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    The Great Gordino Newsletter - Issue 340 - Mon 7th Nov 2005
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    Archive Issues online at - gordonbryan.com/archive

    Hi There,

    Hurragh! The King is alive!
    King James lives!

    Er, well that's not strictly true, since he died in 1625, but if we go
    back 400 years, to the 7th Nov 1605, then King James was very
    much alive, feeling smug and not a little relieved that he had
    survived an assasination plot on Nov 5th.
    I remember last year I wrote about it, and must have exclaimed
    a fairly hearty 'D'OH!!' to realise it was the 399th anniversary.
    I won't repeat myself this year, but if you fancy reading the
    archive issue, I called it 'Deep Pile Dog Poo Leaves', and you
    can read it here:
    Deep Pile Dog Poo Leaves

    It also features a link to a site which gives details of how the
    Union Flag was designed.

    It's a time for anniversaries at the moment - 400 years since
    the gunpowder plot, and 200 years in October since the battle of
    Trafalgar.
    At the time, the British Empire stretched across a 3rd of the
    planet, and probably the most famous man of all was Lord
    Admiral Horatio Nelson.
    More famous than Elvis, or Muhammed Ali, Nelson was a
    people's hero, having already lost an eye and an arm in battles.

    He first joined the navy aged 9, and stepped into service at the
    port of Chatham.
    That's also where his famous ship The Victory was built.
    It's only just down the road from me, I used to live there, and if
    you open the window and the wind blows in the right direction,
    you can still catch the authentic whiff of a dockyard.
    Mind you, that whiff is nothing compared to what you'd find
    below decks on a 19 century warship.
    Conditions were poor to say the least, and the majority if the
    crew would have been press-ganged into service, i.e. whacked on
    the head and brought onboard in chains.

    Despite this, the men loved Nelson, and wanted to do his bidding.
    Why was this?
    Because he showed them fairness, he showed them empathy
    and he showed them leadership.
    Until the 1800s, battles at sea were fairly lame affairs.
    I say lame in a relative sense, because the wooden ships would
    still knock 7 bags out of each other, but a decisive victory was
    rare, because each Captain was concerned with keeping his ship
    intact.

    This is where Nelson's personality came in.
    Viewed as a rebel, he wasn't a universal choice to lead the fleet
    against the French and Spanish in 1805, but he was given the
    job because the top brass knew that he went into any battle
    expecting to win, or die trying.

    He used a manouveur in the battle which was as innovative as it
    was dangerous.
    It meant that his own ship took a mighty pounding before it
    could even fire a shot, but eventually ended up in a position to
    do so much damage to the enemy that it resulted in a victory.
    Nelson didn't see the victory - he was lying below deck, his spine
    shattered by a bullet, but he lived long enough to know that he
    had won.

    England was saved, and his statue still stands atop Nelson's
    column in London's Trafalgar Square.
    Isn't it a coincidence though, that of all the places in London to
    put the statue, they managed to find a big space called
    Trafalgar Square - what are the odds!
    Hmm...

    Being a maverick like Nelson doesn't work for everyone.
    For all the success stories, there are just as many failures, and
    many people achieve huge success in a quiet unassuming way.
    One aspect of Nelson's character which would do no harm in
    adopting, was his strength of conviction, his preparedness to see
    things through.

    Ok, that's it for today, next week I'm intending to talk about
    prosperity in alternative universes, but here's the thought for
    this week - does the bang of bonfire night and remembering the
    bang of battle remind you of any convictions you need to revisit,
    to restrengthen?

    'Til Next Time,
    Health and Happiness,
    Gordon
    email me at gordon@gordonbryan.com - you'll have to copy and paste
    thanks to the idiot online spammers!



    
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