“The Hornet and the Peacock”
Description
"King George says [to the Peacock] 'To America go / The Hornet, the Wasp is the British king's foe.'" However, the Hornet defeats the Peacock: "The Peacock now mortally under her wing / Did feel the full force of the Hornet's sharp sting/"
Notes
What seems to be the most widely distributed text of this ballad runs, "The peacock that lived in the land of King George / His feathers were fine and his tail very large / He spread out his wings like a ship in full sail / And prided himself on the size of his tail... The hornet doth tickle the British bird's tail." _Hornet_ and _Wasp_ were American ships.
The battle between U.S.S. _Hornet_ and H.M.S. _Peacock_ was strange. The _Hornet_ was commanded by James Lawrence, a brash young officer barely in his thirties. On February 24, 1812, cruising off Brazil, the 18-gun _Hornet_ spotted H.M.S. _Espiegle_, another 18-gun ship, off Brazil (see Walter R. Borneman, _1812, The War That Forged a Nation_, p. 112).
Before the two ships could engage, another 18-gun brig, H.M.S. _Peacock_, showed up. _Peacock_, unlike _Espiegle_, wanted to fight. It was a bad decision; she had to strike her colors after only a quarter of an hour. And she was so badly damaged that Lawrence quickly abandoned the prize and took off _Peacock's_ crew. (According to Fletcher Pratt, _A Compact History of the United States Navy_, p. 82, the _Peacock_ sank even before the crew could get off. John K. Mahon, _The War of 1812_, p. 123, notes that the only three Americans who died in the battle were drowned on the _Peacock_ as she sank.)
Lawrence's reward was a promotion to full captain. That also meant was due command of a frigate. The frigate he received (Borneman, p. 113) was the ill-fated U.S.S. _Chesapeake_ (for its story, see the notes to "The Chesapeake and the Shannon (I)" [Laws J20]). - RBW
Historical references
- 1760-1820 - Reign of George III of Britain
- 1812 - Battle between the U.S.S. Hornet and the H.M.S. Peacock off the coast of South America. The American ship won
References
- Eddy 107, "The Peacock that Lived in the Land of King George" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
- DT, HRNTPEAK
- Roud #5339
- BI, E107