men attracted by Ramage’s reputation.
With his furniture not yet arrived, he had to interview them in Luckhurst’s tiny cabin. As he worked his way through the list, he found he was picking more that had served in frigates than ships of the line. It was not any bias on his part in favour of frigates; it was simply that those who had served in frigates fared better in answering his questions, which usually began with the phrase ‘What would you do if…?’ He was little concerned with mathematical ability and, if the applicant was young, his ability to work out a sight. What mattered most was that the applicant had initiative. By the time he had chosen his ten, he found that eight of them were under sixteen years old, one was twenty and one was thirty-two, a stocky young man already going bald.
The day after the interviews, Aitken started hoisting in the guns and carriages. The ship was filled with shouted orders, the creak of the mainyard and the squeal of the sheaves in the blocks, and then the rumble of the trucks on the deck as guns and carriages were rolled into position and secured.
It was tiring work for the men. The 32-pounders, of which the Dido had twenty-eight, each weighed fifty-five and a half hundredweight – just short of three tons. On top of that came the weight of the carriage, which because of the shape was difficult to hoist. The 24-pounders, of which she had thirty, were not much lighter, each gun weighing two and a half tons. Then there were sixteen 12-pounders, each weighing thirty-four hundredweight. Two of them were to go in Ramage’s cabin, and one in the coach and one in his bedplace. Finally there were eight 12-pounder carronades, only two feet two inches long, but fitted on slides, not carriages, which would go on the poop above.
While the guns were being swayed on board, the Dido received her full complement of Marines. Ramage had a letter saying that Lieutenant Rennick had been promoted to captain, and that was followed by the new first and second Marine lieutenants, two young men of whom Rennick approved. There were now four sergeants, four corporals, two drummers and 110 privates, a total of 123. Ramage, looking at their details set down in the Muster Book, noted that he now had half as many Marines in the Dido as the full complement of Marines and seamen for the Calypso. At once Rennick offered Aitken more men to help with the fitting-out, and what the Marines lacked in nautical skill they made up for with strength, being only too ready to tail on to the end of a rope and give a good heave.
Once the guns had been brought on board and hauled into position so that breechings and train tackles could be secured, the purser, a newcomer named Jeremiah Clapton, was calling on Aitken, saying that he wanted to start loading provisions. Since the captain had received orders to provision and water for six months, he warned, there was a great deal to be brought on board.
Very soon carts were delivering an almost bewildering quantity of supplies alongside, and Clapton and his mates were driven almost frantic keeping a tally. Ramage, watching for a few minutes as the carts were unloaded, was always almost bewildered by the variety of stores needed. There were casks of cheese, jars of oil, bags of bread, sacks of salt, wreaths of twigs for lighting the galley fire, butts, puncheons, hogsheads and barrels of beer, as well as a variety of measures of beef, pork, flour, raisins, suet, pease, oatmeal, rice, sugar, butter and vinegar.
Clapton’s most difficult task was keeping a tally of all the different weights and measures. His basic measurement was a tun, but the list of equivalents seemed to have been drawn up by a madman. Two butts, three puncheons, four hogsheads and six barrels all equalled a tun; but so did six jars of oil, twelve bags of bread and forty wreaths of twigs. But how many pounds in a tun was a question that only a purser with his list could answer. Just 1,800 lbs of flour or
With his furniture not yet arrived, he had to interview them in Luckhurst’s tiny cabin. As he worked his way through the list, he found he was picking more that had served in frigates than ships of the line. It was not any bias on his part in favour of frigates; it was simply that those who had served in frigates fared better in answering his questions, which usually began with the phrase ‘What would you do if…?’ He was little concerned with mathematical ability and, if the applicant was young, his ability to work out a sight. What mattered most was that the applicant had initiative. By the time he had chosen his ten, he found that eight of them were under sixteen years old, one was twenty and one was thirty-two, a stocky young man already going bald.
The day after the interviews, Aitken started hoisting in the guns and carriages. The ship was filled with shouted orders, the creak of the mainyard and the squeal of the sheaves in the blocks, and then the rumble of the trucks on the deck as guns and carriages were rolled into position and secured.
It was tiring work for the men. The 32-pounders, of which the Dido had twenty-eight, each weighed fifty-five and a half hundredweight – just short of three tons. On top of that came the weight of the carriage, which because of the shape was difficult to hoist. The 24-pounders, of which she had thirty, were not much lighter, each gun weighing two and a half tons. Then there were sixteen 12-pounders, each weighing thirty-four hundredweight. Two of them were to go in Ramage’s cabin, and one in the coach and one in his bedplace. Finally there were eight 12-pounder carronades, only two feet two inches long, but fitted on slides, not carriages, which would go on the poop above.
While the guns were being swayed on board, the Dido received her full complement of Marines. Ramage had a letter saying that Lieutenant Rennick had been promoted to captain, and that was followed by the new first and second Marine lieutenants, two young men of whom Rennick approved. There were now four sergeants, four corporals, two drummers and 110 privates, a total of 123. Ramage, looking at their details set down in the Muster Book, noted that he now had half as many Marines in the Dido as the full complement of Marines and seamen for the Calypso. At once Rennick offered Aitken more men to help with the fitting-out, and what the Marines lacked in nautical skill they made up for with strength, being only too ready to tail on to the end of a rope and give a good heave.
Once the guns had been brought on board and hauled into position so that breechings and train tackles could be secured, the purser, a newcomer named Jeremiah Clapton, was calling on Aitken, saying that he wanted to start loading provisions. Since the captain had received orders to provision and water for six months, he warned, there was a great deal to be brought on board.
Very soon carts were delivering an almost bewildering quantity of supplies alongside, and Clapton and his mates were driven almost frantic keeping a tally. Ramage, watching for a few minutes as the carts were unloaded, was always almost bewildered by the variety of stores needed. There were casks of cheese, jars of oil, bags of bread, sacks of salt, wreaths of twigs for lighting the galley fire, butts, puncheons, hogsheads and barrels of beer, as well as a variety of measures of beef, pork, flour, raisins, suet, pease, oatmeal, rice, sugar, butter and vinegar.
Clapton’s most difficult task was keeping a tally of all the different weights and measures. His basic measurement was a tun, but the list of equivalents seemed to have been drawn up by a madman. Two butts, three puncheons, four hogsheads and six barrels all equalled a tun; but so did six jars of oil, twelve bags of bread and forty wreaths of twigs. But how many pounds in a tun was a question that only a purser with his list could answer. Just 1,800 lbs of flour or
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