I have spent a very enjoyable day reading a journal of voyages made between 1766 and 1769 by the Brigantine Flora. I understand that the notes and readings (or are they measurements?) would have been made during the journey and then written up afterwards, maybe while the ship was at anchor. The entries about the course and the winds are shown every two hours around the clock with a short summary each day. Some entries are a bit difficult to read but mostly they are in beautifully formed hand writing, full of abbreviations and flourishes. One in particular caught my eye and says, for the 15th May 1767 "Had our deer skins up on deck to air in the sun and beat the worms out". I feel that I want to incorporate this somehow into a piece of jewellery, an encouraging thought as this is the point of my residency! I don't have an image relating to the Flora but did find a model of a brigantine in one of the display cases in the museum, so have added it here as I had no idea what one might look like. The journeys the Flora made between 1766 and 1769 included Whitby to Yoconeur on the coast of Lapland and Whitby to South Carolina
No comments:
Post a Comment