The Life & Adventures of John Nicol Mariner

The life of a late-18th-century sailor was, to steal a quote from Hobbes, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Frequent European wars and revolutions made life at sea so perilous that, as Flannery notes, a crew mortality rate of 15% per year was not considered unusual. Yet John Nicol (1755-1825), a Scotsman of humble beginnings, managed to survive a quarter of a century at sea during which he fought against Napoleon's navy, battled pirates, befriended natives of China, Jamaica and Hawaii, and twice circumnavigated the globe. On one voyage, he even found time to marry a convict bound for Australia (but soon lost her when he was compelled to ship out, leaving wife and child behind; he tried to get back to her and never could, show more eventually marrying another woman). At the end of his long career, Nicol returned home to Edinburgh, where, for over a decade, he was forced to hide from the press gangs who were eager to return a salty old tar to service in the Royal Navy. At the age of 67, a chance meeting with an eccentric bookbinder gave him the opportunity to publish this autobiography, which has now been rediscovered and reissued. Nicol may have been just a common seaman, but he is a superb narrator with a surprisingly modern voice and a gift for noting odd details (such as the "wooden jacket," a barrel with holes cut for the head and arms, inside of which hapless sailors and prisoners were confined as punishment). Equal parts history, diary and adventure story, his book wonderfully describes what it was like to traverse the globe in one of the most tumultuous periods in human history.

Flannery (Throwim Way Leg; principal research scientist, Australian Museum) has brought to life the fascinating adventures of John Nicol (1755-1825), an unlettered cooper who spent the years 1776-1801 at sea in the Royal Navy and in various merchant ships. These years saw Nicol circumnavigate the world twice and visit America, Greenland, China, the South Seas, and Egypt. Here he provides a rare glimpse of late 18th-century seafaring life from the perspective of the ordinary seaman as opposed to a ship's officer, as is the case with most accounts. A keen observer of humanity, Nicol describes exotic ports of call and the peoples he encountered with a wit and sensitivity that one would not expect from a man of his station in life. There is also much pathos, as in his description of his first wife, a convict transported to the Botany Bay penal colony. Written in 1822, two decades after he quit the sea, this book has the strengths and weaknesses of any oral history yet is still an excellent read for those interested in the period. show less

Tim Flannery is to be commended in resurrecting this book, first published and 1822 and last reprinted in 1937. But just as Flannery has brought this tale of a humble sailor in the merchant and Royal Navies of the late 1700's back into print, it was also the work of another man, John Howell, who first wrote down Nicol's story and published it. Howell directed all of the profits of the book to providing Nicol, who had fallen on hard times, with a comfortable old age. There's a charm in the story, as there must have been in the man, to have touched so many of his contemporaries, and indeed his story still resonates with the modern reader.

Every fan of C.S.Forrester or Alexander Kent should read this authentic account of a common sailer in show more the days of Nelson. Whether he's stuck below decks in the Battle of the Nile, or falling in love with a convict girl on a transport ship to Australia, or in any of a hundred encounters with folk quite unlike himself, Nicol observes himself and all around him with a wonderfully accurate gaze. Through privations, heartbreak and poverty, Nicol never loses that moral compass that directs him to do the best he could by others and think the best of them, despite witnessing and relating tales of utmost horror and despair amongst ships' crews around him. Along with Dobree and Manwaring's 'The Floating Republic' this is a rare and engaging story of life below decks in the days of sail. Highly recommended. show less

This was a great little book to read. A nice introduction to explain alterations made to the text to help the modern reader. This sailor has been around! I came across his name whilst reading 'The Floating Brothel' by Sian Rees and wanted to know a little bit more about him. The book talks about his life, in his words, including the people and places in it.

Well worth a read, it's highly informative, entertaining and thrilling.

Based on the actual memoirs of John Nicol - this is a highly edited version of his life for younger readers. John's first sailing was at the age of 14 on board as a cooper. (Person who makes and repairs barrels.) In his life, Nicol would sail to America, Africa and Australia; the latter on a ship full of female convicts where he fathered a child on the long voyage. He vowed to return to Sarah but never saw her or the child again. John also fought many sea battles in his time serving his country when England was at war. This is a great short book with a very condensed look at his life.

Was required to read this for school. It was hard to get into, and jumped around from subject to subject. I had to read it a few time to understand were Nicol was because in one sentence he would be at one port and the next he would be somewhere new. After finishing it, though, I began to really understand what kind of person he was. He was unlucky in love, and in life, and had a constant fear of being pressed.

A typical old time seaman, adventurer, and romantic. John Nicole's story tells a lot about life at the end of the 1700's and beginning of the 1800's.

Really interesting story of an 18th century mariner