How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves | Page 8

the wide ocean as the only worthy
field for the employment of their energies. They loved it for itself, too;

they were born on it, or within the sound of its surges; they lived on it,
they fought on it, and it was their wish through life to die on it, as if
only on its boundless expanse their free spirits could be emancipated
from this mortal coil. This same spirit still exists and animates the
breasts of the officers and men of our navy, of our vast mercantile
marine; and, though mentioned last, not certainly in a less degree of the
owners of the superb yacht fleets which grace the waters of the Solent,
of the Bay of Dublin, of Plymouth Sound, of the mouth of the Thames,
and indeed of every harbour and roadstead round our shores. No people,
unless animated by such a spirit, would go to sea simply for the love of
a sea-life as do our yachtsmen. We may depend upon it that they are the
lineal descendants of those old sea-rovers, somewhat more civilised
and polished certainly, differing as much in that respect, it is to be
hoped, from their remote ancestors as do their trim yachts, which will
go nine knots or more within four and a-half points of the wind, from
the tubbish-looking sturdy craft of the Danes, which had no idea of
sailing any way except dead before the gale.
There was something barbarously grand in the notion of the old Norse
kings which induced them, when worn out with age and fatigue, to sail
forth into mid-ocean, and then, lighting their own funeral pile, to
consume themselves and the stout ship they loved so well in one
conflagration. Seriously, however, we must not forget that they were
influenced by a very terrible and dark superstition, and be thankful that
we live in an age when the bright beams of Christianity have dispelled
such gross errors from this part of the globe. I cannot help fancying that
the late Lord Yarborough, that chief of true yachtsmen, had somewhat
the same feeling I have been describing, refined and civilised of course,
when, his vessel, the Kestrel, being in Malta harbour, he found death
approaching, and ordered her to be got under weigh, to stand out to
sea, that he might breathe out his spirit surrounded by that element on
which he had so long made his home, and in which he so truly
delighted.
The tribes, now so closely united, which make up the British race, were
the most maritime people of their time, and it is not, therefore,
surprising that we should now possess strong nautical propensities.

The Normans, it must be remembered also, who afterwards conquered
England, were descended from the same bold sea-rovers, though,
having paid sundry visits to Paris, where they learned to write poetry,
to sing, and to dance, with many other accomplishments, they had
wonderfully improved in civilisation since the days of their ancestors,
of whom I have been speaking. Still the same enterprising spirit
animated their bosoms, afterwards to shine forth with splendour, when
their descendants became the leaders of numberless exploring
expeditions to all parts of the world, and of the victorious fleets of Old
England.
There is no doubt, as I have shown, that the English possessed trading
vessels, if not also ships, built exclusively for war, from a very early
period.
The first regular war-fleet, however, which we hear of was one built by
our great King Alfred, to protect his dominions from the attacks of the
Danes.
He designed a ship from the model of those used by the Greeks,
Romans, and Carthaginians, similar to the Maltese galley employed
down to a very recent date in the Mediterranean. His ships are said to
have been twice as large as any vessels of war used by other nations at
that period. They were large galleys, propelled by sixty oars, with a
deck above that part where the rowers sat. On the deck stood the
fighting men and mariners, who managed the sails, for they had masts
and sails as well as oars. There were besides probably small towers or
breast-works at the stern and bow to contribute to their means of attack
and defence. These ships were built of well-seasoned materials,
commanded by experienced officers, whom the king had collected from
all quarters, and manned by expert seamen. The commanders were
ordered to go forth in quest of the Danes, to attack wherever they
encountered them, and to give no quarter; orders which were strictly
obeyed, and which for the time were most efficacious in clearing the
coast of pirates. In consequence of the ease with which the ships were
moved through the water, and from their being always able to keep the
weather-gauge,