Seafaring Lore and Legend Paperback - 2007 - 1st Edition

First line

When people first emerged from the long dark night of their savage and brutal lives as predatory hunters and gradually became more or less contemplative beings, increasingly aware of themselves as but a very small part of what seemed to be a very big picture, doubtless the two questions they asked themselves would have been: Where did we come from?

From the rear cover

"A valuable and lively resource. Jeans sorts truth from fiction with a sure hand and does full justice to both." --Peter Stanford, President Emeritus, National Maritime Historical Society

"A veritable sourcebook of nautical history, beliefs, and heritage. Every true mariner will get lost in this book."--Boating

Seafaring Lore and Legend is a storehouse of wonders for those who love the sea. From Noah's Ark to Thor Heyerdahl's raft, from Atlantis to the Northwest Passage, author Peter Jeans scours the ages and the seven seas for fanciful, inspiring, and bizarre tales of sea monsters, ghost ships, lost continents, castaways, pirates, explorers, superstitions, and customs.

Discover the surprising truths behind:

• The origins of naval salutes and the Beaufort Scale
• Flogging a dead horse and other oddities of nautical custom
• Sea chanties, scurvy, and the hardships of life at sea
• Infamous and noteworthy sea captains and their ships
• Famous wrecks and mutinies
• Mermaids, sirens, and sea nymphs
• Nautical superstitions such as the albatross and Fiddler's Green
• And much more

This is a book you can open anywhere to savor for a few minutes or an afternoon. But be careful: it's easy to lose track of time at sea.

Peter Jeans began his love affair with seafaring lore more than forty years ago. He has been an adventurer, English teacher, and columnist, and is an avid sailor and writer whose books include Ship to Shore: A Dictionary of Everyday Words and Phrases Derived from the Sea.