Trafalgar Day...October 21

Trafalgar Day is celebrated every year on October 21st to honor the death of Admiral Horatio Nelson and his victory at Trafalgar in 1805. The 200th anniversary of the event is this year. The HMS Victory may still be visited at Portsmouth. While he lay dying, Nelson was given lemonade to drink. In 1795, lemon juice was officially added to the daily rations to cure/prevent scurvy in the Royal Navy. "In order to combat the fatal effects of scurvy amongst the crews of ships at sea, a regular allowance of lemon-juice is served out to the men; and by this practice, the disease has almost entirely disappeared. By putting the juice into bottles, and pouring on the top sufficient oil to cover it, it may be preserved for a considerable time. Italy and Turkey export great quantities of it in this manner." Beeton, Isabella. 1861

Admiral Horatio Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805

HMS Victory
National Maritime Museum. Greenwich. Nelson & Napoleon exhibit
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Beatty, William. The Death of Lord Nelson. London: 1807
Southey, Robert. The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson. 1813
Life onboard HMS Victory
The Immortal Memory - toast

Limeys: Lemons & Limes in the Royal Navy

Beeton, Isabella. The Book of Household Management. London: 1861
Dr. James Lind and Scurvy
Lind, James. A treatise of the scurvy. 1753
Scurvy and Vitamin C
Lemons - Spanish, British and other fleets
Grog

Previous pictures of the month

©2006 Patricia Bixler Reber

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