Why Were These Seafaring Jobs So Deadly? | Worst Jobs In History
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- Among the thankless tasks tackled by Tony this week are the work of the midshipman, lighthouse keeper, stoker and trimmer, the men of Britain's first navy who survived on minimal rations, and the men who wore sacks on their heads on the luxury liners. Finally he experiences the dangerous occupation of the Victorian lifeboat man.
It's like Netflix for history... Sign up to History Hit, the world's best history documentary service, at a huge discount using the code 'TIMELINE' ---ᐳ bit.ly/3a7ambu
You can find more from us on:
/ timelinewh
/ timelinewh
This channel is part of the History Hit Network. Any queries, please contact owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com
A guy signs up to be a sailor. After the second in command explains his jobs and the rules the new recruit asks, “how does a sailor, you know, get satisfied on a ship?”
The 2nd tells him, “after your duties you can put, well, your thing in that barrel. Every day except for Thursday.”
“Why not Thursday?” Asks the recruit.
“Because that’s your day inside the barrel!”
OMG (/_\) hahahahahahahahaha
Old, but a classic joke none the less
Haha, I loved the lighthouse-man. He looked pretty crazy to me even after having kept sane. Kudos on not breaking down entirely.
I think the film crew had a laugh in the pub later. He was classic.
EXACTLY, right when he said that something about his mannerism screamed "I'm not sane, please help me".
I met a guy in a fire observation hut on a peak in some remote mountains. People really enjoy talking when they spend lots of time alone!
Terncote your profile picture matches your comment.
@Terncote well, good insane sir, we have common interests. That includes subscriptions.
33:30 American river steamboats would sometimes race each other, and they'd tie down the safety valves so they could overpressure the boiler and gain extra power. Several steamboats blew up because of this with major loss of life. Mark Twain, who was a steamboat pilot at one point, alludes to this in several of his works.
Fascinating. Thanks for posting. I love reding Mark Twain and I bet I've read one or passages referring to this without understanding.
I have a coworker who has seen similar things done. She was the throttle man during a sternwheeler race, and the chief engineer had told her "we are *not* loosing this race. When I tell you, step away and let me take the throttles. I don't want the captain blaming you for anything that happens."
I was told his nome de plume was from the term used to call deep enough water to be safe (and go ashore, the prof implied). You'd mark twain, and that was the beginning of a good time.
@@athena8794😢5😢😢🎉🎉🎉😢
Hail to Sir Tony Robinson. He is not only a great presenter but also courageous, hardworking and a daredevil.
he's obviously terrified of heights... but tries anyway. kudos.
Really, he wanted to be an old fashioned Blue Peter presenter. The scary antics they got up to.
The lighthouse keeper:
"Yes, yes that kept me sane, yes, mmm, yes!"
*nods like a mad man*
He's so much like a character from Blackadder I was wondering if he was putting it on. "What did he call out?" "Oh, it was something like 'Look out men, there's a big wave coming."
The movie "The Lighthouse" makes more sense now.
@@glenncunningham6397 Yess! I thought of that film instantly when that section came up.
@@glenncunningham6397 I really liked that movie, I might have to watch it again
"That kept me sane!" - Insane Lighthouse Keeper.
"Insane lighthouse keeper" seems redundant.
@@ddawn23 nnlnnnnnnnñnnnnnlnnnnnnnnnnnnnnlnnñnnnnnnlnnnlnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnlnnnlnnnnnnnñnnnnnnnnnnnnnñnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnñnnnnnlnnnnñnnnnnnnlñnnnñnlnñnnñnnlñññññnnnnññññlñlnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnñlnnnnnnnnnnnmnlll
@@ddawn23 l
@Darius Zayden no one cares and ur mum us dissappointedaf9000
😂‼️
24:21 time.
12 year old Billy Kulmer in 1757: I may have failed my exam but at least it's over, this won't be how people remember me. I can move on.
300 years later on the internet....
maybe some people just are not good with maths lol
@@spookerredmenace3950 Even in 1700s.
I'd say everyone relates to Billy Kulmer, and I'm certain if he wanted to be remembered he'd be chuffed to know his memory is that of a familiarity with experience, which many people can relate to.
"I made model buildings out of snack boxes.. It kept me sane.."
Yeah umm.. Not sure about that, mate.
and when you go see his model collection, it turns out there's thousands of models of the same lighthouse XD
all with a little model of a man. who ALSO kept himself sane, by building even SMALLER models.
...and all of THOSE models have a little man...
Wonder if he ate the guy on duty with him after a few months past?
Everything was normal till then. The look in his eyes
You might not want to see him without his having done his models, though . . .
Better the snack boxes than his co-lighthouse operator.
We need more of this type of history, kings and generals are clearly overrepresented.
You may want to take a look at the work of Svetlana Alexeivich, she's a Belarusian oral historian who writes books about the experience of ordinary people in historical circumstances. Very interesting indeed.
Historical Materialism
@@kennethfitzsimons7337 thank you so much for this recommendation!
@StopDrinkingClub He is not referring to the channel. He is referring to the fact that Kings and Generals are so much acclaimed and represented historically in contrast to these ordinary 'scum' - lost, unsung and unacknowledged.
@BC Bob oh I'm sorry. So, did you serve as a king, or as a general?
"Loss of life could be ignored. Loss of cargo -never"
It's not a fact, it's an opinion of the script writer... and quite an ironic one, being as Mr. Robinson then goes on to point out how risky & deadly the life-saving measure itself was. Bear in mind also that commerce & shipping that cargo saved & improved lives & still does so today.
@@giupiete6536 ... It made me laugh...I just found that comment funny. Chill
Slavetraders: I don't understand, it's an oxymoron...
@@giupiete6536 everyone in england just calls him tony o0
They paid him for this episode with a turnip.
Lmao
@@colbjallen8334 And some lupins.
Thats all you get when you pretend doing basic physical labor is medieval torture.
His dream turnip
Aye. Them was the good ole days.
I saw this in 2007 while still in college and never forgot the story about the tough life-boatman serving for decades after being the sole survivor on his first day. Amazing men!
See also rescue swimmers.
And what would they say when a wave is coming?
Lighthouse keeper:”watch out men there’s a wave coming”.....
I actually had to pause for a moment to stop laughing when he said this 🤣
"That's your oar Tony, Tony TONY, that's your oar. That one. THAT ONE! Tony, Tony, Tony THAT'S YOUR OAR TONY.....
He's insufferable! Less complaining and more work, TONY!!!
Also: Lift him up and dump him in the life boat like cargo.
While he's working out which oar is his the person drowned
@@brianmariani2734 As a tradesman who specializes and uniquely only uses hand tools, I find him complaining to be accurate and appreciable.
You could never teach anyone how to do something if his level of complaining bothers you; complainers outright build out trades.
After you think complaining has been trained out of you by your instructor; you'll be at home getting your saw caught, and complaining just as you used to.
"Baldrick, what are you doing..? "I am bailing this boat with a spoon sir!" "And why are you bailing? "because we can't make decent ships sir!'
Ah!! Nostalgia, Eh!!
Baldrick! Knew I’d heard his voice before! Fun program! :D
"And why are you bailing with a spoon?" "Well, I tried a fork, sir, but it wasn't doing much good."
"a clever plan"
"This toilet is entirely self-cleaning in heavy weather." lol
I'd have thought it was self-cleaning any time the ship was in forward motion at all, but what do I know.
“Aaah!! You have a woman’s hand, milord!! I’ll wager those dainty pinkies have never weighed anchor in a storm!”
Shawn Byron Beckett Haha, loves that episode!
🤣🤣🤣👌
"Aaaah! And you have a man's hands! I'll wager those ham-sized fists never twiddled together tiny chains to make a clock for the great voyage around the world."
@@PortCharmers 🙂
The lighthouse man really didn't seem that sane to me.
"I used those pea packages to construct model cities and buildings!"
"... And that kept you sane?"
"Yes! It kept me sane!"
Lol! Case and point, my friend!
hahaha
How do you judge some ones sanity of the lighthouse man?. At least he kept himself from being kicked in the balls.
I thought you meant the first lighthouse where Sir Tony was on the ropes. Now I see it at 37:00 the lighthouse guy did seem to be a little touched!
@@chrismerkel9604 I wonder what this message is about. Really.
I've been at sea for about 23 years and absolutely enjoyed this episode.
19:05 Tony has conquered his fear of heights on enough occasions (sometimes in more dangerous situations), so I think he deserves a pass. He seldom declines a challenge, no matter how risky or disgusting.
Abslutely agree.
The episode where he is on the cliff face collecting wild bird eggs was so bad for him. I’m not scared of bights but I was scared for him.
The lighthouse keeper is the best guy I've ever seen on TV.
So many idioms getting explained in this show! Top dog, underdog, heads being at the head of the ship, gossiping like fish wives, etc, etc....
Amateur etymology enthusiast that I am, I have paused to write (well, type in Notes on my phone) several of them down throughout the series (e.g. the origin of "diaper"), and nothing has brought us more adapted/adopted lingo than the sea.🏴☠️
Not to mention the "updog"
"Goating like an old kipper" is my favourite
top dog underdog has the wrong origin
what’s up dog?
You missed one thing from the story of Henry Freeman - after the Whitby lifeboat was lost, the Staithes lifeboat was hauled overland to continue the rescue attempt, and Henry Freeman volunteered to go out again.
2:46 "Ow comes, we've just got _onto_ the boat, and it's full of water?"
...
*It leaks.*
The vikings didn't saw planks, they used wedges to split the trunks in order to keep the fibers intact for flexibility. Quite clever!
That practice was quite common around 500 years ago in Britain and France also...
John Mård Norway Ruled the Seas.
The product if cleft wood, clefting.
@@pdjmay22 And the wood would be cleft in twain.
quite a cunning plan!
Much as I love the sea, I'll just stay on good old terra firma. The more firma, the less terra
thats funny and witty sir o0
"This is your oar, Tony. Tony? Here's your oar. This one, Tony," as Tony prepares to brain her, trying to get the wrong oar into position. Great stuff! Love the humor in these shows. Sir Tony has that all-too-rare ability to laugh heartily at himself. Otherwise, he'd never do these "Worst Jobs" shows.
He had a Baldrick moment
I love this series. Makes me feel better about my past jobs.
That moment when someone had to lift him onto a boat...I cracked up
The lighthouse dude was the best!
I've, for an unknown reason, wanted to be a lighthouse operator since I was a young child. Now middle-aged, my wife has given into this idea and we keep looking for property that has a lighthouse (non-operational). We missed out on one in P.E.I last year and I still regret it.
Tony Robinson. A true national treasure
This series is so fascinating! I'm taking a British Literature course and a Medieval English Literature course this semester and my professor talks about British history a lot during lectures. I'm so glad I found this series!
2:50 *deadpan* it leaks. okay best line I've heard all day. The Lighthouse keeper building stuff outta boxes...that's us in 2020 lockdowns.
"Next time, I'll be back on terra firma, where the grounds may be firmer, but the jobs are just as terrible!" LOL, I love his jokes!
38:36
"And that kept you sane?".
"Yes, that kept me sane, yes, mmmMmmMmm"
John Harrison's first ships chronometer was made almost entirely out of wood. The H1 was a marvel of carpentry engineering during a time when astronomers were the guiding light of solving the longitude problem. It was almost at the end of his life, with the finish of H4, that Harrison was finally awarded the "Longitude prize".
There's a great vdeo and book about this. The type of wood slowly released oil so it was self-lubricating!
After watching this entire series I really do have respect for Tony because despite his fears he did all these terrible jobs for the sake of our entertainment 👏🏾 seriously it's all fun and games until you actually have to do this stuff lol thanks Tony and crew!
Just what I was thinking. He was afraid of sliding down the line but genuinely angry that it couldnt be done given the safety harnesss.
the young girls between the ages of 9 and 11 making the chains actually makes so much sense - as a 9-year-old my needle threading skills were incredible and it has only gotten more and more difficult over the past 21 years despite still having great vision and arguably more coordination.
the toilet! I never wondered where they went, now I can't forget it!
Bladrick is probably the most fitting man to do documentaries about bad jobs.
just love the fusey chain moment where the crew is laughing at him for sitting there just... STARING at the chain bits XD
I'm loving this series, although the audio mixing is hilariously bad.
I mean, the show is from 2004.
^ how is that an excuse?
Yeah couldnt watch it. Audio was terrible :P
I did better than this in 2005.. I was 13-14.
Still, I love this. Just found the series! :D
MadmanEpic Z .
Fenalår (the lamb meat) is my favourite food! I really recommend trying it, though most can't handle it as more than a snack, due to the saltiness. It is a bit pricey, but if any of you visit Norway, you should try to get a leg! I say try, because you can usually just get in during the darkest part of the winter. It is in very high demand, though it can be bought sliced and vacuum packed all year... That is not as delicious.
Tony Robinson is a national treasure
I was lucky I kept myself sane by making models - said the insane lighthouse keeper 😂
This certainly busts my romantic notions of going to sea back in the "good old days." A dose of reality. Poor blokes.
Looked so cool in the pirates of the Carribbean
I wouldn't have minded being a lighthouse keeper honestly, especially weighed against the other jobs of the day. Kicking back in a nice lighthouse with a cup of tea taking in an amazing view as the world goes by, the satisfaction of knowing that your job's saving lives every day, and having a good friend with you. Of course, that's the best case scenario but still. It actually sounds kind of nice, especially if you were in a modern lighthouse with modern technology to help you out.
Thewaltham the isolation would be the only downside..
And if you had modern tech, well, you'd have an internet connection, radio, everything to help stave that off.
@@awittyusernamepleaselaugh7481 Good call!
Yep, or for me, even without modern technology if I had a collection of good books.
Introverts dream.
that puffin hat is dope af
Tony is such a precious bean!
The lighthouse dude seemed like a nice guy.
What an interesting and informative program..And how pleasant it was when that music stopped and we could hear what they were saying.
"Manky", my new favorite word.
devekut2 I don’t even know what it means
Here's another one for you: "knackered". I just love British Enghish.
Brove Cheesecake2 Here's a great tool for learning:
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/manky
Mike Turk I like how instead of crazy it’s “ all 6’s and 9’s.” Like that one Sean from Austin powers where they had to translate British English to regular English
Manky means something that has gone unpleasant or is just plane dirty. Like a wound that has become infected for example. "It's gone manky". Or cleaning a "manky" toilet. Its slang which does get used from time to time.
45:18 rock up into central London wearing that and count how long before the anti-terrorist bomb squad takes to arrive in full force :)
18.28.... it's the famous Baldrick codpiece again i think.... Tony never seems to run out of ways to impress people with his crazy but funny and sometimes even eductional programs. Cheers for Sir Tony from Holland!
Three cheers Time Team. I love this series "The Worst Jobs In History" No wonder these poor soles had a life expectancy of 40 years. Literally worked to death.
23:14 Just to be clear for those who haven't sailed on ships: THEY ARE NOT DOING 7.8 KNOTS. In a boat like that 8 knots would be pretty much a white knuckler.
The light house keeper seems almost, but not quite as far gone as Mad Gerald.
MichaelKingsfordGray+ A fedora tip to a fellow "rational" athiest.
"Close tha bloody door!"
MichaelKingsfordGray You sound like a sour, unhappy, unpleasant, person. I can understand why you would not want to be alone with yourself. I feel sorry for anyone who has to put up with you.
Wow you got so much out of so little! Inspired by a little Someone, are we? ;)
@@christinetheresa7416 good thing we have you here to show us how to be civil to eachother then ;)
just an FYI "Mad Gerald" is a reference to Blackadder I, which the presenter of this video also starred in. It was a joke. The "Sky-daddy" was unnecesary, but the lighthouse man was clearly not one *hundred* procent sane :P
i'm honestly disappointed the lighthouse guy didn't pretend to be crazy,but the fact he didn't joke about it might mean he was actually crazy.
I've often wondered myself, if I'm crazy but don't know it...
I'm not paranoid, unlike everyone else.
I loved you in Black Adder and now your documentaries are some of the most entertaining - the content is amazing and your delivery perfect. Mahalo
back in my army days we had an obstacle course with the "traverse ropes", it was basically the same as the flying man stunt but carrying webbing and rifle while doing it. ours was 3 stories tall over water
In the U.S. Marines we had to do what was pretty much the rope slide, only over a pool of water (So you'd just be humiliated not injured if you fell). You started on-top of a tower, then slid down half way like he showed, then you had to hang by just your arms, and flip to face the other way. Getting back onto the bouncing thin rope wasn't much fun lol.
Navy side, we had to evacuate a dummy down the mooring lines. That was fun.
I saw on a video by a retired US Marine the DI's used to shake the rope to make you fall in the water, after you fell in you had to get out and sing the Marines Hymn
The slo-mo of Tony running past. What a legend.
That bag-on-the-head thing looked like it was pulled straight from Blackadder.
So yeah that lighthouse guy is as about as sane as people can get
....
Michaelkingsfordgray You sound bitter and jealous
@Kenny McRae you sound like a virgin.
@@bsdnfraje you look like a virgin
Sensible Vikings traded south to Greece and Persia. It was the mad ones who got sent westwards. It got them out of the way and if they happened to encounter something and come back to talk about it, might be something new to explore and trade with.
Not even the sagas make such a distinction, but i guess it's fitting to describe the non-converts who settled Iceland & Greenland along with Vinland (Nfld. down into the St. Laurence region) as being "mad", makes for a very sanitary perspective of that period.
My ancestry is the Norwegian vikings who winter ed in the Scottish Orkney islands on their north sea travels. They impregnated the local women and generations later in Canada we are Norwegian Scott on one side of the tree.
That flying man rope trick sounds like a fantastic side story prompt to a D&D adventure
We no longer rescue people from the ocean by dragging their back over the gunnel. That can actually cause a lot of harm to the spine. Pull them onboard with their stomachs facing the vessel (we don't care about broken ribs as much if their life is on the line).
Its so funny to see them cutting the wood for ship making. In the Netherlands they used the windmills for that... automation.No manuel labour needed and it goes much faster. 😂
US still have lots of labor named manuel
@@davidtogi5878 😂😂
@@davidtogi5878 yes, and if you find a good one, you pay him (and family) quite well!
De planken van vikingschepen zijn in de lengte gespleten. Zijn zo sterker. Larix hout voor een ger /yurt is ook gespleten.
Baldrick has done well to end up as a narrator, no longer serving Edmund Blackadder
....and presenter, participant, host
The Lighthouse Keeper is like Phill Harding's long lost nautical cousin
Well... counting sailors' deaths during the French Rev and Napoleonic Wars surely bumps up the danger. :)
4:50 fenalår is a traditional norwegian/scandinavian dish. Fenalår is just the dried back leg of a lamb, dried and salted. It tastes deliacious.
*Squints*. Are those not the same exact word?
@Temenos Lykourgos Norwegian/scandinavian? No, there are also swedes (Which I am.), and danes. If you count nordic you can ad icelandics, feroese, inuit, finns, and sami.
Having gone to a maritime academy I can tell you, that math is still used and always will be. Not easy.
My late father sailed on the steamship along the Canadian great Lakes when he was young. He loved the math of navigation. Worked from deck hand all the way to captain....then met my mother who made him give up sailing when they married. In his final years he had dementia and he talked about needing to calculate the navigation, asking for various manuals.
The Vikings were true seamen. They knew enough to caulk between joints on building.
Even with caulking, oak moves enough as it dries out that you will still get leaks.
And that's what kept me sane......(awkward)
LOL yeah, that man was obviously mental.
So they take an old, probably unsporty dude to make the hardest jobs in the word. What a cunning plan!
All those YOUNG guys eventually became old men if they weren't permanently injured or killed. How about trying to do those jobs in your forties and fifties? Rheumatism, gout, arthritis, dysentery, need I go on. I think it's a great idea to have a middle aged guy attempting these things since in the real world of the period they had no choice. No education, no skills, no workman's comp., no unions, no social security, and no pension. Nice work if you can get it. Makes me want to vomit at the age of 72 in 2019.
.
Whats the lore of this "cunning plan" thing i keep seeing? Only about halfway through this episode but im extremely curious
@@justins8149 Tony Robinson ( the presenter) played Baldrick- the dim witted side kick in the TV series "Blackadder". one of his catchphrases was " I have a cunning plan" before proceding to talk nonsense much to the dismay of Blackadder
I am a simple man - I see Tony Robinson I watch & I like.
Nice meme dad.
Old baldders! He's a national treasure this bloke.
"I'm sane" that is something an insane man would say!
I believe 'comparatively sane' is a better choice of words.
@@hannesbaumann8509bio
Crazy people don't know they're crazy.
@@jmitterii2 How do you know *you're* not crazy, then?
@@tahunuva4254 takes a sip of seawater
I love that I can both laugh and learn in equal measure with Tony on this show lol
The British version of "Dirty Jobs"! Calling Mike Rowe...
Years ago i was a merchant marine so this holds intrigue for me
That lifeboat story is more insane than the lighthouse keeper who was desperately trying to convince us that he was kept sane with tiny boxes
Oops that got away from me a bit dinint?
What'd the poor guy do? He's interviewing in a documentary, that's at least as sane as Tony. And the lighthouse keeper isn't the one who climbed into a leaky boat, or needed to be told which oar was his, like, seven times.
@@MegaAstroFan18 😂
Lighthouse man has a 500 yard stare going, and looks pretty insane to me lol
I'd rather work in the lighthouse that being on a ship at sea as a lier
If David Attenborough is a national treasure for his natural history, Tony Robinson is a national treasure for his historical education. And thats not even mentioning Baldrick or Maid Marion.
Incredible how a tiny Fusi chain worked massive ships.
I thought there was something odd about that lighthouse keeper, then they mentioned sanity...
He could easily have got his leg up and over!!! He just needed to come up with a cunning plan!
Love his quip "Really wanted to do that! ;)
They really don’t make television like this anymore... really miss it
Best reporter on timeline is Adams he makes the best videos. No one else is better than him works with timeline… Adams is the Best in the east and west…
Tony, this is your oar. This one here, Tony. No, Tony. This is your oar, Tony.
"I CAN'T SEE WITH THIS THING ON!" - Jake "Berminator" Berman (Little Giants)
The person in the water would have drowned if the boat was full with tony's 😅
30:55- How short must that other fella be to be noticeably shorter than Tony Robinson?
Haha that nervous smile in the boiler room! I don't guess they informed him how unlikely it was to explode! Lol! I do love Tony Robinson
If it rains it fills with water
If there’s waves it fills with water
When it doesn’t fill with water it fills with water
45:48 Some say Tony is still looking for his oar... 🤣.
I love this series, interesting things to learn!
Someone has actually built the RMS Arundel Castle on Minecraft, as well as most of the modern-day cruise ships. Very cool stuff.
Suddenly it makes sense why being called a "liar" was such a big deal in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie...