The Death and Glory

Introduction

The Death and Glory is an old ship's boat belonging to Joe, Bill and Pete, known as the Death and Glories, the youngest members of Horning's Coot Club. 

Description

In Coot Club, the Death and Glory is described as "an old black ship's boat, with a stumpy little mast and a black flag at the masthead" (Chapter 2). She is an open boat, powered either by oars or by a single "grey, ragged, patched old lugsail, far too small for the boat" (Chapter 28).

By the start of The Big Six, the Death and Glory has had something of a makeover. Joe, Bill and Pete have built a cabin and equipped it with three bunks and a stove, together with a tall earthenware chimney pot on the cabin roof. The Death and Glory flies a "Bird Protection Society" flag on her bows and has a sign saying "Salvage Company" on her cabin roof, thereby advertising Joe, Bill and Pete's self-appointed duties on the river.

It is clear from Ransome's descriptions that Joe, Bill and Pete are not used to having spare cash. The Death and Glory is very much a second-hand make-and-mend creation, but one they value all the more for that. 

Ownership

How Joe, Bill and Pete acquired the Death and Glory is not explained. Given their lack of resources, it is unlikely they bought her, unless for a very nominal sum, or in lieu of some work they performed. It seems more likely that she was simply no longer wanted by her previous owners and thus either abandonned, or else given to the Death and Glories on condition they took her away.

Death and Glory appears in

Coot Club, The Big Six.

Factual Inspiration

There is no known direct inspiration for the Death and Glory. However, Ransome did comment in respect to E F Knight's The Falcon on the Baltic (1888) that it was still quite possible to pick up old ship's lifeboats cheaply, and to convert them into reasonable, if makeshift, vessels for cruising and sleeping aboard. It may be that he had seen similar conversions on the Broads and was inspired by them.

What Happened to the "Real" Death and Glory?

As mentioned above, there was no specific original. The BBC did, however, build a version for their 1980s adaptation of The Big Six. As of 2003, this vessel still existed in private ownership on the Broads.  

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