35. A Butt Load of Money

Bob and I love to find the sources of phrases that we use today.  There are books that have been published that chronicle many of them, but somehow we find it more satisfying to come across them in the books we read.  We are currently reading a series by Dudley Pope about a British naval commander, Lord Ramage.  They are set in the time of Lord Nelson and involve naval history of the eighteenth century.  Ramage is a fictional character, but Pope brings him to life.  Pope was in the British Merchant Navy and a well respected naval historian.  If you have ever read stories like "Billy Budd"  or "TwoYears Before the Mast,"  you come away with a feeling of horror for life on a sailing ship with a captain without a heart.  Dudley Pope has Ramage walk the tight rope of a captain with a heart and a sense of fair play governed by the rigid rules of the British Navy during war against Napoleon in the late1700's.

We particularly enjoy his ability to weave into his stories the facts of life aboard a Man-of-War under sail.  He gives the every day details of that life, what they ate, what they wore and what was involved just in getting out of bed each morning. We love the nomenclature.  So far in this series alone, we have discovered the beginnings of four common words or phrases:  a butt load of money, tompion, sloppy and scuttlebutt.  I'm sure most of us have heard someone say that "They made a butt load of money."  A butt was a word used for bucket or barrel, which by most standards would be a lot of money.  Tompion was a wooden plug on a muzzle loading cannon that prevented anything from entering the barrel when it wasn't in use.  It has become the word Tampon. Not exactly the same use, but you get the idea.  Sloppy comes from a sailor's "slops."  If a sailor couldn't sew he was forced to buy ill fitting uniform clothes from the ship's purser.  They came in two sizes: too big, or too small and were referred to as "slops," hence, the word sloppy.  Scuttlebutt refers to the water barrel on board the ship where the men gathered to drink and exchange information and rumors. This is how we learn the latest "scuttlebutt."

There are eighteen, count them, eighteen books in the series, so you are pretty sure that Ramage lives through the escapades but the stories still make you wonder and care.  His love for the Navy and his beloved crew keep you on the edge of your seat and Pope makes you feel like you are there hiding behind the binnacle right in the mix of things. A great escape.  We get most all of our books from the local library.  We have a few books that we have re-read, so owning them is worth while, but the library is such a treasure trove that I find that a better option.  It has saved us a "butt load of money!"