Re: may the wind be always at your back

[Scott Brickner <sjb@UNIVERSE.DIGEX.NET>]

Steven Belknap writes:
>The fastest tack is directly across the wind, not downwind. Tacking was
>made possible by the invention of the keel, which is at least a thousand
>years old. If this is a nautical phrase, it must either be very old or
>infelicitous. Running downwind is a rather nervous tack, as there is the
>danger of an unintentional jibe, which can capsize the craft. Conveying
>wishes to be slow and nervous seem more like a curse than a blessing. Is
>there a reference for the assertion that this is a natical term? I am
>familiar with this phrase from a plaque that my grandmother had in her
>parlor, which was titled "An Irish Blessing May the road rise to meet you,
>may the wind be always at your back...may the Lord hold you in the hollow
>of his hand." It was set to verse by some composer, possibly Virgil
>Thompson.

Well, to be picky, I did note that downwind isn't always best.

Besides, who said that the author was a *good* sailor?  Maybe this
helps explain why Ireland was never much of a naval power? ;)

Too, I'd probably believe it if someone asserted that this particular
blessing was nearly a thousand years old...