Posted on 12/07/2017 8:29:38 AM PST by Borges
“How come for every historical person of even minor note, there’s someone making the case that they were gay?”
I can’t help you on that one. History is rife with such practices.
[Quote] Many books of quotations include a caustic quote attributed to Winston Churchill (1874-1965) in which he supposedly called British naval tradition nothing but “rum, sodomy, and the lash.” (Sometimes given as “rum, buggery and the lash,” using the old British slang term “buggery” to refer to homosexual sex.)
The earliest source commonly cited for this quip is the diary of former British diplomat, politician and author Harold Nicolson (1886-1968).
In a diary entry dated August 17, 1950, Nicolson recorded some anecdotes about Churchill.
One involves a version of the “rum, sodomy, and the lash” quote.
But the version Nicolson wrote about that day included “prayers” in the litany. His diary entry says:
…when Winston was at the Admiralty, the Board objected to some suggestion of his on the grounds that it would not be in accord with naval tradition. ‘Naval tradition? Naval tradition?’ said Winston. ‘Monstrous. Nothing but rum, sodomy, prayers and the lash.’ [Unquote]
Yes, you're right, I forgot about that. It's amazing that any (actually most) of them made it off that island alive.
As I recall, another member of Bligh's lifeboat died very shortly after arriving in Australia. Dehydration destroyed his kidneys.
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