Sally Rousham

There is a British traditional song sometimes known as "Warlike Seamen," which (in the version sung by the Copper family) opens
Come all you warlike seamen that to the seas belong,
I'll tell you of a fight, me boys, on board the Nottingham.
'Tis of an Irish captain, his name was Somerville,
With courage bold he did control, he played his part so well.

It turns out that the tradition forgot a lot. The captain of the Nottingham, which fought the French Mars in 1746, was not Irish but from the Channel Islands, and his name was not Somerville but Saumarez.

As in Philip Saumarez, the subject of this book.

Unfortunately, calling it a "book" is almost as deceptive as calling Saumarez "Somerville." Yes, it's a printed volume, but it's a small museum book, printed by a Guernsey museum to celebrate one of the island's most famous sons.

The result is, simply, too thin. It consists mostly of quotations from Saumarez's journal from his service on Commodore Anson's circumnavigation of the globe during the War of Jenkins's Ear, describing the expedition's privations -- and its capture of a Spanish treasure ship that made Anson rich and also led him to become one of the leading officers of the Royal Navy. The problem is, in its attempt to be brisk and brief, the book is so short that it becomes far too easy to lose track of what is going on. There is some editorial explanation, but not (to my mind) enough. And there seems to be no original research at all. Nor is there much about the rest of Saumarez's life, such as his command of the Nottingham that brought him yet more acclaim but on which he died in battle with the French.

Bottom line: There isn't anything really wrong with this little book, but if you want to learn about Anson's voyage, you need a more complete volume (my suggestion would be Glyn Williams's The Prize of All the Oceans), and if you want to read Saumarez's journals, try Leo Heaps's Log of the Centurion (a full edition of Saumarez's journals). Or just listen to a recording of "Warlike Seamen," by Bob and Ron Copper, or by Ian Robb and Hang the Piper. It's a great song, despite having even less truth than this book.… (mere)