The master, the swabber, the boatswain and I,
The gunner and his mate,
Loved Mall, Meg and Marian and Margery,
But none of us cared for Kate;
For she had a tongue with a tang,
Would cry to a sailor ‘Go hang!’
The Tempest, II, ii
Between us there was the bond of the sea. Besides
holding our hearts together through long periods of
separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant
of each other’s yarns – and even convictions.
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, 1902