I have just finished writing Hugh and Eleanor's wedding night. It was actually quite a difficult scene to write as I wanted to get the atmosphere and the emotions right (as well as the physical details!). It is so easy to get a sex scene - of any kind - wrong, and end up with it either being farcical, clinical or pornographic. For some really cringe-worthy examples, see this site with the nominations for the 2009 Literary Review's Bad Sex in Fiction Award!* I think that a love scene (to put it more delicately) needs to be treated a bit like a recipe - you have to have just the right amounts of everything on the ingredient list, and you need to bake it for just the right amount of time in order to end up with a yummy, mouthwatering dish. So, with Eleanor and Hugh, although I knew what I wanted to write and how I wanted them to feel, it was a case of choosing the right words and not undoing or overdoing it. It took time. In fact it took more time than normal for me to write the amount of words I did, and I know it will still need redrafting. But, the essence of it is now right and I can leave it alone until the first complete redraft.
The next section to be written is that concerning Hugh's exile and piracy in Autumn/Winter 1321. My head is full of port towns and ships - and some pretty unsavoury characters! I swear that I could even smell the tavern I was writing about the other night! Anyway, imagination only goes so far so I have also had to undertake some extra research into early 14th century ships, parts of ships, Cinque Ports - even naval battle techniques! And, as usual, it's thrown up some questions that I can't seem to find answers to on the Internet. For example: how does a single-sailed square-rigger, such as a cog, manage to get to dock without oars or an engine (as is used in replica ships today)? Sure, if the wind is just right it wouldn't be too hard, although you still might crash into the quay (no rubber tyres to soften the impact then), and if the wind is wrong - what then? Would you be stuck out in the English Channel at the mercy of the weather for as long as it took for the wind to change? If anyone reading this has any answers, please help!
So, in the next few weeks expect the odd post on cogs and Cinque Ports! And I sincerely hope that Hugh didn't suffer from sea-sickness!
* Personally I would have chosen Ten Storey Love Song by Richard Milward as the winner - although they are all pretty bad in various sorts of eeeeewwwww-inducing ways. The eventual winner was actually not included on the page above for some reason - but I do think it richly deserves the award ;-)
11 comments:
It must be very hard to get 'inside the minds' of medieval characters, particularly looking at their lives from our modern world. Good luck with your novel.
"The manoeuverability of the cog is limited in the port area. Most likely, cogs lay in the roads even during loading and unloading. The ship would have had to be towed by rowboats to berth."
i found this info on a site about the Hanse cog whichs dates from about 1380.
Those Literary Review entries made my skin crawl.
I seem to remember a post somewhere on Alianore's blog that mentioned nobles being rowed ashore. I can't remember which posat, perhaps Isabella's arrival in England? Anyway, I know when I read it, I thought it sounded as if the ship stayed some distance out in the harbour and passengers got into smaller boats to come ashore. That might be a clue.
Re writing scenes when they scream to be written and then assembling the jigsaw later, I often write like that. It seems to work. So don't worry about it - even if it does feel a bit strange! You'll evolve a way that works for you.
Another jigsaw writer here. :)
And I'm still waiting for that Ed and Hugh in the bathtub scene. *grin*
Verification: intypo - a particularly nasty sort of typo demon?
I am a medieval ship geek, but not an authority, so this is worth what you paid. The whole subject doesn't get much discussion that I have seen.
Tows were certainly used; I've seen at least one illo from the 15th century showing a ship taking a tow. But the age of sail also bred patience, and if the wind was unfavorable to make port, a ship would just have to stand off and wait for it to change. Though tides can help, especially in Channel and North Sea waters.
If the wind was favorable the master could bring a cog right up to the quay or wharf - if the port has one in deep enough water for a cog, at least 10-12 feet. Old cable or sailcloth would do for fenders.
Truth to be told, though, I think you can have whichever way you want, rowed in or stepping onto the quay. Both would be realistic in the right circumstances.
Thanks everyone.
Clement: It can be a challenge but I try and read as much about Medieval psychology as possible. I think that, in the main, there are not too many differences, e.g. primal motivations, emotions, character traits etc. It is just that they are overlaid by cultural considerations, especially religious conforms. Actually, the hardest thing is to get out of my 14th C head and back into my 21st C one!
Renee: Thanks for digging that up. Some sort of 'tug boat' would make sense in one way, although I would assume that it would take more than one (and lots of rowers) to get a merchant vessel into dock. And yes, those snippets were pretty vile, weren't they?
Carla:I have thought alot about this and the main problem with that is that cogs were primarily trade vessels and so would have had to have had the ability to berth at a quay. The problem with unloading at sea is that many of the cargoes would have been too heavy and unwieldy to do it that way (wine, wool etc). Also, they were often used for transporting not only nobility, but their horses too (and God knows how much baggage). Maybe that occasion when nobles were rowed in was tied up with some sort of welcoming ceremony that we now aren't aware of. I hope it was a calm day though ;-).
It's good to hear that you are a 'jigsaw writer' too, as Gabriele puts it *grin*. That phrase should be in the dictionary!
Gabriele: And so you'll have to wait some more *grin*. But, just to be mean I will tell you that it is on my computer ;-)
And what is it about these verifications on Blogger? They come up with some really strange things sometimes that really should be words we can use becuase they sound quite good! I think Intypo is Titivillus' younger cousin - in charge of errant apost'rophes!
Rick: Thanks for this information! I was hoping a medieval ship geek would come along ;-). I think you are pretty much on the button about patience etc. Also, I noticed the other day that many ports were actually situated on wide rivers with sea access. With the quay being 'side on' as it were instead of at right angles, and going with the tide, it would have been much easier to berth a vessel. I'm starting to get a much clearer picture now of the whole process: it must still have taken great skill though.
*is tempted to hack into Lady D's computer* :D
The Romans used bundles of ropes or fenders made of cork, so the lack of rubber tires isn't such a big problem. 14th century cogs could have use something like that as well. Some cogs seem to have had cranes onboard to help with the deloading of heavy items. Almost everything came in barrels, even wheat, bundled up woollen cloth and whatnot. Because on land, barrels are easy to manage - there are some lanes in Lübeck just wide enough to fit a transport barrel been rolled along.
I can only guess about warfare (maybe I'll find something in my private library; I wrote a paper about the Hansa ages ago) but I think in pre-cannon times, entering would have been the most common method. The was no way you could try to sink a ship Hornblower style with some arrows and crossbow bolts.
I knew I had something, lol. The booklet to an exhibition about Pirates on the Baltic Sea during the Hansa times. Visited that one in Stralsund in 2004. The peak of that time was slightly later than Edward II, and most of the ships on the illustrations have more than one sail, but I'll give it a closer look later. The warfare strategies should still be valid.
Verificatin: khorpoo - a pirate swearword. :)
Gabriele: Thanks. It does seem that many methods were used depending on type of ship/cargo/port/economy.
I've just got a book from Amazon 'Medieval Ships and Shipping' by Gillian Hutchinson (got it for £30, a bargain when usually a copy will be £50 plus!). I had a quick flick through and it seems to have everything I need in there - Yay!
So thankyou again everyone for yor input. I think I now have everything I need for writing the pirate episode ;-)
There's a good description of a tall ship warping or kedging in/out from the dock at
http://ask.metafilter.com/45303/How-did-massive-ships-embark-from-the-pier
You've helped me so much, I'm glad I can return the favor.
Hi Lisa and thankyou for the link - just what I was looking for!
I'm also glad to hear that I've been of help - knowing that I've helped someone makes all the research worthwhile :-)
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