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Telegraph
13 hours ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Sailors were more likely to get scurvy on land than sea
Sailors in the 19th century were more likely to get scurvy on land than at sea, an expert has claimed. Blake Perkins, a culinary historian, said that a sailor's diet in the 1800s was much better than the public have been led to believe. The scurvy that people associate with sailors historically was actually worse in Britain during the winter than it was for people on board the Royal Navy's ships. Scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C in the diet over a long period of time, causing bleeding gums, pain and slow-healing wounds among other nasty symptoms. Mr Perkins told The Food Programme podcast: 'People think it was miserable, you know, that sailors were ridden with scurvy, they were whipped, they were flogged. 'Samuel Johnson [the 18th-century writer] said that being on a ship was like being in a jail, except it was safer in a jail and less unpleasant. 'But in fact, sailors, especially from, you know, the working class, less fortunate people, ate better than they could on land. 'Scurvy was much more prevalent during the winter, for example, in Britain, than it was on board Royal Navy ships during the period in question. 'You've only got muscle and wind. There's nothing else to power anything. And these warships, these wooden worlds, were the most complicated engines of the time. 'They were crazy complicated machines. 'And you needed motivated people and fit people, and people with good morale to operate them with any competence. 'Which meant well-fed people and happy people, so they would be given at least an hour and a half for the main meal of the day. And that was their time to do as they pleased.' Fresh food on Royal Navy ships By the time of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, nutrition and hygiene on British ships were better than those of the French and Spanish sailors. Mr Perkins said: 'Just for example, Nelson chasing the French back and forth across the Atlantic before Trafalgar – they'd been at sea for 22 months. 'And at the time of the battle, they had something like 100 or so cases of scurvy. 'The French and Spanish ships, and especially the Spanish ones by contrast, would have hundreds of people stricken with the disease during the battle. 'So they really had figured out shipboard nutrition and hygiene to an extent nobody else had. 'And it made a big difference.'
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Fringe benefit of visiting Edinburgh is talking rubbish
Yup… the Fringe is here. Diary correspondent Alan Boyd and his wife were in the queue for a show, and after enjoying a last mouthful of tangy beer, Alan found himself with an empty plastic beaker. 'You'd better find a bin to put that in,' advised his wife. Glancing round, he couldn't spot one, so went over to the nearest brightly-dressed queue-wrangler. 'Rubbish bin?' he asked. Without hesitation, iPad at the ready, she shot back: 'Sure. Do you know which venue it's in?' Radio daze A culinary confession. Gordon Fisher from Stewarton was listening to The Food Programme on Radio 4, hosted by Dan Saladino, and was a little disappointed that Dan was talking about the merits of Welsh lamb, and was not telling the listeners about recipes for lettucino, tomatino and cucumberino. Marvelous Mac More from the world of munch. Glasgow is a cosmopolitan city, packed with exciting places to scoff scrummy scran. Reader Don Murdoch overheard two chaps talking on a south side bus. They were clearly gourmands of high standing, because one pointed out the window, and said to the other: 'See that McDonald's o'er there? Best in toon.' This clearly impressed his chum, who immediately replied: 'Zat right? So has it got pure hunners o' those Micheloon star hingmies?' Phoney friendship A tale of telephonic tittle-tattle. Finlay Buchanan from Edinburgh had a good pal named Francis Lee. 'Every time I phoned him,' says Finlay, 'I hoped that I would receive the answer 'Frank Lee speaking', so that I could triumphantly reply, 'My dear, I don't give a damn!' Sadly he never fell into my trap.' Egged on by Diary A narrative in this column about eggs emboldened David Hay from Minard to visit his local shop and ask for a dozen of their 'range' eggs which are described as 'free'. Adds our disappointed correspondent: 'All I got was shrift which could be described as short!' Loopy lingo The Diary has pointed out on numerous occasions that English is more of a trap than a language, constructed to ensnare the unwary within its grammatical mazes and spelling cages. Oliver Green says: 'I hate when I read read as read and not read, so I have to re-read read as read so I can read read correctly.'
