This week, is a very special Danish edition, covering September 27 & September 28. We need to sail to the Als Sound as part of the great Adventure, but club members will need to brush up on their Prussian & Danish history if they’re going to join us…
We discuss: how German champagne funded WW1 – sort of (1:58); the various reasons why Davies & Carruthers are footling about in the Flensburg fjord (4:45); tracking down Childers’s real-life Dulcibella (6:02); where to moor on the 28th & the Battle of Als (9:57); a musical interlude by Piefke (13:21); what happened to the German battle memorials (14:21); an opportunity to re-enact the battle of Als (18:19); Lloyd on Danish princesses (20:22).
Club business: details of forthcoming Film Club (24:02); Ed Freyfogle on a contemporary Dutch-German border dispute (26:06); Ramsey on Childers’s comical times at Trinity College, Cambridge (27:13); Tim about a curious link between himself and Childers (29:11); Aunt Liz on centreboards & Dutch ovens (29:55); Jeff on what really defines an Edwardian gentleman (31:47)
Missions for next week – members assistance required.
The Dulcibella: Lloyd has already done a fair bit of research about ‘The Vixen’, Childers’s boat that is the model for Dulcibella. We think we know when and where she was built, and how she was converted from a lifeboat to a yacht. But what happened to her after the voyage to the Frisian Islands. Anyone know?
Oilskins: It’s on September 29 that Carruthers is finally put to the test in rough weather. He’s not particularly complimentary about the oilskins he has to wear. Can any Club members advise us on what the correct outerwear would be for travelling through the Baltic in late September?
Books: Davies has a number of books on his boat. And it’s clear that Childers has done a fair bit of reading around the subjects of yachting and German imperial ambitions in the late 1800s and early 1900s. We’re wondering if any Club members have read any of the books that keep cropping up. If so, can you tell us about them?
Danish Coffee Punch: what’s the best recipe?
The Curiously Specific Book Club 
Maldwin Drummond’s ‘The Riddle’ [Adlard Coles 1985] details the subsequent
history of the Vixen/Dulcibella in considerable detail. She eventually ‘sat down’ and was burned
for the yard~space.
http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/blogs/dulcibella-in-her-grave-wootton-creek-1937/
LikeLike
Hi Elwyn – thanks for this. I’ve actually been using Drummond’s book as the main source material for the Dulcibella bits. And we hope to come on to the rather sad story of the Dulcibella’s demise next week!
LikeLike
Kaffepunch!
2 recipes and I can only guess which one you’ll choose:
“MENU Juleretter” (MENU Christmas Dishes) published by
Lademann in 1976
1 pint / 0.5 l coffee
6 tablespoons. sugar
1 pint / 0.5 l port
1 pint / 0.5 l rum
In addition:
The peel from 2 oranges
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Servings: 8-10
Heat coffee, sugar, port wine and rum in a saucepan stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat before it boils.
Wash the oranges thoroughly and peel them very thin.
Distribute the orange peel in heated punch glasses.
Pour in the coffee punch and sprinkle with little cinnamon.
OR:
Here’s a recipe from the artist, the kiteflier, the man, the Dane, who was Jørgen Møller Hansen.
Jørgen explained the formula for the Kaffe-punch; place a kroner in the cup, add coffee until you can’t see the coin, then add schnapps until you can see the coin again.
Ahoy!
LikeLike
I’m with the kiteflier. OBVS.
LikeLike
OBVS.
Though I would like to read about a Kaffepunch Batch Off – signature punch round.
LikeLike
The recipe with the coin and the aquavite (snaps or Schnapps in German) is the right one
LikeLike
BBC 4 Sat 16 May 9pm
“1864” The Guardian say “New series historical drama charting the lead-up to Denmark’s devastating war with Prussia – in Danish…. it is set during the 2nd Schleswig war, & episode one includes a brief re-cap of the first Schleswig war……. inexorably becomes more absorbing than all that sounds”
Sounds like an ideal crammer to bring us up to speed on the SH Question?
LikeLike
It does, doesn’t it? We will have to watch.
LikeLike
1864: just finished watching this. Interesting, a Danish production, and the Danish government are portrayed as the ones responsible for kicking it off, but the Prussians certainly took up the challenge & slaughtered (really) the Danes. Key learning? Beware of opera singers!
LikeLike
Also beware of unhinged bishops, particularly if moonlighting as prime minister. Certainly kept us watching right through.
LikeLike