Last Rites
An old tradition in the British Royal Navy, explained tastefully in an excellent movie “Master Commander, The Far Side Of The World”, regarding last rites when committing comrades to the deep, concerned the sewing of the shroud.
Dead sailor’s bodies (Or what was left of them) were sewn up in their hammocks with a cannon ball (Both convenient and available) before being covered with a flag and dropped over the side of the ship. (The flag remained attached to the ship).
Just in case the comrade might not actually have expired, the sail makers mate would put the last stitch though the nose as a last minute check. This also helped save the rough sewing from unraveling during combat, or in heavy weather.
Even though modern medicine and technology makes this grisly procedure unnecessary, I propose that serious wine collectors be carefully checked prior to final internment. Extracting the absolutely best wine from their cellar, the bottles should be opened and poured upon their remains following careful filtering in the traditional manner. Should this procedure fail to arouse the deceased, the process should be continued for as long a possible, just to be certain.
© Paul Wyatt™ 2007.
Dead sailor’s bodies (Or what was left of them) were sewn up in their hammocks with a cannon ball (Both convenient and available) before being covered with a flag and dropped over the side of the ship. (The flag remained attached to the ship).
Just in case the comrade might not actually have expired, the sail makers mate would put the last stitch though the nose as a last minute check. This also helped save the rough sewing from unraveling during combat, or in heavy weather.
Even though modern medicine and technology makes this grisly procedure unnecessary, I propose that serious wine collectors be carefully checked prior to final internment. Extracting the absolutely best wine from their cellar, the bottles should be opened and poured upon their remains following careful filtering in the traditional manner. Should this procedure fail to arouse the deceased, the process should be continued for as long a possible, just to be certain.
© Paul Wyatt™ 2007.
Labels: Bad Wine, cannon ball, death, hammocks, internment, last rites, shroud
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