Tristan and Isolde
Why the colour green In committee over two consecutive meetings we have discussed the colour of our rowing kit. I know that some of the ladies have expressed a desire that their rowing strip should be predominantly black with our red, green and yellow as trim down the side. I do understand that these colours were chosen to match the strip that some of the ladies crews had had printed for the County Championships in Newquay, and that it proved to be very popular. I have every sympathy with the dissatisfaction over some of our previous choices of clothing; the styles were not flattering, and quite frankly uncomfortable. However I think that it would be a mistake to blame the colour for their failings.
The committee feels that the change to predominantly black will be tantamount to changing our club colours, and will certainly be perceived as such by other clubs. In committee I explained the origins of our club colours, and it became apparent that most committee members did not know the full story, so it is highly unlikely that most Club Members will know the story either. In the early days, whilst forming the club and raising money for our first gig, I told the story a lot, and having done so, I think that I assumed that all club member would know it. I had overlooked the large number of new rowers that we have attracted. So at the last committee meeting I agreed that I would write a piece to explain the choice of our club colours.
The club, as I am sure that most of you are aware was formed as a memorial project in memory of my late son Tristan Douglas-Johnson who was killed at the 2000 Southampton International Boat Show, aged just 20. He had been an apprentice marine engineer at Kingfisher Marine in Weymouth; I was both delighted and touched when his colleagues and friends proposed to build a Cornish Pilot Gig in his memory. At our first meeting I was asked about whether Tor and I had any suggestions for both, the name for the gig and its colour. I remember that we said that his bedroom was painted red, yellow and green, eyebrows were raised and we agreed to think further on the matter.
In the fullness of time we came up with the name Sir Tristan for the gig as this so neatly drew together our sons name with the Celtic origins of these lovely boats; Sir Tristan being one of the Knights of the round table from the Arthurian legends. So to the colour. Going through my sons possessions we came across a book called Illuminated Manuscripts TRISTAN AND ISOLDE Judging by his writing on name inscription inside, he must have been given it when he was 4 or 5.
The book is illustrated with miniatures taken from the Roman de Tristan, a French manuscript of the early 15th century. Sir Tristans heraldic symbol was a green shield, with three gold crowns. In the illustrations he is nearly always dressed in green, carrying his green armour or supporting his green livery. It was thought appropriate therefore to adopt the green and gold as our club colours.
The three gold crowns incidentally, are also to be seen in our club badge and logo. The red rubbing strake detail was added by our Master boat builder Allan Hanger off his own volition, as he felt that it finished the boat off nicely, and who are we to disagree.
"Tristan holding his long sword in both
hands, had just struck his first blow which
landed right on his apponents skull"
"Without even descending from his charger
Tristan merely lifted the visor of his helmet to
reply to King Mark. the king in turn, his arms
raised imploringly, then sent him forth to find
the Queen"
Having decided on the green and yellow, as the colours for our gig, we approached Blakes, the boating paint specialists, to see If they would supply us with the paint. This they did but the only green that they made was a very dark green which was not at all suitable for our needs. They did however do a very good yellow which we felt would do nicely as our gold. I was convinced that by mixing the very dark green and the yellow we could come up with much better green for our needs. We played with some paint, and indeed came up with the colour that we had wanted. Blakes mixed the paint especially for us and supplied it free of charge. The last illustration was the one we used to take the colours from, as there is plenty of the green, and it shows the three gold crowns so well on the shield.
"The young knight of the three crowns went on his way
eager for new encounters which would enhance his renown"
"One evening he came to a fountain where two knights were resting their weapons hung on stakes"
"in keeping with feudal custom Tristan waited until his two adversaries had mounted their chargers before challenging them. After breaking the first knights lance he unhorsed the second and then rode on his way."
