A LIFE OF LORD READING
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Not having seen the book, I am not qualified to judge whether the biographer of Lord Reading or your reviewer (Spectator, pp. 943-4) is responsible for repeating the shibbo- leth of " the Hebrew cabin-boy . . . who ran away to sea." That sloppy inaccuracy may have been good copy for the paragraphist of the picture-papers, but it has no proper
place in the romantic Life of the Viceroy of India, who took his first view of the East froin the royal yard of *a British sailing-ship, just fifty-one years ago—as a ship-boy, not a cabin-boy. One does not want to asperse the legendary cabin-boy ; but for my part, I was never shipmates with that sort of deep-water specialist. The boys of my time went all over the ship—they had to—from the keelson to the truck, and from the jib-boom-end to the pantry. (But they were not encouraged in the pantry by their enemy—the steward !) The truth about Lord Reading's sea-service is briefly this : He and another boy—Paterson, a scion of the house of Carter, Paterson—were sent down from London to Penarth to join the ' Blair Athole,' loading coal for Rio de Janeiro. These two boys were not put into the forecastle : they were berthed in the midship " house " with the warrant officers—the bo'sun, carpenter, and sailmaker. They kept regular watch, four hours on and off ; they went aloft to loosen or furl light canvas ; they polished brass-work ; coiled down the ropes ready for running, and, in the morning watch, they took turns to clean out the hen-coops and piggeries with buckets of salt water and a coir broom. They went bare-footed and wore dungaree jumpers. The ' Blair Athole,' of Glasgow, 1,697 tons register (Alec Taylor, Master) set sail from Penarth on September 30th, 1876. From Rio we went to Calcutta, and loaded jute for London ; and we berthed her in the East India Dock on September 18th, 1877.—I am, Sir, &c.,
THOMAS CARR
(Once Third Mate of the ship Blair Athole '). 39 Mortimer Road, Kensal Rise, N.W. 10.
[In publishing this letter we would make it clear that we accept no responsibility for the accuracy of our correspondent's memory, although we thank him for his interesting letter.— ED. Spectator.]
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