Letters

Sir:

In John Gordon’s excellent piece on the Mary Celeste—JJQ, 44 (Summer 2007), 793–99—he has, perhaps unwittingly, created another phantom ship when he refers on page 797 to the H.M.S. (sic) Rosevean. On 16 June 1904, Edward VII was on the throne, and this designation would make the Rosevean one of His Majesty’s Ships. Now what the Royal Navy was doing carrying a load of bricks is surely a mystery, since nowhere in Ulysses is the Rosevean referred to as being in the King’s Navy (see U 3.504–05, 10.1098, 16.405). So the question arises, was the Royal Navy carrying bricks, or was John Gordon dropping one?

Alan Grant
Professor of Law Emeritus
Law School of York University