Posted by Adam Quinan on December 27, 2014 at 08:30:37 user Adam.
In Chapter 36 of Peter Duck, titled "Spanish Ladies", Peter Duck says that in the song that the returning ships were beating against a northeasterly wind.
In the actual lyrics of the song, however, they are said to have hove to with "the wind at the sou'west" to take their soundings. They then "squared their main-yard" to take advantage of the following wind and headed up Channel.
Peter Duck suggests that the sightings of all the headlands before St Catherine's Head on the Isle of Wight is an indication of their tacking up Channel. However, it could also be seen as following the English coastline with a following wind after making a landfall of Dodman's Point to establish how far up the Channel they were.
So was Peter Duck misinterpreting the sailing in the song or was he right? Or did the wind shift?