Prussian Derelict
The following illustrated short story is based on the actual reported events of the brig named the Die Parnitz (1851-1854) in 19th century newspapers. Originally this story was part of the book about the ship Frowning Beauty, but I considered it interesting enough to warrant making a separate book, just about the Prussian brig Die Parnitz.
Introduction
Most of this story is written in the third person perspective except the one chapter about historic aspects of the Die Parnitz. The historic chapter is written in the first person to give a proper sense of why the ship’s spirit felt justified in her hoodoo behavior towards her captain. Besides the story of Die Parnitz, I thought I would expand the book to discuss changing attitudes in the 19th century about the practice of shooting sea fowl. The hoodoo accident that occurred to the Die Parnitz’s captain involved the shooting of sea fowl, but this was not a unique incident. Sometimes when I stumble upon an unusual event onboard an old sailing ship I find a larger social issue. In this case the broader topic was the reckless shooting of seabirds and the growing realization that this sport was inhumane.
Art Note
An art motif used in this book displays carnivorous plants on ships spirits’ costumes. There are some sailing jargon books, such as “Jack Tar and the Baboon Watch” that even have a reference to such hoodoo ships being termed as ‘man-eaters’. It seemed appropriate to the have ship’s spirit entwined with a carnivorous plant to demonstrate that she had turned on her own crew.
In this book the brig Die Parnitz’s ship’s spirit is depicted four different ways to represent different aspects of her story. These depictions portray the ship’s spirit as: a rag torn derelict, a carnivorous man-eater, a soldier, and finally a bird protector. The intention is to help identify the specific theme of that particular chapter (Derelict, Man-Eater, Patriot and Aviarist {Bird Keeper}).
Purchase Souvenirs
Nice water bottles, travel mugs, tote bags and t-shirts available with art from this book
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