Showing results by author "J. G. Lockhart" in All Categories

A riveting collection of stories of ships, sailors, adventures on the high seas and maritime mysteries. The Tale by Joseph Conrad. The Saloon Passenger by E. W. Hornung. The Terrible Story of the "Mary Russell" by J. G. Lockhart. Marooned by J. G. Lockhart. A Rash Experiment by W. W. Jacobs. The Mystery of the Mary Celeste by J. G. Lockhart. Smoked Skipper by W. W. Jacobs. The Flying Dutchman by J. G. Lockhart. The Cabin Passenger by W. W. Jacobs. The Ship that saw a Ghost by Frank Norris.

A riveting collection of true stories which are so strange as to be almost unbelievable.

J. G. Lockhart (1794-1854) was a Scottish writer and editor, with a particular passion for investigating famous mysteries. In this analysis, he investigates the legend of the Flying Dutchman, the ghostly mariner, cursed by God, who is condemned to roam the high seas causing disaster to ships and sailors until the day of judgement, when his soul will be delivered to Satan. Lockhart's analysis looks at various incarnations of the tale and whether the myth could in fact have its roots in a real event.

The "Mary Celeste" (or Marie Celeste as it is wrongly referred to several writers) was a British merchant brigantine. The ship is best known for having been discovered on 5 December 1872 in the Atlantic Ocean, unmanned and apparently abandoned, although the weather was fine, the ship intact and her crew experienced and capable seamen. The "Mary Celeste" was in sound and seaworthy condition and was under full sail heading for the Strait of Gibraltar.

The "Mary Russell" was a trading boat that set sail from the harbour of Cobh in County Cork on 8 February 1828, carrying a cargo of mules bound for Barbados. When it returned to Cobh on 25 June 1828, the horrified people of Cork found a cabin awash with blood and the bound and battered corpses of the ship's crew.

The extraordinary story of Robert Jeffrey who was press-ganged into the Royal Navy in 1808 at the age of 18. On his first voyage on board the Recruit under the strict Captain Lake, Jeffrey gave in to temptation and stole a sip of rum. For this he was clapped in irons for two days and then given two dozen lashes. A few days later however, he drank two quarts of spruce beer belonging to the midshipmen. For this repeat misdemeanor, Captain Lake ordered him to be put ashore on a barren rock on the outskirts of the Leeward Islands.