“Quo, quo, scelesti, ruitis?”

July 5, 2020: On this date, July 5, 1685 (Old Style), as he smoked his pipe and tended his geraniums, the fictional and eponymous Dr. Peter Blood flung these words after the very real Monmouth volunteers flooding into Bridgwater on the eve of the Battle of Sedgemoor. Hours later the rebels met a brutal defeat, followed by brutal pursuit and prosecution as traitors.

Many of the Monmouth rebels-convict fortunate enough to avoid the noose were transported in servitude to Barbados. One of them, surgeon Henry Pitman, escaped and via his account of his adventures ultimately provided a significant part of the inspiration for Captain Blood: His Odyssey by Rafael Sabatini.

The now-famous Latin quote is the first line of Horace’s Epode VII. Addressed to the Roman people and inspired by the continued Roman civil wars, it asks “Whither, whither, are you wicked men rushing?” The open book in the image is a 1650 edition of the Carmina, Epodes, and Satires of Horace–perhaps even the same well-thumbed volume kept by Peter Blood. 🙂

For those of you with an eye for historical fact and detail, the modern Gregorian date, as opposed to the original old style or Julian date, for the 325th anniversary of July 5, 1685 is actually July 15, 2020.

We continue to press forward with our 100th Anniversary Annotated Edition of Captain Blood: His Odyssey!