been accustomed through these
chapters to know as the “spritsail,” but which in the nineteenth
century, even though triangular headsails were more in evidence
than before, still continued, though known as a “water sail,” or “bull-
driver.” Leslie, in his “Old Sea Wings, Ways and Words in the Days
of Oak and Hemp,” says that spritsails were not only used when
going free but when on a wind. The reef-points were placed
diagonally so that when reefed that part of the sail nearest to the sea
was narrower than the upper part. Two circular holes were cut, one
in each corner, so that when the ship plunged her bows into a sea
the water could run out and not split the canvas. Mr. Bullen says that
this sail was not of much use, nor could he understand why it was
carried at all, as it always had to be furled as soon as the ship began
to pitch a little. However, this last and final relic of mediævalism has
at last departed for good, although it dated back for its origin to the
artemon of classical times. Even when the sprit topmast had
disappeared, the sprit topsail was retained for some time by placing
it below the bowsprit instead of above, but further forward of the
spritsail proper.
Between the fore and main masts of the East Indiamen were the
main topmast staysail, main topgallant staysail and main royal
staysail. Between the main and mizzen were the mizzen topmast
staysail, and mizzen t’gallant staysail, but a royal was seldom set on
this mast. Abaft came the spanker or driver, often with the addition
on the after-leach of a ring-tail. Stun’sles, too, were used. But in
those days although these East Indiamen carried more hands than a
sailing ship of like size does to-day, yet every night at sunset all light
sails were taken off her and the ship was snugged down for the
night. Still the old bluff-bowed East Indiaman had had its day when
the young Republic of the United States, encouraged by the
opportunity which freedom from war now afforded, introduced on the
sea ships with clipper-bow that literally cleft the waves instead of
hitting them and retarding the passage of the hull through the water.
With a freedom of mind which has ever characterised the American,
both as a nation and an individual, the marine architects on the other
side of the Atlantic threw convention still further to the winds by
modifying the design of the stern in such a way that instead of
squatting and holding the dead water the ship slid through it cleanly
with a minimum of resistance. Possessing unlimited supplies of
timber, they were in a position to build ships at a far lower rate than
we in this country. In fact, so much was this the case that in England
between the years 1841 and 1847 no fewer than forty shipbuilders
went bankrupt in Sunderland alone. The one object of the American
designer was to build a ship that should sail every other craft off the
seas and so obtain the maximum of trade-carrying. Besides the
improvement in bow and stern they lengthened the ship till she
became five and six times longer than in breadth. This gave an
opportunity of adding a fourth mast to the ship and to carry more
sails. The sails themselves were improved in cut, being no longer
mere bags to hold the wind, but of a “close-textured, dazzlingly-white
canvas.” In exact contradistinction to the East Indiamen, these
Yankee ships did not reef down in anticipation of the gale that was to
follow hours after, but took in sail reluctantly. The part played by the
American clippers during the period that saw the close of the great
wars and the beginning of the American Civil War is one of vast
importance to the development of the sailing ship of any size. Even
when steamers began to cross the Atlantic in 1840, these wonderful
clippers were able to cross in about a fortnight. In every way superior
to the old cotton-ships running between New York and Havre in the
early ’thirties, the clippers of the ’forties and ’fifties were seaworthy
as well as fast. One of the most famous was the Flying Cloud built in
1851, which performed the sensational run of 427 knots in twenty-
four hours when on a passage from New York to San Francisco. The
Sovereign of the Seas did even better still.
But yet again the English genius for improving on other peoples’
ideas showed itself at a critical point in the history of shipbuilding.
Shipbuilders and architects put their heads together and decided to
meet the American on his own terms. If he had built clippers that had
flown across the sea, it was their duty to build something that would
fly faster still; so a new chapter in British shipping begins, and
headed by Mr. Richard Green, the famous Blackwall shipbuilder and
shipowner, England built for herself the real thing in clippers, quite
early in the ’sixties. The Challenger was in 1850 laid down in Messrs.
Green’s yard to sail against the American Challenge, in an ocean
race from China, and won. Besides Messrs. Green, other British
firms entered the contest and built splendid clippers, amongst whom
may be mentioned Messrs. J. Thompson & Co., of Aberdeen, who
founded the well-known line of Aberdeen clippers; Messrs. Steele, of
Greenock, and Messrs. Scott, of Greenock. Built of teak planking
with iron frames, these new vessels were made to last, unlike the
American ships, whose life was quite short, built as they were merely
out of soft stuff. The enormous spars which the new British ships
were given caused no little surprise at that time, but they managed to
carry them none the less. The Great Republic, launched in the early
’fifties, was the first vessel to carry double topsails. Owned and built
in America, she was 305 feet long, 53 feet broad, 30 feet deep, and
had a tonnage of 3400. She carried also double t’gallant sails as well
as staysails, and was barque rigged, having 4500 square yards of
canvas. So perfectly was she rigged that she was handled by a crew
of 100. She was chartered by the French Government to carry troops
to the Crimea,[113] had four decks and was strengthened with iron
lattice-work.
But about the year 1853, we enter upon the final and most perfect
stage of the sailing ship. Spurred on by competition and necessity,
builders and architects had been compelled to put forth their best
and to get right away from the old-fashioned ruts. So now wood at
last was to give place to iron as the material for constructing sailing
ships as well as steamers. In this year Messrs. Scott of Greenock
built the iron sailing ship Lord of the Isles which, three years later,
beat two of the American crack clippers, though nearly double her
size, in the race from Foo Choo to London. The adoption of iron
meant a saving of about a third of the weight of the hull; moreover,
as ships became longer, increased structural strength was found to
be lacking in wood.[114] As we saw in the time of Charles II., English
oak had been getting gradually so scarce as to put us at a serious
disadvantage in competition with such a well-wooded region as
North America. The gold rush to California in the ’fifties, and to
Australia, gave a tremendous impetus to shipping. The reader must
recollect that by this time there were no railways across the
American continent, and so when the inhabitants of the Eastern
States of America decided to go west, they could only go viâ Cape
Horn. This was the chance for the clipper ship to show her
superiority to her predecessors, and in these voyages she soon
showed that speed meant money.
But we must come now to the influence which the China tea trade
had on the sailing ship. I understand that tea is a commodity which,
as long as it is kept in a ship’s hold, quickly loses its delicate flavour
and quality. Consequent on this, and the desire on the part of
London merchants to obtain each year the first portion of the new tea
crop at the earliest possible moment, it was to their interest to
encourage a quick passage. Therefore enormous prizes were held
out as an inducement, and the keenest rivalry existed between
different ships in the race home. Solent regattas, the international
race from Dover to Heligoland, even the famous race a few years
ago across the North Atlantic look ridiculous when one thinks of the
excitement that reigned on board during a race all the way from
China to the River Thames. For a long time the American ships had
been successful. Before the introduction of iron such craft as the Sea
Witch, a clipper built in 1842, of 907 tons register, and carrying 1100
tons of China tea,[115] caused tremendous jealousy among the
British skippers. In 1853 the Challenge had sailed from Canton to
Deal in 105 days, though in the same year the English Chrysolite
clipper sailed from Canton to Liverpool in 106 days. For a few years
the Americans had the best of the competition; but before the ’fifties
had ended the China trade had been won by British clippers, and the
American Civil War of 1861-1865 dealt a fatal blow to their clippers
as rivals to ours. But none the less those keen races to England did
not diminish. The rivalry which had existed between nation and
nation now continued between ship and ship, between skipper and
skipper, shipowner and shipowner. This led to the finest development
of sailing ships, and as long as the word remains in the English
language, so long will these clipper races remain famous alike for
the skill as for the sporting instinct in the crews that got them home
in record time.

Fig. 73. The “Ariel” and “Taeping,” two of the finest Tea-Clippers,
racing Home, off the Lizard, on September 6, 1866.
 Among the most celebrated ships of the ’sixties were the Black
Ball liners Flying Cloud and Scomberg; the Aberdeen clipper liners
Thermopylæ, Thyatera; whilst among the China clippers were the Sir
Lancelot, which was lost in the Bay of Bengal in a cyclone in 1896,
the Black Adder and the Cutty Sark. Other famous tea clippers were
the Ariel, Taeping, Serica, Fiery Cross and Taitsing. The first two of
these will be found in Fig. 73, in which they are seen off the Lizard
on September 6, 1866. They started together with Serica from Foo-
choo on May 30, and lost sight of each other till they reached the
English Channel. Taeping arrived in the London Dock (the same day
she had passed the Lizard) at 9·45 p.m., while Ariel arrived at the
East India Dock at 10·15 p.m., or with half an hour’s difference after
racing for over three months on end. Serica arrived only a few hours
later. In the thrilling picture before us, these two ships are seen with
stun’s’ls and staysails set. The foretopmast staysail in both ships is
stowed since the foresail with its projecting stun’s’l would otherwise
blanket and render it useless. The improved lines at bow and stern
to which we referred just now are here seen at their best. Two of the
fastest sailing vessels ever built were the Thermopylæ and the Sir
Lancelot. The former especially, had a marvellous capacity for
speed. In one day, in the year 1870, she made a run of 330 knots, or
380 statute miles, being an average of 16 miles an hour. The Sir
Lancelot, for seven consecutive days, kept up an average of over
300 miles a day. It was the Thermopylæ, which in 1869 was the first
tea ship home, having made the passage in 91 days, but the Sir
Lancelot presently eclipsed even this wonderful passage in 89 days,
being the fastest clipper ever built.
The Cutty Sark was not as fast as the Thermopylæ and Sir
Lancelot, but in 1872, although she had her rudder carried away on
the voyage, she ran home from Shanghai in 122 days. The
Thermopylæ was a composite clipper of 947 tons register. She was
210 feet long by 36 feet beam and 21 feet deep. She was designed
by Mr. Waymouth for Messrs. Thompson & Co. The Sir Lancelot
was, like the Thermopylæ, a composite ship, and was built by
Messrs. Steel, of Greenock, for Mr. James McCunn. She was 886
tons register, 197 feet long, 33 feet 7 inches broad and 21 feet deep.
When fully laden with 300 tons of ballast and 1430 tons of tea, she
drew 18 feet 7 inches of water forward and 2 inches more aft. Her
complement was 30, and when in racing trim she spread more than
an acre of canvas. Her best run in twenty-four hours was of 354
miles. The article contributed recently by Mr. Bullen to the periodical
already mentioned set on foot an interesting correspondence, in
which some valuable facts were brought out by those who had
actually served on these clipper-ships. And since the days of man
are but three score years and ten, and before many more decades
have run all those who went to sea in these magnificent ships will
have passed away, I have thought it worth while to preserve here
some of their recollections. The authors having adopted
pseudonyms, I am unable to give their names.
One correspondent states that he remembers to have sailed 368
miles in one day, and 1000 miles in three days. One ship made a
passage from the Start to the Ridge Lightship (30 miles from the
mouth of the Hooghly) in 86 days. This was the Northampton, owned
by Messrs. Soames and Co., of London. But other ships, including
Messrs. Green’s Alnwick Castle, did it in 69 days. On September 23,
1863, the Hotspur arrived at Madras in 79 days.
 Fig. 74 The Iron Clipper “Stonehouse.” Built in 1866.
From the model in the South Kensington Museum.

The illustration in Fig. 74 is taken from a model in the South

Kensington Museum, and represents the iron clipper Stonehouse. It
will be noticed she is ship-rigged; she was launched at Pallion in
1866. She has a full poop and topgallant forecastle, with
considerable accommodation for carrying first-class passengers and
cargo. Her displacement at load line is 2600 tons; her actual tonnage
worked out at 1298; her length 220·5 feet, breadth 37 feet, depth
22·66 feet, and her load draught 19·25 feet. It will be noticed that
she has double topsails, and her lines will give one an adequate idea
of the famous clippers of the ’sixties.
The effect of the opening of the Suez Canal in the year 1870 was
to place most of the trade to the East into steamers, which by now
had become the deadliest enemy of the sailing ship. It would have
been impossible to have carried on the trade in frozen food to-day in
these fine old ships, and sentiment had necessarily to give way to
the exacting dictates of commerce; but for a long time before 1870,
and for some time after opening the canal, the traffic to India,
Australia, and New Zealand was carried on in sailing ships, and the
same keen rivalry to make the best passage continued. The Atlantic
emigrant traffic also continued to be carried in sailing ships; but the
ceaseless progress of the big steamship lines, and the competition
which lowered the fares for steerage passengers, drove still another
nail in the sailing ship’s coffin. And yet, in regard to speed, these
ships would sail to the east or the west with a regularity equal to
most modern tramp steamers.

Photo. Hughes & Son, Ltd.

Fig. 75. The Iron Barque “Macquarie.” Built in 1875.

The beautiful illustration in Fig. 75 is from a photograph of the

celebrated Macquarie. She is an iron barque, and was built in 1875