The Merriman Chronicles Book 4
The Threat in the West Indies
By Roger Burnage
Copyright Information
The Merriman Chronicles
Book 4
The threat in the
West Indies
First Edition
Copyright © Roger Burnage
All rights reserved
With the exception of certain well known historical figures the characters in this book have no relation or resemblance to any person living or dead.
This book is a work of fiction.
FOREWORD
In the spring of 1998, workmen demolishing an old nursing home in the country to the north-west of Chester, discovered bundles of old papers concealed behind a bricked up fireplace. One of the men with more perspicacity than his fellows rescued the papers from the bonfires of rubbish and gave them to his employer, a builder, who, knowing of my interest in such things passed them on to me. The discovered papers were mostly in a very bad state due to the effects of dampness, mildew and the depredations of vermin over the years, and many of the oldest bundles were totally illegible. Another obvious problem was that the papers had been written by different people and some of the handwriting was not of the best. Sorting the papers into chronological order took many months of part time effort, indeed I gave up on the job for weeks and months at a time, but as I progressed with the work I realised that it was a history of the Merriman family from the late 18th century to the early years of the 20th century.
The first clearly decipherable writings referred to a certain James Abel Merriman, a naval officer at the time of the Napoleonic wars, and revealed some startling facts about French activities in and around Ireland and the Irish Sea at that time. I quickly realised that I had in my hands the material for a novel or novels about a little known part of our history. Other papers showed that beside those serving in the navy, other members of the family were connected with the 22nd Regiment of Foot, the Cheshire Regiment. Intriguingly, a family tree was among the papers in one of the later bundles. Armed with that and from research in local archives, church records etc., it appeared that the last direct male heir of the family, Albert George Merriman was killed in France in 1916 and the last descendant, his unmarried sister Amy Elizabeth, a nurse, was also killed in France in 1917.
If you have read Book One (A Certain Threat) and Book Two (The French Invasion) you will know that there is a gap of about four years in the narrative. This is because the documents and notes were in such a bad condition. However, after many hours of work and the assistance of a conservator from a main museum most of the lost years have been found and form the basis of this novel. I have written several novels about members of the Merriman family whose members served their country and sometimes died for it and they are all collected under the name “The Merriman Chronicles.”
The year 1793
Chapter 1 - Leaving for the West Indies
His Majesty’s sloop Aphrodite thrashed along over the waves only four days out from Portsmouth. The captain, Lieutenant Merriman, a dark haired man of some twenty two or three years of age, was content with the ship and his crew, indeed the early morning call of ‘Beat to quarters, prepare for action,” had been done in the shortest time yet. The sun was shining and the ship was making good time and once the Channel had been left behind no more gales had been met. He walked up and down the small space of the quarter deck and thought about the last few weeks. The action in the Irish Sea, the recovery of the stolen Revenue cutter and its crew of Frenchmen and Irish rebels intent on capturing the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Westmorland, at sea, to use him to try and force the government to give up its control of Ireland. Then the capture of the smugglers own craft and the unfinished fight with the French ship La Sirene. Then he remembered as if it was only yesterday when he had asked the delightful Helen to marry him and how pleased he had been when she accepted him, but he wondered how many months or even years would go by before he saw her again.
He dragged his mind back from that and considered shipboard matters. The pressed men, smugglers captured in the Irish Sea, were coping well enough; of course they were seamen, but more used to sailing small fishing smacks and some of them had been terrified at the prospect of going aloft on the tall masts of the Aphrodite. The sharp application of the boatswain’s cane to the rumps of the laggards had quickly cured them of that and they were settling in quite well. They had protested violently at first but the reminder that they could have been turned over to the authorities ashore and tried for helping England’s enemies soon made them see the error of their ways.
Merriman had pressed them to take the places of his men killed in the fight with the Sirene, “The Admiralty won’t worry about that Lieutenant, always desperate for men to fill the King’s ships,” the Admiral had said, rubbing his hands. One man had proved to be a problem, a prodigiously fat man who had been involved with the smugglers and The French in the theft of plumbago mined in Cumberland, used in metal casting and desperately needed by the French. The spare fat and tallow on the man was rapidly disappearing under shipboard living and extra duties found for him by the First Lieutenant but he was always slow and resentful of following orders. “Damn it, that was another problem to deal with,” thought Merriman “I wonder what has happened to the poor fellow?” The poor fellow, being Lieutenant Jeavons who was originally Aphrodite’s First Lieutenant, had suffered a violent blow to the head during the fight with the Sirene but between short periods of lucidity he simply stared into space not knowing who was speaking to him or where he was.
The surgeon’s hopes of an improvement in Jeavons’ condition hadn’t happened and Merriman had been obliged to put the man ashore in Plymouth at the newly built Stonehouse hospital on Stonehouse Creek. Lieutenant Colin Laing was now First Lieutenant, David Andrews the second Lieutenant and third Lieutenant was a new man by the name of William Gorman appointed by the Admiral in Portsmouth.
Merriman’s thoughts were interrupted by the arrival on deck of Mr. Grahame, a tall lean hawk faced individual now bright and breezy with his brief spell of seasickness long past and forgotten. A hard man and unmarried, working for the Revenue Service under Lord Stevenage of the Treasury Department, which controlled all England’s intelligence agents, he is one of the principal agents that England has. Merriman's patron is Lord Stevenage. They met when Merriman and his crew saved the passengers on an Indiaman which was being attacked by Algerian corsairs.
“Good morning James, a lovely morning and we are making good progress I think.” He paused, “Perhaps we could have a few minutes conversation in your cabin?” Merriman knew what it would be about. He was still the ship’s Captain and responsible for all aspects of the ship’s safety and handling but when and where the ship went was under Grahame’s orders. A good working relationship had been forged between them during the events in the Irish Sea but so far Grahame had not told him his plans for when they arrived in the West Indies.
When they were settled with cups of coffee prepared by Merriman’s servant Peters who then promptly disappeared into his own little space, Grahame began. “I haven’t discussed with you exactly what we are to do in the West Indies James, I’m sorry about that but I have been considering the options open to us. I have a list of several agents on various islands, both English and French, some I consider to be trustworthy and some not. Many may not be even be alive. Of course as you know, many of them only do it for the money but we can discover much of the French activities on the islands. What I learn from the first people I see will decide our own actions, wh
ich islands we visit first and so on, although I believe Jamaica will be the most important.”
“We must call at Bridgetown in Barbados first Sir, it’s the first port of call where we can obtain fresh water which is plentiful there,” said Merriman, “but I want to keep up our supplies, who knows when we shall have another opportunity. And I have dispatches and letters for the Admiral in command.”
“Very well James, tell me what you know about Barbados, I have no reliable agents there. What I do know I have only read about but I understand that it has been an English possession since 1655 and exports were sugar, rum, indigo and ginger grown mostly by white labour but since the plantations of cotton and tobacco have expanded more black slaves are used. Devilish bad business the slave trade, not what England should be involved in, it should be abolished,” remarked Grahame, “Have there been any slave uprisings there as in other places?”
“I agree with your sentiments Sir, I would like to see an end to it and I have heard that some people in Parliament are trying to bring that about but without much success, too many people with vested interests in the sugar trade. As to slave revolts I don’t know, but I heard about a hurricane in 1780 which killed thousands of people there and destroyed many of the plantations. Mr. Cuthbert the Master tells me that we should anchor in Carlisle Bay in the south of the island which is a good harbour except in bad weather otherwise it would have become our major naval base in the Caribbean with plenty of good clean water.”
“Very well James, I must take the opportunity to go ashore and find out more, Have they a garrison big enough to hold the island if there is any trouble with the slaves? France has little naval force over there now so I don’t think we have to worry about them on that score just yet. I must see if there is anybody there that I might recruit into my network to pass on anything he might learn about any French activities of course, or even Spanish activities. The Frogs are very good at causing unrest amongst the slaves on many islands which is one reason we are here.”
“I know we must call into Barbados James, for you to report our presence to the Admiral in command but after that I would like to visit some of the other islands in the chain up to Antigua. In Antigua there is one man I must see there before we sail further north. He is a general merchant from Bristol. All his trading ships were taken by the French and he hates them and would do anything to discomfit them. After the loss of his ships he moved to Antigua and started business again as an agent dealing in sugar, tobacco and coffee and such. Quite successfully I believe and he now has two new ships. In his position he meets many other traders and ships masters and hears a lot of news, gossip and information which he passes on to us. There are some others there I must try and see.”
“There should be no problem with that Sir, as you know we are carrying bags of mail for the garrison there and dispatches for the Admiral. The problem may be the various other Admirals I must report to. Each of them will want the Aphrodite to come under his command as he is nominally in command of all naval vessels in his area. He won’t be best pleased that we have letters from the Admiralty and the First Minister Mr. Pitt urging him and all persons of authority to give us all the essential help that we think that we may need”. “It may be for the best James, to impress on him the importance of our mission. I have the full weight of the Government behind me which should stifle his objections.” The two men returned to the quarterdeck and the watch keeping officers and men moved over to the lee side in time honoured convention. The officer of the watch Mr. Andrews touched his hat and reported the ship’s condition to his Captain. Every member of the crew knew that the Captain’s eye would see any fault with the ship and would miss nothing, but Merriman knew that the skies would fall before Lieutenants Laing and Andrews missed anything for their Captain to notice.
Conversation then became more general, Mr. Graham commented that the crew seemed happy enough with the weather conditions, no wet clothes to worry about; in fact it was ideal for an Atlantic cruise. “Yes Sir, Jack is happy enough for now certainly but perhaps you haven’t experienced a real Atlantic gale. Things can change so rapidly out here you wouldn’t believe it.”
“How are the new men shaping up James, I haven’t seen any trouble, has there been any?” “No Sir, nothing more than a few grumbles but they have settled into the ship’s routine well enough.” And so the days passed as the ship headed southwards, routine maintenance on the ship continued and very quickly they were only a few days from the point where they could expect to meet the North-east trade winds, the starting point for the voyage across the Atlantic, a voyage of some three thousand miles. Merriman and his officers exercised every day at swordplay under the instruction of Lieutenant St James the marine officer who was an accomplished swordsman. They were all improving, even the midshipmen, and St James reminded them often of the phrase from Cowper’s work 'No skill in swordsmanship however just, can be secure against a madman's thrust.' The crews were also improving their ability with swords with daily practice.
Merriman decided to invite all the officers to dinner, something he had not yet done, so that he could inform them about the nature of the ship’s duties in the West Indies. He beckoned Mr. Oakley the midshipman of the watch who nearly tripped over a ring- bolt in his haste to obey. “Mr. Oakley, I appreciate your eagerness to discover what I want done but you really must learn to place your feet more carefully and not dash about like an excited puppy. After all you are an officer and must show the decorum required. Now then, I want you to call on all the officers, not forgetting Mr. Cuthbert and Mr. McBride, to tell them that they are all invited for dinner tonight; excepting the duty watch of course. Oh, and pass the word for the cook to come aft right away.”
“Aye-aye Sir” exclaimed the boy, dashing off and nearly crashing into a seaman who was standing behind him binding a rope’s end. Merriman shook his head and smiled to himself at the youth’s impetuosity. The ship’s cook duly appeared, looking worried in case he had done something wrong, but Merriman simply informed him that one of his own pigs was to be killed and prepared for the officer’s dinner later. “Mark you cook, I want plenty of crackling on it and we have a few apples left which you can use to make sauce.”
Chapter 2 - Officers told about the ship's orders
It was a small but convivial gathering in Merriman’s quarters that evening whilst Lieutenant Andrews kept the watch on deck with Midshipman Shrigley. Mr. Grahame, Lieutenants Laing, Gorman, and St. James the marine officer, Mr. Cuthbert the sailing master, Mr. Oakley the midshipman and the ship’s surgeon Mr. McBride were there, all eating heartily. They were making heavy inroads into Merriman’s wine chest, although McBride restricted himself to only one glass having had problems with alcohol in the past.
Looking round the table Merriman again reflected how lucky he was to have such a good set of officers and willing and competent crew. Unconsciously he squeezed a small tightly bound ball of rags with his left hand as his doctor had told him to do after the operation to remove fragments from the wound in his arm, received in the fight with the corsairs. “It will strengthen the muscles James,” the doctor had said. Since then he had always carried it on his person and was often seen walking on deck, squeezing it without really noticing what he was doing.
Does your arm still bother you Sir?” asked a greatly daring Andrews. “Not too much now but it has become a habit to squeeze this damned ball,” said Merriman thrusting it into a pocket as the cook and Peters brought the meal into the cabin. “Now then gentlemen, remember, I quote “Now good digestion wait on appetite and health on both,” that is from Shakespeare’s Macbeth I believe.”
“Indeed it is Captain, and Cicero said something similar but I can‘t call it to mind” said Grahame. “Sir I think it is 'Live not to eat but eat to live' said young Oakley. Both Merriman and Grahame had each discovered in the other, pleasure in finding apt sayings or Shakespearian quotations and now they both stared at Oakley in amazement. “Are you interested in Cicero young man” aske
d Grahame. “No, not really Sir, some quotations were drilled into us at school but most of them are gone now.”
Over the meal the conversation drifted to their recent experiences in Dublin and the trial of the rebels. All of them had been heartily welcomed by Dublin society and all invited to dances and dinners, especially by ladies with unmarried daughters, but it quickly began to pall and a reluctance to accept invitations became apparent. The marine officer St James who had always been the centre of a group of young ladies, with his arm in a sling and playing the part of the wounded hero to perfection, had put it into words, “Daren't go ashore again Sir, I'll find myself up at the altar if I do. I had no idea of the lengths some girls will go to, to trap a fellow. A kiss and a squeeze behind the drapes seems little enough but one loses interest even in that when the girl's mother is sighted bearing down like a frigate under full sail.”
“Ye Gods,” exclaimed Laing a quiet half hour later, “The cook has really excelled himself this time Sir. That crackling is the best I have eaten for years.” He stifled a prodigious belch, and continued “My grandmother made marvelous crackling” he said dreamily, obviously remembering pork crackling of his youth, before asking “Is that piece going begging?”
There were more expressions of pleasure as Merriman’s man Peters cleared the table and produced crackers and a large piece of cheese. When all that had been cleared Merriman said “Mr. Oakley, what must you do?” “Yes Sir, sorry Sir, I must propose the loyal toast.” After that had been proposed by Mr. Oakley, with the officers standing crouched down, as the low headroom demanded, Merriman called for silence. “Gentlemen, Mr. McBride has some information for us concerning our forthcoming visit to the West Indies.”
The Threat in the West Indies (The Merriman Chronicles Book 4) Page 1