William Falconer

William Falconer

William Falconer (born February 21, 1732 in Edinburgh , † missing since December 1769 ) was a Scottish poet and author .

Life

William Falconer was the son of a barber and went to sea early. At first he was on board a Leither merchant ship, but soon switched to the Royal Navy and served as a midshipman . As such he experienced the shipwreck of the ship of the line Ramillies on February 15, 1760 , which was driven in a storm against the rocky coast of Devon and shattered. Falconer survived with 25 companions from a total of 734. Later he embarked again on a merchant ship, the Britannia , which got into distress on the voyage from Alexandria to Venice near Cape Colonna . Falconer and two others got away with their lives. This led him to write his epic poem, The Shipwreck , which received great acclaim and won him the protection of the Duke of York ; to this he had dedicated the poem.

His poem describes in correct and melodious verses the secrets of the deep, the horrors of the sea, the courage of the sailors who defy them, and at the same time the furnishings of the ship, with such reality that it is of technical value even to seafarers.

In addition to other poems ( odes , satires , etc.), Falconer also wrote a Universal dictionary of the marine over several years , which is based both on his own experience and on compilations of writings by other marine authors, in particular the standard work on the shipbuilding Elements Architecture navale by Duhamel du Monceau . It was published (1769) and had the express approval of experienced naval officers, et al. a. by Admiral Edward Hawke , then First Lord of the Admiralty . The recognition of the work is expressed in numerous new editions in the following years, the second as early as 1771.

In September 1769, Falconer went to India as a ship paymaster on the Aurora . The ship reached the Cape of Good Hope in December , since then the ship and the entire crew have been lost.

Works (selection)

• An universal dictionary of the marine or, a copious explanation of the technical terms and phrases employed in the construction, equipment, furniture, machinery, movements, and military operations of a ship , London 1769

literature

• Falconer, William . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 10 : Evangelical Church - Francis Joseph I . London 1910, p. 140 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

• Literature by and about William Falconer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Universal Dictionary of the Marine
• The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer in Project Gutenberg ( currently not available to users from Germany )