7 March at St. Paul’s: Flowers for Admiral Collingwood 13 March, 2011
Posted by Molly Joyful in Cuthbert Collingwood, Events, Nelson, Royal Navy.Tags: age of sail, collingwood, Cuthbert Collingwood, Nelson, personal, Royal Navy, st. paul's cathedral
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St. Paul’s was very busy on 7 March; the usual mixture of schoolkids (mostly bored) and tourists (mostly with bored kids). I can feel with them; when I was first dragged to St. Paul’s, I also was very grumpy with my teacher, because I wanted to go shopping, for crying out loud, not spend the afternoon in a church! Well, we get older and (mostly) wiser. I overheard a funny conversation between two lads of about 14 years of age. They had to answer questions on a worksheet and set up camp right behind us. One said he wanted a “thing” like Nelson’s sarcophagus, but a cooler version, with flames spray-painted on the sides!
Admiral Collingwood’s sarcophagus probably doesn’t inspire such elaborately customised copies; you can’t even see his name unless you walk up the steps and read the inscription. We laid the flowers and held a minute of silence.
The flower arrangement was lovely, with red roses and red berries.
Next year, we’ll go for Brassica oleracea and chewing bones… ;-)
What lovely flowers, Molly.
To J.E. Blackett
August 28, 1804
. . . It seems odd, when you consider, that I have not seen a green leaf on a tree since I left Mrs. Hughes’s, at Portsmouth, in June 1803, except indeed those of my own creation, in the drawing which I sent you some time ago, and which I hope you received.
[...] annual gift of flowers. A very lovely flowerbox with red roses and berries, not unlike the one from last year, was placed on his [...]