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Byron described it as `the dirtiest and most detestable spot in existence'; Coleridge complained that the onset of the Levanter Cloud made him ill with `a sense of suffocation' that caused his tongue `to go furry white and his pulse quick and low'; the Scottish writer John Galt thought that the same was `oppressive to the functions of life, and to an invalid denying all exercise'; Thackeray was entranced by the mixture of `swarthy Moors, dark Spanish smugglers in tufted hats, and fuddled seamen from men-of-war' sauntering through Gibraltar's Main Street; Benjamin Disraeli thought that the Rock was `a wonderful place, with a population infinitely diversified'; John Drinkwater complained about `the scorpion, centipes and other venomous reptiles which abound among the rocks and the old buildings'; George Whitefield, never a man to mince his words, believed that `drunkenness was a sin that easily beset the men of Gibraltar'; Mark Twain rhapsodised about the `bare-kneed Highlanders' wandering around the Garrison, `as well as the soft-eyed Spanish girls from San Roque, veiled Moorish beauties from Tarifa, and long-robed, bare-legged, ragged Muhammadan vagabonds from Tetuán and Tangier....' These and other comments about Gibraltar are to be found in 'Writing the Rock of Gibraltar,' a lavish 280 page hardback volume edited and introduced by the Gibraltarian academic and author Dr M. G. Sanchez.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1413484 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-15
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 280 pages

From the Publisher
'Writing the Rock of Gibraltar' is the latest book to be
published by the Rock Scorpion Press on the topic of Gibraltar. Please go
to rockscorpion.com for more information.

About the Author
M. G. Sanchez is the author of the book of short stories 'Rock Black.'

Excerpted from Writing the Rock of Gibraltar: An Anthology of Literary Texts, 1720-1890 by M.G. Sanchez. Copyright © 2006. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Daniel Defoe, 'An Impartial Account of the Late Famous Siege of
Gibraltar' (1728)

The dead men were expeditiously and regularly buried to prevent their being
offensive and infectious - which otherwise they might soon have been in our
warm situation. Those that died in the morning were buried in the evening,
those that died in the evening were buried in the morning; and the same
proportion of time was generally observed for the rest. But we had like to
have been a little too hasty with a private man of Colonel Clayton's
regiment - who, going off duty, fell down in the way to his quarters and
seemed to all appearances dead; in a few hours after which we wrapped him
up in a cloth or blanket or what first came to hand, as the custom was, and
had him away to the sands, that warm repository of all his fellows. We had
dug the hole and was just tumbling him in, when, not liking his usage, he
fell a grumbling; upon which we immediately opened the wrapper and, giving
him air, he revived; upon this, he was lugged back to the hospital and he
lived four and twenty hours after, when being sure of him we reconveyed him
to the former apartment and heard no more of him.

One of our private men had been so frugal as to muster twenty shillings-
and he was the only one of the deceased, of that degree, who had the favour
of a coffin allowed him. He begged hard for it with his dying breath and,
the will of the defunct being fulfilled for seventeen and six pence, his
brother executor generously spent the remaining half crown among his
comrades in honour of the testator. He had prayers said over him, and by a
parson too, being a man of substance. Had he being a poor rogue, he might
have been flipped in without, or, at most, been obliged to an amen-man for
it, as was often the case.

Many of our cannon proved bad, and some burst. By the last several of our
people were wounded, and one killed on the spot. But none of these
accidents, nor sickness, nor the fire of the enemy, would prove so kind to
one gentleman among us as to give him that release he owed afterwards to
his own hand. This was one Renault, a volunteer. He had, to his great
misfortune, escaped death from his country's enemies only to meet it
himself. His money being all gone, and every application for relief proving
ineffectual to answer his expense, he went from the company he had spent
the last shilling in, though in so merry a disposition that 'twas
impossible they could suspect any thing of his design, and retiring to his
chamber shot himself. He had done his work too well to admit of relief, and
was dead before any body could enter his room.

**

But to return to the siege - what the Spaniards found they could not do by
force they endeavored to have effected by fraud; and, feeling their
batteries ineffectual, they had recourse to engines of a more silent nature
- to artifice, treachery and the Moors. They managed this affair by way of
Tetouan; and having got several into their interest within the fort to
carry the matter so far, ' this said, that not only the measures taken by
the garrison for their defence were discovered to the enemy, but that a
project was formed of giving them possession of the gate and betraying the
town into their hands. Several were thought to be guilty, both among the
Moors and the Jews; but ' this not for the interest in the garrison to make
either of these for their enemies in general; so 'twas looked upon
sufficient, since they had prevented its taking effect, only to mak e such
public examples as might deter others from the like detestable design for
the future.

Two Moors were to have been principal in executing this piece of treachery
- and were proved to have been chief agents for the Spanish in promoting
it. They alone therefore received the deserved reward of their villainy,
and were put to death; after which they were displayed; and to let the
people within what was expected by those that should venture to engage in
the like undertaking their skins were nailed to the gates of the town.
where they appeared in the same proportion as when alive; and being large
gigantic fellows, as the Moors in general are, they were horrid ghastly
spectacles. Nature had sent them into the world with their hides tanned so
that the heat of the sun, which is very intense at Gibraltar, could add but
little to their or i ginal dusk, but it had so hardened them, that they
soon seemed equally solid with the gates themselves. After the siege they
were much lessened by the curiosity of the people, who cut a great many
pieces of them to bring to England, one of which, to gratify our readers,
may be seen at Mr Warner's, the publisher of this treatise.

Customer Reviews

The most complete selection of Gibraltar literary material ever assembled....
Byron described it as `the dirtiest and most detestable spot in existence'; Coleridge complained that the onset of the Levanter Cloud made him ill with `a sense of suffocation' that caused his tongue `to go furry white and his pulse quick and low'; the Scottish writer John Galt thought that the same was `oppressive to the functions of life, and to an invalid denying all exercise'; Thackeray was entranced by the mixture of `swarthy Moors, dark Spanish smugglers in tufted hats, and fuddled seamen from men-of-war' sauntering through Gibraltar's Main Street; Benjamin Disraeli thought that the Rock was `a wonderful place, with a population infinitely diversified'; John Drinkwater complained about `the scorpion, centipes and other venomous reptiles which abound among the rocks and the old buildings'; George Whitefield, never a man to mince his words, believed that `drunkenness was a sin that easily beset the men of Gibraltar'; Mark Twain rhapsodised about the `bare-kneed Highlanders' wandering around the Garrison, `as well as the soft-eyed Spanish girls from San Roque, veiled Moorish beauties from Tarifa, and long-robed, bare-legged, ragged Muhammadan vagabonds from Tetuán and Tangier....' These and other comments about Gibraltar are to be found in Writing the Rock of Gibraltar, a lavish 280 page hardback volume edited and introduced by the Gibraltarian academic and author Dr M. G. Sanchez. Described by its publishers as `the most complete selection of literary and historical writings on Gibraltar ever assembled,' 'Writing the Rock' is a thoroughly revised and expanded version of a slim pamphlet which Sanchez published six years ago. Many new writers have been added to the current anthology, including Thomas Gordon, James Solas Dodd, Rudolf Erich Raspe, John Galt, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, William Gilmore Simms, James Richardson, John Mawer, Philip Thicknesse, James Fennell, Samuel Ancell, Benjamin Disraeli and Sir Walter Scott. The book has been published by the Rock Scorpion Press with the financial assistance of the local law firm Hassans and contains many beautiful period illustrations, as well as detailed appendices dealing with artists, musicians and other notable figure associated with the Rock. Among the many gems found across its pages are a 1720 pamphlet by Thomas Gordon advising the English government never to let go of Gibraltar and a series of diary extracts by the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge complaining about the Levanter Cloud. Just to spice things up even further, the editor has provided bibliographical write-ups for each of the 35 authors featured, as well as a long and erudite introduction on the subject. Thoroughly recommended!

Historical info a -plenty....
Gosh, I didnt realise that so many famous writers had visited Gibraltar! Byron,Coleridge, Sir Walter Scott, all these names that I only remember from my far-off scooldays, have been there and recorded some literary impressions about what they saw. This book picks out the best of their reminisces and helps you along the way by giving you short biographies of the (lesser-known) writers who also visited the place. For those of you who have been based (like I) in Gibraltar, this is a nice little book. Five stars.