SKYLARKS & SCUTTLEBUTTS
A TREASURE TROVE OF NAUTICAL KNOWLEDGE
Lorenz Schröter – 1862079749; £9.99
The sub-title says it all really: this is a small, but perfectly-formed, (hardback) book, full to the gunwales with all manner of facts and figures, tradition and trivia, to do with matters nautical. Along the lines of Schott’s Miscellanies, this is one for anyone who likes to collect ephemera about anything and everything, and includes:
Why the British coastline is infinitely long
The price of salt
Pioneering submariners
Ghosts on the Queen Mary
The shipping forecast
14 mistakes in the film Titanic
How to change a boat/ship’s name
Seas of the moon
Lord Nelson’s pension
Why pirates wear earrings
Guano
Underwater restaurants
The number of cat o’nine tails lashes administered to cabin boys in 1864
Recipe for cream of sea urchin
Nothing if not eclectic.
For those of you who bought Do Dolphins Ever Sleep? (another repository of off-beat Q&As, reviewed in August 2007) this one is far more whimsical and covers many more topics, but it’s another treasure for dipping into – and keeping up your sleeve if you’re ever invited to take part in a quiz with a sea-theme.
A great stocking-filler for Christmas, if you’re someone who likes to get these things done early, or a little gift for your father on June 15th.