Posted by Robert Hill on December 15, 2000 at 13:34:41 from 129.11.159.161:
In Reply to: Patched Sail Re: Canonical order SD and PD posted by Adam Quinan on December 15, 2000 at 12:38:40:
It may be that pictures in S&A could be used to show that there was no
patch then. I had a quick look last night and saw that in one picture,
part of the sail is obscured by "Vicky's" nurse's head, though I think
one could say that her head doesn't reach high enough to hide the location
of the PD patch.
In another picture, the relevant edge of the sail is apparently hidden by
a cloud of smoke from the houseboat's cannon - though in my copy, which I
have had for 43 years, the detail of this picture is further obscured by
my own childish attempts to colour it with crayons.
At least one other picture is perhaps inconclusive because the sail is
seen from a greater distance. But I think one of the untitled chapter-end
pictures gives a reasonably good view of the whole sail with no patch.
I'm 99.9% sure that there is no reference to any patch in the text of
S&A. You'd think that if there was a patch to start with, it would be
mentioned in the first detailed description of the boat - especially
since in PD the patch is "well-remembered".
Does anyone know if Swallow's sail is mentioned or depicted in any of
the last 9 books of the series, except furled in ML? I've forgotten
whether Swallow is ever actually sailed in ML.