But Digby could not be merely privateer, and in
the Scanderoon expedition we are privileged to
look on the Pirate as a Man of Taste. His stay in
Florence had given him an interest in the fine arts ;
and at Milo and Delphos he contrived to make
some healthy exercise for his men serve the avidity
of the collector. Modern excavators will read with
horror of his methods. " I went with most of my
shippes to Delphos, a desert island, where staying
till the rest were readie, because idlenesse should
not fixe their mindes upon any untoward fansies
(as is usuall among seamen), and together to avayle
myselfe of the convenience of carrying away some
antiquities there, I busied them in rolling of stones
doune to the see side, which they did with such
eagernesse as though it had been the earnestest
business that they had come out for, and they mas-
tered prodigious massie weightes ; but one stone,
the greatest and fairest of all, containing four
statues, they gave over after they had been, 300
men, a whole day about it. . . . But the next day I
contrived a way with mastes of shippes and another
shippe to ride over against it, that brought it doune
with much ease and speede " ! What became of
this treasure so heroically acquired .^
So much for art. Literature was to have its turn
with the versatile pirate ere he reached his native
shores. During a time of forced inaction at Milo,
xxii INTRODUCTION^
he began to write his Memoirs. A great commander
was expected duri ng a truce, it appears, to pay lavish
attentions to the native ladies. Neglect of this
gallantry was construed almost as a national insult.
SirKenelm, faithful to his Venetia, excused himself
on the plea of much business. But he had little or
no business ; and he used his retirement to pen the
amazing account of his early life and his love story,
where he appears as Theagenes and his wife as Stel-
liana, as strange a mixture of rhodomontade and
real romance as exists among the autobiographies
of the world. Of course it does not represent Digby
at his maturity. Among his MSS. the Memoirs were
found with the title oi Loose Fanfasies^^Lndthey were
not printed till 1827.
It was quite a minor post in the Navy he received
in recognition of Scanderoon, and one wonders why
he took it. Perhaps to gain experience, of which
he was always greedy. Or Scanderoon may have
emptied his treasuries. After the Restoration he
had a hard struggle to get repaid for his ransom of
slaves on the Algerian coast. At any rate, as Naval
Commissioner he earned the reputation of a hard-
working public servant.
If his constantly-changing life can be said to have
had a turning-point, it occurred in 1633, when his
wife died suddenly. The death of the lovely Vene-
tia was the signal for a great outburst of vile poetry
on her beauty and merits. Ben Jonson, her loyal
friend and Kenelm's, wrote several elegies, one of
them the worst. Vandyckpainted her several times;
and so the memory of her loveliness is secure. As
INTRODUCTIOU^ xxiii
Page 6
Presented as published in 1910. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
But Digby could not be merely privateer, and in the Scanderoon expedition we are privileged to look on the Pirate as a Man of Taste. His stay in Florence had given him an interest in the fine arts ; and at Milo and Delphos he contrived to make some healthy exercise for his men serve the avidity of the collector. Modern excavators will read with horror of his methods. " I went with most of my shippes to DDelphos, a desert island, where staying till the rest were ready, because idleness should not fix their minds upon any untoward fancies (as is usual among seamen), and together to avail myself of the convenience of carrying away some antiquities there, I busied them in rolling of stones down to the sea side, which they did with such eagerness as though it had been the earnest business that they had come out for, and they mastered prodigious massy weights; but one stone, the greatest and fairest of all, containing four statues, they gave over after they had been, 300 men, a whole day about it. . . . But the next day I contrived a way with masts of ships and another ship to ride over against it, that brought it down with much ease and speed! What became of this treasure so heroically acquired?
So much for art. Literature was to have its turn with the versatile pirate ere he reached his native shores. During a time of forced inaction at Milo,
xxii INTRODUCTION
he began to write his Memoirs. A great commander was expected duri ng a truce, it appears, to pay lavish attentions to the native ladies. Neglect of this gallantry was construed almost as a national insult. SirKenelm, faithful to his Venetia, excused himself on the plea of much business. But he had little or no business ; and he used his retirement to pen the amazing account of his early life and his love story, where he appears as Theagenes and his wife as Stelliana, as strange a mixture of rhodomontade and real romance as exists among the autobiographies of the world. Of course it does not represent Digby at his maturity. Among his MSS. the Memoirs were found with the title of Loose Fantasies, andthey were not printed till 1827.
It was quite a minor post in the Navy he received in recognition of Scanderoon, and one wonders why he took it. Perhaps to gain experience, of which he was always greedy. Or Scanderoon may have emptied his treasuries. After the Restoration he had a hard struggle to get repaid for his ransom of slaves on the Algerian coast. At any rate, as Naval Commissioner he earned the reputation of a hardworking public servant.
If his constantly-changing life can be said to have had a turning-point, it occurred in 1633, when his wife died suddenly. The death of the lovely Venetia was the signal for a great outburst of vile poetry on her beauty and merits. Ben Jonson, her loyal friend and Kenelm's, wrote several elegies, one of them the worst. Vandyckpainted her several times; and so the memory of her loveliness is secure. As
INTRODUCTION xxiii