2 - The Work of G.V. Scammell

Summary

Although G.V. Scammell's publications are wide-ranging, his works on English shipowning, seamanship and seafarers are some of his most important – especially as they relate to this particular volume. With the exception of K.R. Andrews, one would be hard pressed to find another historian who has illuminated as much about Tudor-Stuart maritime life as G.V. Scammell.

It had been my fervent hope that Geoffrey Scammell would be able to write a chapter for this volume as one could not possibly produce a credible book on Tudor-Stuart seamen without his involvement. Sadly, Dr Scammell passed away while this book was in the planning stages. I have tried to produce a composite of some of the major themes in his very large body of work.

What follows is a summary of those works that I believe to be his most perti-nent and revealing about the social history of English seamen. After perusing his many publications, I have selected some dominant themes and summarized his findings. The chapter is sprinkled liberally with quotations as I tried to let Scammell speak for himself as frequently as possible. My short summary is only an appetizer and anyone interested in the field should certainly ‘belly up’ for the main course: it is my hope the reader will consult the original articles for fuller treatments of these important subjects. I have resisted the impulse to provide my own commentary. Neither have I inserted my own research or that of other historians to develop Scammell's assertions. Instead, I have used the examples he employed in his writings to illustrate various points. It was my goal to write a chapter similar to what Scammell would have produced had he lived to write it.