Doldrums and Dead Horses
Hello,
This week’s word is doldrums, along with the related phrase flogging a dead horse which originated not on a racecourse, but on the open waves of the Sargasso Sea. I’ve just completed a massive editing project (an Irish historic fiction novel, a long-term plan of mine) during NaNoWriMo 2020 and today I’m putting up my feet and giving you an extract from “Words The Sea Gave Us”, my nautical words and phrases book. I hope you enjoy it and avoid the Monday Doldrums yourself.
Doldrums {extract from “Words The Sea Gave Us” by Grace Tierney, copyright 2020}
To be in the doldrums has been used since the 1800s to indicate boredom and low spirits but in the Age of Sail it was a more serious position for a ship.
The doldrums are areas of light winds around 30 degrees latitude in each hemisphere in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. They were also called the Horse Latitudes thanks to Spanish ship’s practice of throwing horses overboard when becalmed there to preserve drinking water.
The expression flogging a dead horse is connected both to the Horse Latitudes and to the ceremony of the Dead Horse. Sailing as far the Horse Latitudes typically took about one month which was the time it took sailors to work off their advance pay (spent ashore before the trip commenced). When the month was up they tossed a stuffed canvas horse overboard to celebrate being paid again. Captains noted that getting the crew to work hard during that month was as easy as flogging a dead horse into activity.
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Not Columbus’ ship’s compass
East of the Bahamas a strong current causes sargasso seaweed to cluster on the surface. This area is known as the Sargasso Sea. It rarely rains there and the winds are light to non-existant. It is often compared to a desert in the sea. Becalmed ships here often didn’t survive the lack of drinking water, and the area was believed to be haunted by the ghosts of the horses and the sailors who had perished. The area is also called the Doldrums or the Dungeon of Lost Souls (now that’s a perfect title for a fantasy novel in my opinion). Columbus sailed through the area with great difficulty thanks to magnetic variation issues with his compass.
During December I’m gathering Christmas words for my Wordfoolery Wednesday local radio slot on the 16th. If you’ve words you’d like me to investigate, please drop a comment below. Thank you!
Until next time happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,
Grace (@Wordfoolery)
