podcast

Episode 5: The HMS Bounty

The Gallimaufry

• 2 min read
Episode 5: The HMS Bounty

When you think of the Bounty, your mind may turn to daring mutineers, island paradises or maybe the last chocolate left in a box of Celebrations. Despite the now infamous story of mutiny—going on to become the subject of various major Hollywood films—much of what we\’ve come to associate with the Bounty has been subject to a fair share of artistic license.

Many are familiar with the story of the mutinous Mr Christian, who liberated the Bounty and its crew from the oppressive Captain Bligh, but just how accurate is that account? Who really were these men, and how did two friends end up on either side of one of the most notorious incidents in maritime history?

“After having undergone a great deal of ridicule, and been kept some time to make sport for those unfeeling wretches, we were at length cast adrift in the ocean.” - William Bligh

So jump aboard, as we set sail through the seas of misconception and discover what really happened onboard the Bounty on 28 April 1789.

Fancy hearing about some more tales of nautical naughtiness? Check out our episode on the Barbary Corsairs.

Sources

  1. Alexander, Caroline. The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny of the Bounty. London: Harper Perennial, 2004.
  2. Plants of the World Online. ‘Artocarpus Altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science’. Accessed 4 December 2020. http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:582598-1.
  3. Bligh, William. ‘A Narrative Of The Mutiny, On Board His Majesty’s Ship Bounty; And The Subsequent Voyage Of Part Of The Crew, In The Ship’s Boat’. Accessed 21 October 2020. https://www.gutenberg.org /files/20337/20337-h/20337-h.htm.
  4. Smithsonian Magazine. ‘Captain Bligh’s Cursed Breadfruit’. Accessed 4 December 2020. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/captain-blighs-cursed-breadfruit-41433018/.
  5. Dening, Greg. Mr Bligh’s Bad Language: Passion, Power and Theatre on the Bounty. Canto. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994.
  6. ‘History of Pitcairn Island | Pitcairn Island Immigration’. Accessed 3 November 2020. http://www.immigration.gov.pn/history/index.html.
  7. Royal Museums Greenwich. ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’, 6 August 2015. https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover /explore/mutiny-bounty.
  8. HISTORY. ‘Mutiny on the HMS Bounty’. Accessed 3 November 2020. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mutiny-on-the-hms-bounty.
  9. Parker, Laura, and William Prochnau. ‘Trouble in Paradise’. Vanity Fair. Accessed 3 November 2020. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/01/pitcairn200801.
  10. Salmond, Anne. Bligh William: William Bligh in the South Seas. Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Group (NZ), 2011. http://www.vlebooks.com/vleweb/product/openreader?id=none&isbn=9781742287812.
  11. The University of Scranton. The Mutiny on the Bounty: Myth & Fact by Edward R. Leahy at the University of Scranton, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujQO4carkvw.
  12. Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. St. Paul, Minn: Seaforth Publishing / MBI Publishing Co, 2007.