Velociworld

A CHELENGK

In the Patrick O'Brian novels of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, as Aubrey, captain in the Royal Navy, battles Napoleonic forces he is at one point awarded a diamond encrusted pin to wear on his naval hat. A chelengk. A reward from the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for driving the French off the west coast of Greece, so that the Musselmen can continue their rapacious subjugation of the Greeks. This adornment also had hidden clockwork, so that the diamond strands shimmered in the sun. Very nice, eh?

Being inquisitive, I checked into this. Chelengk being a strange word. And Lo! It seems the famous Lord Nelson was gifted with a chelengk by the selfsame Sultan of Turkey for his great victory at the Battle of the Nile, wherein he routed the French Navy in 1798, and saved the Ottoman Empire from Napoleon's grave influences.

Here the Chelengk:



By God that's fancy, ain't it? I picture it on the Pimp Hat, and I will then swear I'm the Cock of the Walk.

Of course, the real chelengk of Nelson was stolen by a cat burgler in 1951, who prized the fucking diamond stones out of it for easy fencing. Bastard. So this is a crude facsimile. But still! It warms the heart to know that less than 200 years ago a gotdam Muslim was able to show a bit of appreciation for having his ass saved from the French.