Nelson's Coat

I blogged a while ago about our trip to Greenwich and our brief visit to the National Maritime Museum, but I wanted to mention it again, since we went back to the museum recently to see an exhibition of toy boats. While wandering around we saw quite a few things of interest from the Georgian and Regency periods, not least Admiral Lord Nelson's Trafalgar coat. I wasn't allowed to use flash, so excuse the poor photograph: there's a clearer image on the Port Cities website.

But what you don't get from a photograph is the scale of the object. I never realised how small in statue Nelson was - of course, people in the 18th century were smaller, generally, than we are today, but even so, I wasn't quite prepared for this neat, petite piece of clothing. You could see the hole from the bullet that killed Nelson in the right shoulder of the coat (a passing American thought it looked a superficial blow, until he was told it came from above and went downwards through Nelson's body). Along the back of the display they had Nelson's stockings, still stained with blood (probably that of his secretary, John Scott, who was killed earlier in the battle). Rarely have I seen such an evocative piece of clothing, and the museum also had some excellent mourning artifacts on display related to Nelson's death, including funeral jewellery and vases.


Photograph © Memoirs of the Celebrated Mrs Woffington. 
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Thoughts on Le Frog Mug

What started me thinking about frog mugs was a trip to the National Maritime Museum's shop, where my boyfriend bought a replica of a creamware frog mug in the museum's collection, with a design on the outside depicting the Battle of the Trafalgar (above). It's inscribed 'Lord Nelson/Engaging the Combin'd/Fleets of Cape/TRAFALGAR', 'The young Alexander of France/May boast of his prowess in vain/When Nelson appears tis confest/That Britains are Lords of the Main'.

In case you're not familar with the frog mug tradition, this drinking vessel (also sometimes called the 'surprise mug' or 'toad mug') has a miniature ceramic frog modelled on the inside, so that when you drink the liquid you get the shock of your life as the critter emerges from the depths.


Some sources say the mugs were originally made in Liverpool and Sunderland where they were used in taverns frequented by sailors - but how old is the tradition? I wondered if the frog mug was particularly popular in the 18th century because of its anti-French overtones; after all, English sailors of the Trafalgar period frequently referred to Frenchmen as 'Monsieur Johnny Crapaud' [crapaud=toad]. One mug even has the inscription:

May England's oak,
Produce the bark,
To tan the hide Of Bonaparte.

A bit more history here (and my apologies to any French readers!)

Photographs © Memoirs of the Celebrated Mrs Woffington.

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