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Captain Haddock: His nationality?

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GurraJG
Member
#11 · Posted: 5 Aug 2004 15:57
In a newspaper article they had an interview with the Swedish translator, and he said some interesting things:

All of Haddock's sea friends have English names: Chester and Allan Thompson (well, he's not really a friend, but whatever).

The Unicorn had rum on board. French ships during that period did not stock rum, while English ones did.

The cannons on The Unicorn were tied in an English fashion.

Hadoque used English spelling on the seacharts: eg. W for West, instead of O for Ouest (French).

-Gustav
nestor
Member
#12 · Posted: 5 Aug 2004 21:16
The Harry Thompson book has Haddock as a Briton as if there was never any question, and retells the "sad English fish" story.
It also points out that, early on, a lot of the "baddies" in the Tintin stories were English, but this was somewhat redeemed with the introduction of the British Haddock as one of the main "goodies".
finlay
Member
#13 · Posted: 9 Aug 2004 13:10
I've always thought of them (all) as from England, since I never had a true reason to presume otherwise.
I do know that Americans have an annoying habit of always using British, even when they mean a very refined Southern English accent, which they usually do, and probably don't know the difference between "English" and "British".
Jyrki21
Member
#14 · Posted: 9 Aug 2004 17:34
It's no different than Britons making "America" a synonym for the "United States," which it technically isn't. And likewise, Britons refer to an 'American' accent when they usually mean a 'nasal, somewhat southern accent' which few Americans really have...

Just cultural differences...
thomas
Member
#15 · Posted: 13 Sep 2004 10:07
If anybody want to know more about the "Haddock family", there is a very interessing French book, la Vie quotidienne à  Moulinsart by Thomas Sertillanges.

In this book, the author explains that Haddock's ancestor was the bastard of Louis XIV, King of France, and Moulinsart was a gift to the ancestor of Haddock.

If anybody want to know more, I'm here!

Moderator Note: We'll thank you for the link, but remind everyone that that's not an origin derived from the work of Hergé - we're looking for data in and around the books, and what Hergé might have said on the subject.
snafu
Member
#16 · Posted: 22 Feb 2005 05:04
Haddock is definitely English. Sir Francis Haddock was in Charles II's merchant-marine.
When we are first exposed to Marlinspike Hall's address, the town is: Marlinshire, England.
In The Castafiore Emerald, Nestor says something about the furnishing of the singer's temporary room and Charles I (don't remember the exact details).
Hergé may have had several inaccuracies, including the use of a French château as a basis for Marlinspike Hall. So Haddock is English, but his identity may have been mangled because of other inaccuracies.
jock123
Moderator
#17 · Posted: 22 Feb 2005 08:01
snafu, could you please do a little reading around the site before posting?
You would then know that "Marlinshire" is only found in the English translations - Moulinsart (as in the original) is in Belgium, and in spite of your opinion, Hergé did not get it wrong or "mangle" it because of "inaccuracies".

It's somewhat presumptious of you to think that you know better than the author about the background to his own work!

You are also assuming that no one else in the thread knows what they are talking about - if the "problem" was so obvious, do you think you'd be the first to notice?

Please extend your fellow members a little courtesy, and consider what they have written before posting, especially when it means bumping up an old thread. I'm sure you'll agree that that will make for a better exchange of ideas on our favourite subject!
rastapopoulos
Member
#18 · Posted: 22 Feb 2005 11:42
Being an Englishman I was wondering about Haddock's younger life in England.
I would place Haddock as a man from maybe Plymouth. Thers a big connection with Plymouth and the Merchant Navy, and the Merchant Navy Association is based there.
Or could he be from the Bristol Channel side, or even from Bristol?
jock123
Moderator
#19 · Posted: 22 Feb 2005 11:49
rastapopoulos
Being an Englishman I was wondering about Haddock's younger life in England.

I rather like to think that the captain may in fact be Scottish; Archie is a common name in Scotland, and the original model for the Karaboudjan was registered in Glasgow, and built on the Clyde.
Add to this the good captain's penchant for whisky, and I think that Haddock is in the tradition of the stereotypical Scots sea-dog...
rastapopoulos
Member
#20 · Posted: 22 Feb 2005 12:34
Archie is a common name in Scotland

We may be going over old ground here Jock but anyway it's good topic.
I do remember seeing a typed list on Tintin headed paper by Hergé (I think it's in the Tintin at Sea book), with lots of names that were typically English rather than Scottish. Maybe Hergé thought "Archie" just fitted nicely.
As for the whisky, most sea dogs have a thirst for this popular spirit.
Rum would have been maybe more English, but we see him quaffing lots in 'Red Rackham Treasure'.

Not trying to get into a 'England vs Scotland' thing here just have feelings that Haddock would be a West country sailor, yea-arr.

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