The Needles are almost in sight after my long voyage with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. I am on the 20th and final (complete) book: Blue at the Mizzen.
“Burials at sea are a recurrent and significant theme in the Patrick O’Brian novels, representing a frequent and somber reality of naval life during the Napoleonic era.They occur after battles or from disease, and the books are known for their realistic and often detailed portrayals of the ceremony and the emotional impact of these events on the crew.” (AI)
During a battle the bodies are slipped overboard without ceremony but otherwise the body is stitched into a hammock with some round shot, the last stitch going through the nose to make sure.
“We therefore commit his body to the deep, to be turned into corruption, looking for the resurrection of the body, (when the Sea shall give up her dead,) and the life of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who at his coming shall change our vile body, that it may be like his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.” (Book of Common Prayer)
It would be most unusual for a body to be kept on board for a land burial, although the French put their bodies below in the gravel ballast until an opportunity for a burial ashore presented itself. This makes sense of something I read in The Times this morning.
“Last week we left Nelson in a leaguer, or barrel, of brandy and I thought he would be out of action for a while, but I couldn’t ignore this thought from Jim Couper: “He probably said, ‘Don’t throw me overboard. Kist me, Hardy. Kist me.’ That is, ‘Put me in a coffin and bury me’.” Kist is indeed a variant of chest that for more than six centuries has meant coffin, and since 1650 has meant “to put in a coffin”.” (The Times, 25th October)
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you.