epistle

December 19th, 1744

2008-08-27T11:07:00.002-04:00

Dearest Walter,

It fills me with great sadness to read the sorrow in your most recent letter. My heart goes out to you and Marla. May she and the baby be safe and blessed. It is my greatest wish for you.

The job for Liam Connely seems a good one. He is an honest and fair man and you can trust him. Just never get between him and a bottle of whiskey!

Of course, once the child is born and you are able to leave your family for awhile, I hope you will consider rejoining the Hannu.

Sorry this letter is so short. It is storming greatly tonight and the boat churns endlessly. Hopefully you will be able to read this.

All my best,
Capt. Bosworth

December 5th, 1744

2008-08-24T14:43:00.003-04:00

The cold weather has entered me in such a way this year that I'm starting to think that my heart it's self has frozen over. Marla suffers greatly with her pregnancy and the money from the shipyard is proving insufficient for the time being. I was approached by a Mr.L.Connely about a job in Scotland. He said he was a friend of yours and had recalled how highly you spoke of me. Apparently there is a lighthouse near the Orkney's that needs a keeper. If i accept i will leave at the end of January with my darling and our new edition.

I think i shall take the job as it pays double the shipyard salary. Then, perhaps, the Hannu will dock there and we can see each other again.

I hope you are well.

Walter.

November 25th, 1744

2008-06-27T11:23:00.000-04:00

Walter,

Forgive me; it has been so long since my last communique. As I told you in my last letter, I was headed to Italy to join the Hannu. I arrived there safely in mid September. The crew of the Hannu and I had stocked the ship at planned to depart on the 30th. But as fate would have it the Battle of Madonna dell' Olmo broke out on that very day. We were held captive as unfortunate bystanders as the Franco-Spanish armies and The Kingdom of Sardinia waged war on each other. The Bourbons lost almost 3,000 men. We were finally able to depart on the 1st of October, as rains began to fall, destroying roads and flooding the trenches.

But now we are safe and sound and I eagerly await your return to the Hannu in the coming July. Congratulations on your marriage! I hope some day to meet your beautiful wife. When is the child due to arrive?

Yes, Walter, I am a father. But hardly have I earned the title. I have a daughter named Rose who lives with her grandmother (her mother's mother) in London. I have not seen her since she was a baby and she would be a young woman now. I will be honest Walter, the life of a sailor is not always conducive to that of a good father. But it is a job with the opportunity for much financial gain and Rose has never wanted for anything. In that (if only that) I have done right by my child.

All the best,
Captain Bosworth

November 5th, 1744

2008-06-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

Capatian,

It has been three months since my last letter to you. Where are you?

Are you well? Please contact me soon. Im ready to sail again but still have to wait till my child is born. Where are you, captain, where are you.

Regards

September 3 1744

2008-06-02T11:29:00.000-04:00

Captain.

We are married! The surprise was as you had thought, she is with child. I shall stay by her side until the baby is born and then i will have to sail once again. My finances will have to double so that i can provide the life my wife and child deserve. Is there a chance i can return to the Hannu in late July of next year. Until then i am working in the shipyard patching the "old girls" so they are fit to sail.

I wonder how i shall fair as a father? Tell my Bosworth, have you ever parented? I know you have not answered this question in the past but maybe you will see fit to share now that i am to be a father.

I look forward to us meeting once again.

Best

August 25th, 1744

2008-05-27T14:52:00.000-04:00

Dear Walter,

Congratulations on your imminent nuptials! What is it you fear may be wrong? If it is what the hastiness of this decision implies, worry not; marry the girl quickly and no one will be the wiser. Children often come early. Please send me the details of the wedding plans.

I am writing you from my room at the Setanta House Hotel in County Kildare. My role in the trial has ended (a small and unimportant role as it turned out; my only purpose was to assert that McGovern was in Jacmel the night before his death) but I have decided to stay on awhile. I am enjoying the mild Irish August. I am also enjoying the company of a young lady, scarcely nineteen, named Brigid after the fair saint of this region. She does not seem to mind my company and I certainly enjoy hers. However we shall soon part ways: I must reunite with the crew of the Hannu in Italy.

All the best,

Capt. Bosworth

August 15th 1744

2008-05-14T12:44:00.000-04:00

Bosworth,

I am unhappy to hear of our inability to see each other soon. I must keep this short as i have to meet marla at the train station(she returns from the lake district) and hurridly go to her aunts house to ask for her niece's hand in marriage.

I fear there is something wrong.

Hope all goes well in Dublin. Please write to me and let me know how we can keep in touch.

Best

TELEGRAM.August 11 1744

2008-05-14T12:42:00.000-04:00

I arrive in Plymouth on the 15th of august. The train arrives at noon.

Much love

TELEGRAM.August 7 1744

2008-05-14T12:40:00.000-04:00

My dear M,

I have sent this telegram express to you. Please do the same and let me know when you return. I will do as you have asked me to.

love

August 5th, 1744

2008-05-11T10:43:00.000-04:00

My love,

I write with fear and the utmost urgency. You and I are now the keepers of a shameful secret which modesty permits me from putting in writing. You must come to me post haste and ask my aunt for my hand in marriage. Else you leave me a ruined woman. Dearest Walter, I know you will do the right thing.

Your future wife (I hope!),

Marla

August 1st, 1744

2008-05-11T10:39:00.000-04:00

To the office of Daniel O'Shay, Chief of Police

Chief O'Shay,

I have received your correspondence requesting my appearance in the Dublin court this September. I write to inform you that I will be in Dublin on the appropriate date. I am unsure of my role in this matter but am happy to help in any way I can. Abraham McGovern was a fine man and I am happy to play a role in avenging his untimely death.

Captain E. Bosworth

August 1st, 1744

2008-05-11T10:26:00.000-04:00

My friend Walter,

Captain Martine was correct that we planned to be in London by October, however I have been summoned to Dublin to testify in court regarding Abe McGovern's murder. I have been pegged as a witness, though I am unsure why. I did see Abe McGovern the day before his death but I doubt I have any useful information; our meeting was completely normal and he mentioned nothing that might have alarmed me. However I am a firm believer in Justice and Law, and I'm sure my part in this shall be revealed to me in due time.

So alas, it seems we shall miss each other. And I shall miss meeting your english flower, Marla. She sounds like a fine woman. Perhaps you could send me a sketch of her? You have always been a fine artist; I still have in my cabin the sketch you made of the shoreline of Lake Michigan when you were still a youth, eleven or twelve it must have been.

Sincerely,

Captain Bosworth

URGENT

2008-05-10T19:25:00.000-04:00

Dear Captain E. Bosworth.

You have been summoned to appear in the city court of Dublin, Ireland.

You shall come to court on September 3, 1744 to testify in the case of the murder of Abraham McGovern.

Your name was reported as a witness to the murder occurring on the eve of October 22 1743.

Failure to report to the court on the given date shall result in your arrest.

Daniel O'Shay

Chief of Police

Dublin

JULY 14 1744

2008-05-10T19:08:00.000-04:00

My Dearest Marla,

I can see you, when i close my eyes, standing by Winder mere gazing into the water. The Ducks must be going wild! The warm air blowing them in, the waters edge lush with grass and foxglove.

However beautiful this seems it doesn't compare to the beauty you behold, and that i shall behold again soon.

Spring in Plymouth has crept up quicker, I'm sure, than that of the lake district. The sun has begun to shine hotter and longer, slowly but surely.

When have you decided to return to the southern shore? Has your visit reached its end?

I look forward to hear of your return.

yours

Walter

JULY 14 1744

2008-05-10T17:52:00.000-04:00

Dear Captain,

I was alarmed to read of your tumultuous journey to Bombay. I imagine the boy's were shaken to the bone. It makes me think of that dreaded night in the Bering strait. When we were in its narrowest passage(85Km i believe it was). However this event seems to take the cake! I pray that India is good to you and the crew. I'm sure you'll eat plenty of your favourite vindaloo with the aromatic joy of jasmine rice. Ahhh i can smell it in the moist air of the English coast.

Marla and i have since received permission from her family to court. We wander alot. The orchards anxious to finally achieve their potential, and us anxious to receive their fruit. We can be found there, when it is nice out, reading to each other and studying the plants in and around the orchards.She is witty, lithe and skilled in needlework as well as the mandolin.

I often think that i am so lucky to have this person to share with. You know Bosworth, i think that's what this whole business of life is about. To share, to give and receive.

I eagerly await the day when you two can meet. She shines.

I ran into Captain Martine at the butchers this Sunday past. He said he heard word that the Hannu was soon to port in Crete and then onto London? Is this correct?

If so then you should alert me as soon as possible. Marla and i shall take a ferry to London from Plymouth as it so beautiful this time of year. I have a cousin in Walthamstow who would be glad to have us for the weekend. We shall ride to town in a buggy and meet you.

Listen to me planning for something i don't know is true yet. As you can see living on the land hasn't changed me that much.

This is where i shall say goodbye old friend.

May the winds be on your side

Best

Walter

June 27th, 1744

2008-05-09T20:57:00.000-04:00

Dearest Walter,

Greetings friend! I have just today received your letter as we set anchor in Back Bay only today.

Our trip here from Madagascar, where last I saw you, was a treacherous one. A few nights ago (though now it seems like a lifetime) a mad, gnashing storm kicked up. The ship was thrown about like a rag in the sea's angry hands. Convinced of a horrible fate for the crew, I sent the men below, telling them they would be safer there though knowing in my heart that this night would most likely be their last; I wished only to spare them of the site of the Hannu, our ship and mother, our lives' work, broken to bits by the blind cruelty of nature. I would have preferred not to witness so grotesque a death myself, but felt it my duty to see the old girl out to the end. So I had a trusted mate (John Hanker, who you, I'm sure, remember) bind my body to the foremast with sheets torn from my bed. Having securely fastened me so, I sent Hanker below with the other men.

The storm tossed the ship about and threw great surges of water over the bow, flooding the decks and hitting me squarely in my face, my nose and throat choking with the water and my eyes a-burn with the salt. I saw a wave the size of a whale slam down upon our decks and saw Hannu shrug it off like the advances of an unworthy suitor.

At dawn, the sky pinking and the bellies of the clouds turning gold, I saw the sight I had lost hope of: the sea calmed, the sky cleared, and the Hannu had somehow survived, none of her men lost. I was drenched and exhausted. The men, coming above, found me still tied to the mast and unbound me, one of them bringing me a much needed mug of burning-hot coffee.

So you can imagine our joy at having arrived here in Bombay. We plan to recoup here for some months and build our supplies back up.

So, tell me, what is your progress, if any, with this Marla? She sounds like a fine woman. Shall I be planning a trip to England soon to witness your marriage? I can not imagine a more joyful event.

Sincerely,

Capt. Bosworth

June 1st, 1744

2008-05-09T18:44:00.000-04:00

Dearest Captain

I'm hoping this letter will meet you at the port of Bombay perhaps in the early part of June. I too regret having to leave my sea legs for a short time. As you know from the conversations we had on the bough of the Hannu I have had a strong need to find love and reproduce. This brings me to Marla. She is a raven haired lass from the lake district in northern England and has recently relocated to Plymouth to be with a sick aunt and be her aid. She also works part time in the post office sorting and sending. I have made several visits to the post office with not a thing to send, just so I can gaze upon her face. I plan on asking her aunt's permission to take her fair niece to a picnic this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Your Friend

Walter

April 17th, 1744

2008-05-09T13:09:00.000-04:00

Dear Walter,

As I write this letter, you have not 3 hours ago debarked the Hannu. I must admit, it was hard to pull away from the shore knowing we were leaving you behind. I will greatly miss having you by my side.

I remember so well the day, years ago, when your dear mother placed you in my care as an apprentice; now you are a grown man, equal to me in the skills of a sailor. You left today so eager to seek your fortune and to find a wife. I am excited to see where the next leg of your life-journey takes you, but I do hope at some point it returns you back to my company and the Hannu.

Best Regards,
Captain Bosworth