Dewey Lambdin - King`s Captain

"Well?" Lewrie joshed. "A deep subject, that."

"Aye, sir… aye." Will nodded sagely, mustering up a chuckle of his own for a second. "But, uhm… d'ye see, Cap'um. Me… an' Mister Tuggle, uhm… Mister Reese, an' Sadler, sir… we are th' delegates. Got elected, like, by the rest o' th' 'ands."

"Oh, Will, my God, what's t'become o' ya?" Maggie gasped aloud, hands to her mouth. "Tell me they don't know it yet!"

"Signed our names, Maggie… right out in th' open, like. Same as th' rest." Cony winced, taking another duck-and-cover sip of beer.

"Well, I'll be damned." Lewrie groaned. "Why in Hell?"

"Day'r two after ya left th' ship, sir." Will wriggled about as he began to explain, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "See, these petitions come aboard from th' line-o'-battle ships, all signed by ev'ry liner in Channel Fleet. Boats visitin' back an' forth, folks lookin' up ol' shipmates… ya know how 'at is, don't ya, Cap'um, why a body'd not think o' thing of h'it. First off, they waz about pay… Mister Tuggle, show th' cap'um | 'at first 'un we got."

"Uhm, er… here, sir." Tuggle complied, rather warily. "D'ye see, sir, ah… Commander Lewrie? Hands haven't been paid, Lord knows how long, nor how far in arrears, not the six months usual. And with the redcoats gettin' a rise in pay two years ago too, well…"

He handed over a document. Lewrie scanned it, feeling like he should be using tongs, not fingers. This could surely burn up a Navy career like a fireplace ember would consume a carpet! He did smirk at it though; for it was Admiralty paper, water-marked with "GR"-the monogram for Georgius Rex!

To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.

THE HUMBLE PETITION of the seamen aboard His Majesty's Ship

____________________in behalf of themselves and all others serving in His

Majesty's fleets

Humbly Sheweth

THAT your petitioners must humbly intreat your Lordships will take the hardships of which they complain into your consideration, not in the least doubting that Wisdom and Goodness will induce your Lordships to grant them a speedy Redress.

It is now upwards of two years since your Lordships' petitioners observed with Pleasure the Increase of Pay which has been granted the Army and Militia, and the separate provision for their wives and families-naturally expecting that they should in turn experience the same Munificence, but alas, no notice has been taken of Them, nor the smallest provision…

The petition went on to state most assuredly that the seamen of the Royal Navy were His Majesty's most loyal and most courageous men, especially in such trying times, when their country called them to… "so pressingly advance once more to face her foes…" With what additional vigour and happy minds they would fly to their duty should they know that they'd be paid more money, in line with the increases the Army (and the idle Militia) got-and pointed out that the Navy hadn't gotten a rise in pay since the times of Charles I!

"Well, hmmm…" Lewrie commented, ducking-and-covering behind a quaff of his beer for a moment of thought; damme, anything I say will be misconstrued as encouraging a mutiny… mine own arse nailed to the mainmast. But…? Could I cosset 'em out of it? he wondered. Save a ship for the loyalist side; that would be another favour Admiralty owes me!

"Oh, for God's sake, Mister Tuggle, you look half-strangled," Lewrie said with a faint smile. " 'Long as Will's taking his ease, why do you not, yourself, sir? Mind now…, as I said, I have no brief to negotiate, nothing official, but…"

"Aye, thankee, sir, thankee right kindly." Tuggle relented with a whoof of expelled breath. He pulled up a tarry keg and bobbed his head as he poured himself a piggin of beer, after bobbing his head to seem to beg even more permission. Sailors had been flogged half-dead in the Fleet who'd even dared begin a conversation with some officers! Or take any liberties of familiarity with them. Tuggle was treading on very shaky ground, and he knew it.

"I must say, this petition was quite respectful. And handsomely done. A small pay rise, and a more timely paying of it, well… your officers, I assure you, experience just such frustration. I don't see how that this letter led to… this!" Lewrie cried, holding the damning document aloft to sweep over his head to encompass the whole rebellious harbour. "And compared to the liners anchored out there, you're in shoal waters. Guns landed ashore, trapped in the graving dock… why, it's a wonder the Port Admiral hasn't sent Marines here already to root you out. A mutiny for this piddlin'…?"

" 'Scuse me, Cap'um Lewrie, but"-Cony interjected-"this'd been sent weeks afore, an' nary an answer did t'others get. Sent up t'Admiralty, sir… sent t'Lord Howe too, we 'eard tell. Might even o' been sent t'that fellow Fox up in Parliament…"

"Aye, the Great Patriot, for certain, sir… bein' so liberal an' all?" Tuggle added, sounding a trifle more enthused. Whether he admired Charles James Fox, the new champion of the Common Man, or the beer more-well, Lewrie was uncertain. "But like Mister Cony says… no reply, sir. So this time the committees determined they'd not put back t'sea 'thout we get some answer. Orders come down Easter morn t'sail. Lord Bridport ordered Vice-Admiral Gardner t'drop eight ships down t'Saint Helen's Patch and await a wind, sir? Well, they didn't… not a man moved. Obeyed orders, sir, all orders but that 'un. Afore then, well, sir…" Tuggle related, more chummily. "Lord Bridport, he knew what was goin' on, or had an inklin' at last. He asked for the ships t'send him more specific complaints and…"

"He bloody what?" Lewrie barked, half-strangled on his beer.

Open the floodgates to the lower deck? Lewrie marvelled to himself; oh, try and lance it fore it festers, but, my God! The wrong damn' way! Why, every man-jack had something that rankled him about being in the Navy, pressed or volunteered!

"Said he couldn't deal with anonymous petitions, sir," Cony admitted. "Why we ended up signin' our names. Valentine Joyce, in Royal George… th' speaker for all, sir… he signed first o' th' list. Sorry, Maggie, but I had t'do h'it. Wot those Yankee Doodles said durin' th' war… 'we hang t'gither, or we all hang sep'rate'?"

"You were coerced, Cony," Lewrie objected, offering him a way out. "The people looked to you, and…"

"Most o' th' old crew's gone, sir," Cony cut him off gently. "Turned over t'other ships… promoted up an' out. Wot 'ands we got, they're new-come. Cap'um Mallard's lot, he brought with 'im? Even them agreed, sir."

"Oh, 'twas a sore patch for him, that, sir! Been with him for years, they had." Tuggle grunted with a dab of humour, but even more sympathy for the new fool who'd seen his "pets" turn on him. "Voted for me an' Will, they did, sir, same'z the old hands remainin'. Then we swore, sir."

"Took a Bible-oath, Cap'um," Cony stated, chin up in a noble, bright-eyed conviction. "Swore t'be true t'th' cause, we did. There were Marines took the oath, sir. Stap me, did they not!"

"An' swore t'keep proper order, sir… e'en without Commission Officers aboard," Tuggle chimed in. "Ye look sharp with a glass out yonder, sir. They've rove yard ropes from the yardarm tips."

"A threat against…?"

"No, sir!" Tuggle objected. "No threat 'gainst officers, sir! A threat t'any bully-bucks who get out o' line. Officers and wimmen t'be turned out, sir… no spirits t'be smuggled aboard, and no folder-ol, no debauch. Repairs, store-keepin', watch-standin', same'z…"

"An' 'ard 'nough 'at is, Cap'um Lewrie," Cony smiled wryly. "Why, th' Fleet's workin' alive with Yew-nited Irish, sworn t'ruin it, so France c'n sail over an' help 'em do they 'ave another risin'…"