(See full text on Wikisource s:Admiral Hosier's Ghost
Vernon's success prompted the poet Richard Glover in 1740 to write the ballad Admiral Hosier's Ghost, sung to the tune of Come and Listen to my Ditty. It is an apology for the failure of Hosier's earlier mission, and seeks to absolve Hosier of having shown a lack of initiative, blaming rather Admiralty orders "not to fight", which were obeyed only "against his heart's warm motion", having been "sent in this foul clime to languish". The Ghosts of Hosier and 3,000 of his sailors appear from the sea to Vernon shortly after his victory and Hosier charges him to "let Hosier's wrongs prevail" by drawing notice to the forgotten affair in Opposition circles in England. Only then will the ghosts find their rest. It is thus an attack on Walpole's half-hearted commitment to the war.
Read more about this topic: Francis Hosier
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