John Downie, aged 26,Marine; headache
Taken ill 15 Nov’r at Cove,
discharged to duty 25 Nov’r.
This is a coltish drunken fellow of such a ghastly wretched appearance in general that it is a difficult matter to ascertain at anytime whether he is in health or otherwise especially if it is convenient for him to affect indisposition - which is very often the case. He has been bred a butcher and from the facilities of his early years he has acquired habits that are in some degree rare - he can imitate with the greatest possible exactness the howling of a pack of hounds, the crowing of a cock, the bellowing of a bull, cow or calf and a number of other animals. On account of these curious qualifications he is often solicited by his shipmates to give a specimen of his talents and a glass of grog is of course the reward. I presume he has been drunk in consequence of something of this kind and has affected sickness to avoid punishment. He says his head aches
I have given him an emetic and will stop his grog till he is better.
Originally Recorded by: Mr. Thomas Simpson, Surgeon, HMS Arethusa, 1805
Silly boy.
ReplyDeleteAltho' it would be much better all around if the hands could pay for such things with something other than grog.