M&D - Chapter 17 - The War of Jenkins' Ear

[David Ewers]

On Mar 24, 2015, at 7:09 PM Jolly good day we are having, Johnny Marr wrote:

> The War of Jenkins' Ear is perfect terrain for TRP. It's the kind of historical miscellany he revels in, the shortest war ever fought. Wiki explains:
> 
> Returning home from the West Indies in command of the brig Rebecca in 1731, Jenkins' ship was stopped and boarded by the Spanish guarda-costa La Isabela (Jenkins was involved in contraband and piracy). Her commander, Captain Julio León Fandiño, had Jenkins bound to a mast and then sliced off one of his ears with his sword then told him to say to his King "same will happen to him (the king) if cought doing the same". On arriving in England, Jenkins addressed his grievances to the king, and a report was furnished by the Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies confirming Jenkins' account. At the time the incident received little attention, but in 1738 Jenkins repeated his story with dramatic details before a committee of the House of Commons, producing what he claimed to be his ear that had been cut off. As a result of this incident England declared war to Spain... In 1741 he was sent from England to St. Helena to investigate charges of corruption brought against the acting governor, and from May 1741 until March 1742 he administered the affairs of the island.
> 
> As with the cheese rolling in Stroud, this reads just like a TRP subplot - it could have come straight out of The Courier's Tragedy; a corrupt but masterful sailor, in the English state's emply (crooked or not, better to have him working for us) left with his ear cut off by rival Spanish ships, provokes his countrymen into war with a belated, embellished retelling of his story, and ends up as the poacher turned gamekeeper when he effectively takes charge of St Helena.

The mention of Helen of Troy here made me wonder if the Enlightenment combo of throwing off the old Religious myths (so not having them handy for starting wars...) and their mania for all things Classically Greek didn't have something to do with this Ear story playing out the way it did.


> Of course, the story has another twist as Jenkins loses a fortune to Honourable John in cards. Forgive me for returning to wikipedia for a definition of Crossruff


>  A crossruff is a play where tricks are made by taking alternate ruffs in each hand. In order to use a crossruff, each player in the partnership must have shortness in a non-trump suit, accompanied with appropriate length in the opposite hand. Also, each partner must be short in the suit that his partner is long in. It is preferable that both players have an equal number of cards in the trump suit, otherwise a regular ruff is usually more effective, as it has the added benefit of establishing the trump suit.

Thanks!

> Jenkins has to forfeit th celebrated ear which he brought with him to St Helena, "encasqu'd in a little Show-case of Crystal and Silver, and pickl'd in Atlantick Brine.
> 
> Mason finds his way into the Museum, despite the obstructive presence of a three foot high Portico and Gate, and a 'Corporate Surplus' he appears to have accrued through the hospitality he enjoyed in Cape Town. Soon enough he's through the door and in the presence of "a great modern secular relic" - and Nick Mournival.
>  

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