A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden 2nd edition — Story, Setting & Ideas
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Before opening A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden 2nd edition — Story, Setting & Ideas, the edition data offers a quick orientation: 113,424 words, 8 hr 14 min estimated reading time, and 13 detected text sections.
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Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Scandinavia -- Description and travel,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.
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- Title & short description10 pts
- Source metadata20 pts
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Departure from Greenwich--The History of the Iris Yacht --Sheerness--Harwich--Under Weigh--The North Sea--Sail in Sight--The Mail Overboard--Speaking the Norwegian 1
Foggy Weather--First View of Norway--Christiansand Fiord --Arrival at Christiansand--Description of the Town--The Toptdal River--Excursion Inland--The Enthusiastic Angler--Rustic Lodgings--Hunting the Bear--The Trap--The Death--Norwegian Liberality 13
Departure from Christiansand--The Pilot's Pram--Skaw Point --Delinquencies of Jacko--Expensive Cannonading--Elsineur --Hamlet's Walk--The Minister, Struensee--Story of Queen Caroline-Matilda--Legend of the Serf 46
The Pilot--Tempestuous Weather--Distant View of Copenhagen --Lord Nelson--The Battle of the Baltic--The Harbour-Master --Interest excited by the Yacht's Arrival--The Artist--The Angler--We go Ashore 58
Copenhagen--The Cape--The Dilemma--The Guard--Compliment to England--Description of the Harbour and Fortifications-- Delinquent Sailors--The City on Sunday--Negro Commissionaire --A Walk through the City--Notices of the various Public Buildings 74
The Casino--The Royal Family of Denmark--Succession to Holstein--The English Consul--Visit to the English Ambassador --Colossal Statue of Christian the Fifth--Anecdote of Belzoni --Trinity Church--Extraordinary Feat of Peter the Great --Ducking an Offender--Palace of Christiansborg--The Exchange --The Castle of Rosenberg 91
Dinner at the Embassy--Manners and Customs of the Danes--The Spanish Ambassador and the English Exile--The Citadel--Story of the Two Captives--Joe Washimtum, again--A Danish Dinner --Visit to the Theatre--Political Reflections--Festivities on Board the Yacht--Merry Party at the American Ambassador's --The Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein 106
The Exile's Souvenir--The Disappointed Artist--Departure from Copenhagen--Arrival at Elsineur--Description of the Town--The Castle of Cronenborg--Hamlet's Garden--Esrom Lake--The Legend of Esrom Monastery--The French War-Steamer --Sailing up the Cattegat 140
Arrival at Falkenborg--The Storm--The Yacht in Danger--Safe Anchorage--Visit to Falkenborg--Ludicrous Adventure--A Drive into the Interior--Great Scarcity experienced by the Inhabitants--Description of the Country--The Disappointed Anglers--Kongsbacka--The Yacht runs aground--Gottenborg 154
The Casino at Gottenborg--Awkward Dilemma--The Watchman and the Northern Star--Swedish Artillery--The Grove--An Old Man's History--The Alarm of Fire--The Carriage overturned--The River Gotha--Washing in the Stream--The Narrow Streets--Description of Gottenborg--Its Decayed Commerce--The Herring Fishery 172
Return to Norway--Sail up the Gulf--Approach to Christiania --Its Appearance from the Water--Anecdote of Bernadotte-- Description of the City--The Fortress--Charles the XIIth --The Convicts--Story of the Captured Cannon--The Highwayman --Prospect from the Mountains--The Norwegian Peasant Girl 204
A Drive into the Interior--Extensive and Sublime Prospect --Norwegian Post-Houses--Repair of the Roads--Preparations for Departure 215
The Yacht under sail--Jacko overboard--Fredricksværn--The Union Jack--Scenery on the Larvig River--Transit of Timber --Salmon Fishing--The Defeated Angler--Ludicrous Adventure with an Eagle--Result of the Angling Expedition--The Bevy of Ladies--Norwegian Dinner-Party, Singular and Amusing Customs 240
Another Fishing Excursion--Landing a Salmon--The Carriole-- Boats rowed by Ladies--Departure from Larvig--Christiansand Harbour--Return to Boom--Sincere Welcome--Angling at the Falls--The Forsaken Angler--A Misunderstanding--Reconciliation --St. John's Day--Simplicity of Manners 260
Sailing up the Gron Fiord--Dangerous Swell--Excursion Ashore --Trout-Fishing--Mountain Scenery--Ant-Hills--Hazardous Drive--The Scottish Emigrant--Miserable Lodging--Condition of the Peasantry--A Village Patriarch--Costume of the Country People--Arrival at Fædde 287
Return to the Yacht--Poor Jacko--Ascending the Stream-- Description of the Fædde Fiord--Adventures of an Angler--Sail to the Bukke Fiord--The Fathomless Lake--The Maniac, and her History--The Village of Sand--Extraordinary Peculiarities of the Sand Salmon--Seal Hunting--Shooting Gulls--The Seal caught--Night in the North 303
The Dangerous Straits--British Seamanship--The Glaciers of Folgefonde--Bergen--Habits of the Fishermen--The Sogne Fiord--Leerdal--Arrival at Auron--A Hospitable Host-- Ascending the Mountains--The Two Shepherdesses--Hunting the Rein-Deer--Adventure on the Mountains--Slaughtering Deer--The Fawn 336
The Sick Sailor--The Storm--The Lee-Shore--"Breakers a-head"--The Yacht in Distress--Weathering the Storm--Return to Bergen--The Physician--The Whirlpool--The Water-Spout --Homeward Bound--Scarborough--Yarmouth Roads--Erith-- Greenwich Hospital--Conclusion 397
Page 79, line 14, _for_ "Nelson," _read_ "Gambier." 92, omit "to the eye." 100, line 12, _for_ "Nelson's," _read_ "Gambier's." 145, last line, _for_ "Braggesen," _read_ "Baggesen." 165, line 31, _for_ "they had endured," _read_ "each of them had endured." 201, line 9, _read_ "as here at Gottenborg." 239, line 33, _for_ "immovably," _read_ "immoveably." 243, line 6, _for_ "jibbed," _read_ "jibed." 286, line 18, _for_ "everywhere," _read_ "ever where." 327, line 10, _for_ "than me," _read_ "than I." 338, line 31, _for_ "jibbing," _read_ "jibing."
A YACHT VOYAGE TO NORWAY, SWEDEN, & DENMARK.
DEPARTURE FROM GREENWICH--THE HISTORY OF THE IRIS YACHT--SHEERNESS--HARWICH--UNDER WEIGH--THE NORTH SEA--SAIL IN SIGHT--THE MAIL OVERBOARD--SPEAKING THE NORWEGIAN.
I believe the old Italian proverb says, that every man, before he dies, should do three things: "Get a son, build a house, and write a book." Now, whether or not I am desirous, by beginning at the end, to end at the beginning of this quaint axiom, I leave the reader to conjecture. My book may afford amusement to him who will smile when I am glad, and sympathise with the impressions I have caught in other moods of mind; but I have little affinity of feeling, and less companionship with him who expects to see pictures of life coloured differently from those I have beheld.
The second edition of W. A. Ross's A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden opens with a dedication to Robert, Lord Rodney, and a table of contents that promises a blend of maritime incident and inland excursion. The narrative voice is established early as a gentleman-yachtsman who records both the practical challenges of sailing—fog, storms, and the antics of the crew—and the cultural curiosities encountered ashore. The excerpts reveal a work that shifts between the logbook precision of a voyage and the reflective tone of a travel memoir, with a particular fondness for dramatic set-pieces involving the yacht's monkey, Jacko, and the dog Sailor.
The Yacht as a Mobile Stage
The opening chapters establish the yacht Iris as a self-contained world, where the crew's interactions with Jacko and Sailor provide comic relief and narrative continuity. In the excerpt from Chapter XIII, the monkey's fall overboard is described with mock-heroic detail: Jacko 'sank like a boiled plum-pudding' and is later revived with brandy and flannel. This episode, while trivial in the grand scheme of the voyage, reveals Ross's eye for character and his willingness to pause the travelogue for a digression. The dog Sailor, who 'gave one, but one, tremendous bark' at the sight of Jacko dangling by his tail, is anthropomorphized as a knowing spectator. Such scenes suggest that the yacht itself is a character, and its daily life—firing at bottles, watching the animals—is as much the subject as the Scandinavian coastline.
Encountering the Coast: First Impressions and Set Pieces
The excerpts from the opening chapters show Ross moving between broad geographical description and specific, often sensational, anecdotes. The table of contents lists 'Hunting the Bear—The Trap—The Death' and 'Legend of the Serf,' indicating a taste for the dramatic. In the later excerpt, the arrival at Larvig is preceded by a leisurely passage of target practice and animal antics, but the narrative quickly pivots to a more somber tone with the appearance of Gunilda, a young woman who 'fell, sobbing violently, on her mother's grave.' This juxtaposition of lighthearted shipboard life and poignant shore encounters is a recurring structural device. Ross does not linger on the transition; the reader is left to infer the emotional weight from the abrupt shift in register.
The Role of Anecdote and Legend
Ross frequently embeds local legends and historical stories within his travel framework. The contents list 'Story of Queen Caroline-Matilda' and 'Legend of the Serf' alongside practical details like 'The Pilot's Pram' and 'Expensive Cannonading.' This mixture suggests that the author views his voyage as an opportunity to collect and retell tales, not merely to record itineraries. In the excerpts, the legend of Esrom Monastery and the anecdote of Peter the Great's feat in Trinity Church are promised but not fully shown; the reader must turn to the full text to see how these are integrated. The presence of such material indicates that the book functions partly as a repository of Scandinavian lore, filtered through a British traveler's sensibility.
Narrative Rhythm: From Crisis to Calm
The excerpts reveal a deliberate alternation between moments of danger or high emotion and periods of quiet observation. The storm at Falkenborg, where 'The Yacht in Danger,' is followed by a 'Ludicrous Adventure' and a drive inland. Similarly, the dramatic rescue of Jacko gives way to a description of the scenery on the Larvig River. This rhythm keeps the reader engaged while allowing Ross to cover a wide range of experiences. The final excerpt, with its sudden shift from Gunilda's grief to the practical problem of a lack of wind, exemplifies how Ross uses the constraints of sailing—waiting for a breeze—to punctuate emotional scenes. The yacht's immobility becomes a narrative pause, forcing both author and reader to sit with the moment.
For a first reading, pay attention to how Ross balances the demands of a travelogue—dates, distances, and practical details—with his evident fondness for storytelling. The excerpts suggest that the most memorable passages are those where the voyage itself recedes into the background, allowing a character or a legend to take center stage. The book rewards readers who enjoy both the specifics of 1840s yachting and the digressions that reveal the author's personality and interests.
The rain drummed on the windows while I lingered over Ross’s descriptions of salt spray and northern fjords, his wonder at unfamiliar coasts. That restless curiosity—wanting to see just one more harbor—stayed with me afterwards. It nudged me, without any real intention, toward another journey entirely, one of humid air and volcanic light: Across the Equator: A Holiday Trip in Java — Themes and Context. The contrast felt right, like turning a globe.
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