Sunderland Haverner addresses one of his own servants as "'Captain...'" although this Captain then responds, "'Yis, sir.'" (INTRODUCTIONS, p. 19)
Haverner explains to his guests:
"'...as for the title, most Islandmen are or have been captains, even if only of a fishing boat.'" (ibid.)
This recalls Ian Fleming yet again. Although James Bond is a Commander, the rank below Captain in the Royal Navy, he is consistently addressed as "'...cap'n...'" by the Jamaican man known as Quarrel. When they meet after a five year gap:
"Bond took the warm dry calloused paw and looked into the dark gray eyes that showed descent from a Cromwellian soldier or a pirate of Morgan's time."
-Ian Fleming, Dr No (London, 1989), IV, p. 30.
Our recent venture into the Caribbean of the seventeenth century in the company of Nicholas Pym, a Roundhead counterpart of Bond or of Dominic Flandry, still seems very close.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
But in both REAL and fictional navies (the RN, the USN, the Imperial Terrestrial Navy, etc.) all commanders of a warship are captains, even if their official rank is merely a Lieutenant Commander or Commander. We see that in THE REBEL WORLDS, where Flandry is called "Captain" when commanding his escort destroyer and simply "Commander" when not.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment