KATE FIFLE. 



A SAILOR'S COURTSHIP. 



" WELL, boys, in the summer of the year 1804, I sarved aboard 

 the ' Seizer,' a fine seventy-four, with a captain named Gunnell r 

 on a cruise in the East Ingy seas, to protect home'ard-bound traders. 



*' We was about a couple of years a dodging about from one place 

 to t'other, and deuced sick of the work I was too, a looking after an 

 old swab of a French admiral, what they called Linen, or Linois, or 

 some such a name, who had two or three fine ships with him, and 

 sadly cut up our trade. Let's see now : first, there was the flag, 

 a craft called the Merrygo, or Maren-go, or something sounding 

 like that, a stout eighty-four : then there was the Bill-pull, and 

 Semi-lante, heavy frigates, 'sides a corvette mounting twenty-eight. 

 That was the feller you know, who had the brush with Commodore 

 Dance in the China seas, Feberery 15th, 1803. But all our tricks 

 to nab him wouldn't do at all : the Frenchman was as cunning as 

 the old covey alow, and took confounded good care to keep out of 

 our way. Now he was to be met with here then he'd been seen 

 off such and such a place then he had steered so and so, but when 

 we took them all in rotation, devil a ship was to be seen ! 



" Well, at last you must know we got orders from the admiral 

 o' the station, to take in water and provisions, and sail with des- 

 patches to England. I'd been away now altogether a matter o' three 

 year, and was deuced glad, as you may suppose, to see old England 

 again. We had a prosperous voyage, and worked up Channel with 

 a spanking breeze at S.S.W., but it soon went down, and fell calm, 

 and just as we got abreast of Plymouth Sound, there wasn't enough 

 wind to stir a feather : the bunting hung like a rag at the gaff-ead, 

 and the water was as smooth as a pond. Well, as this was the case, 

 we made for Plymouth harbour, and went in fine style, all the land 

 swobs and shore-going toddlers cheering us lustily, and swarming 

 about us like herrings. Well, this was a Saturday night, d'ye see, 

 and I got permission from our first luff to go on shore for a week, for 

 our skipper had started off for London directly we had dropped 

 anchor, and laced the sails to the yards. I had an old messmate a 

 living there, and so I stayed in his house whilst I remained ashore. 

 The next morning up I got, tumbled out of my hammock, and 

 stowed it away, and looked out o' the port, that lighted the little 

 state-room what I snoozed in. It was a fine breezy morning, and 

 so I swobbed my head and bows, got all my yard-tackles up, and 

 rigged myself out all taught from truck to keel, in a bran-new suit of 

 flashy toggery, what I bought when I came on shore. After that I 

 goes below; takes my turn at the mess-table, and upsets a kid, I 

 was so glad to be on shore again. Then I set my topsails, hauled 

 up jib, let fall my courses, and made sail. 



