Re: Bowdlerisation (was Profound disagreement (was Thoughts on )


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Posted by Ed Kiser on August 01, 2009 at 20:03:03 user Kisered.

In Reply to: Re: Bowdlerisation (was Profound disagreement (was Thoughts on ) posted by Alex Forbes on August 01, 2009 at 15:26:21:

In Ransome's description of two usages of the signal flags flown
from the crosstrees, he not only identifies the letter the flag
represents, but also gives a simple description of it.

What was interesting to me is the extreme similarities in these
two descriptions, with one being a "blue flag with a white square
in the middle of it" and the other being "Blue square with its
white border." It seems that one somewhat seems to be the
negative of the other.

In the fever of political correctness, I have the understanding
that the flag to request a pilot is no longer the "S", so in
the interest of not teaching incorrect flags usages due to its
being out of date, perhaps the argument could be made that a
change should be made so the proper flag be indicated, along
with a similar description appropriate to the correct flag.

Or perhaps let Ransome's works document the way things were,
both in the technology of flag signal usages and of usages of
certain now offending words.

I include here two snippets showing his references to those
two signal flags:

----------------------------------------
SW CH29

A small bundle climbed to the crosstrees and suddenly blew
out and fluttered in the wind, a dark blue flag with a white
square in the middle of it.

"Gosh!" said John.

"What does it mean?" said the Mastodon.

"Blue Peter," said John. "Everybody repair on board.
About to sail. He's in a frightful hurry. He's hoisted it before
he's even got his anchor down."

----------------------------------------

WD CH19
"S for a pilot," she said. "Here it is." She held up a small
roll of blue and white.

John hurried forward to the mast, and, sitting on the cabin
top, unfastened the signal halyards. When he had caught
them and made them fast for tidiness' sake, the very last
thing he had thought was that he would be using them so
soon. He bent on the square pilot flag, and, doing his best to
send it up hand over hand in professional style, had it
fluttering a moment later from the cross-trees.

"We're in for it now," he said, looking at the steamer, now
quite near, and then up at that fluttering blue square with its
white border.

----------------------------------------

But then, perhaps we should just leave it alone, because as
Walter Cronkite used to say, "That's the way it was."

Ed Kiser, Kentucky


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