Colin White, regular visitor to The Rock and very highly rated amongst Nelson experts, insists that no written evidence has yet come to light. That probably accounts for the general reluctance to accept the tale. However he stops short of asserting that it therefore didn’t happen. He would be as pleased as the rest of us if a 200- year-old diary carrying an eye witness account turned up tomorrow.

So let’s examine some of the arguments put forward from time to time. It is known — as fact — that when Victory arrived, Nelson’s body was preserved in a barrel of brandy. It was a cask called a Leaguer, the largest size on board. Whilst here, the brandy was drawn off and the barrel was refilled with what, in the parlance of the time, they called spirits of wine; ie. alcohol. That could have been achieved ashore but just as easily completed on board, so no help there then. It is also said that Victory’s crew were fiercely protective of the admiral’s remains and would never have let the barrel out of the ship. However, there are one or two possibilities, infrequently discussed, that suggest their loyalty might have made them insist on the body being taken ashore.

Victory had been badly mauled and major works were needed to keep her afloat, let alone make her ready for a voyage to England. The replacement of masts, knees, framing, etc, required extensive rebuilding and the movement of heavy timbers in and out of the ship. The barrel and its precious contents may have been considered at risk during any one of these operations resulting in its transfer to safety ashore.

Some phrases in fairly regular use in Gibraltar can be directly traced to 18th century forms of speech

Again, Rosia Bay was (and is) very exposed to a cannonade from seaward, a cutting-out exercise by the enemy, or even a fire ship attack. Immediately after Trafalgar both sides endured a severe storm, which dispersed the fleet and prizes, and which allowed the French to put up a small raiding squadron. This squadron succeeded in re-taking a number of prizes before escaping back into Cadiz. Who was to say that the same squadron, supported by gunboats from Algeciras might not appear in the Bay and try to excise or destroy a vulnerable HMS Victory at Rosia. If that was a reasonable concern, then the fiercely loyal crew would have positively insisted on Nelson being transferred ashore; and, since the victualling yard would not be built for another six years, what better place than the bombproof shelter of a house in Rosia.

But all this is unsupported speculation. What about evidence for the veracity of our oral tradition? We know for instance that nearly every street in Gibraltar has its Spanish name as well as its English one. Although many are relatively recent, more than you might think date back over 300 years to Spanish times. The name Rosia Bay itself is not an English corruption of Rocio, as some once thought, but is shown on 17thC. Spanish maps as Bahia Rosia.

Consider if you will the English nursery rhymes “Ring-a-ring-aroses” which purportedly describes the symptoms of the Black Death and “Old King Cole”, who was possibly a Romano English king. Their origins may well be disputed, yet they have both been around for more than the 200 years since Trafalgar.

Some phrases in fairly regular use in Gibraltar can be directly traced to 18th century forms of speech. Several people that I know, when astounded, might reply: “never in my life” have I seen/ heard... etc., which is a direct descendant of the “never in life” fre- Was Nelson’s Body Brought Ashore? quently used by Nelson’s contemporaries. At least one person I know often uses: “as who should say” which is the 200 year old form of “who might say” or “one might say” which would be typical today. Both these phrases are of course English but there are similar hangovers, particularly in Genoese dialect, that were still in common use quite recently.

Whilst these are only shreds of evidence, they are sufficient to convince me of the power of our oral tradition. As modern, literate people we can afford to sneer at an oral tradition we no longer need; but that shouldn’t mean we turn our nose up at evidence, information or even speculation, that was handed down to us that very same way.