The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 316 - Jorgen jorgenson - (Live in Brisbane w/ Wil Anderson)

Episode Date: February 20, 2018

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds are joined by Aussie Wil Anderson to examine the life of Jorgen Jorgenson SOURCES Main Source: "The English Dane: from King of Iceland to Tasmanian convict" by Sarah Bakewell DOLLOP REDBUBBLE MERCH TOUR DATES

When you're staying at an Airbnb you might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. That in-law sweet guest house where your parents stay only part-time Airbnb it and make some money the rest of the year whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. You're listening to the dollop! This is a bi-weekly American history podcast once a week. I, taco eater, friend

looker at her. It's not friendship. And maker of cereal Dave Anthony read a story from American history to some guy named Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about really really liberal with the intros lately. I feel like I nailed that. I've become a guy that you've met and friendship for you is looking at someone. No I'm a friend looker at her it's not what does that mean you're looking at someone else right now okay you are a friend. Then you could take that friendship into the beginning of the podcast intro you say let's bring out our guest. I don't know if anyone knows

about this guy but we saw this guy do a tight five in a packed room and we were like let's give this kid a shot. Yep. So hopefully he does great. Ladies and gentlemen the amazing Will Anderson. Open and a beer. We'll open the beer. Holy shit. Not now. I think it's just called growing I don't think it's the growing. Oh my policy on yelling out isn't as strict as yours so let's not get into this. If you want to yell out good things about me you can do that. March 19th 1780. Jorgen Jorgensen. Sure. Of the organs. It's a double Jorgen. He was born in Copenhagen.

He was actually the Swedish. Yeah he was the Swedish chef's dad. Yeah. Jorgen Jorgensen. His dad was a royal clockmaker maker to the Danish King. Okay. Nothing to see there. He was just a guy who was sick of buying expensive expensive department store watches so he and his friend decided they got out their own clock company. That's right. That's right. They don't have a factory. That's how they cut down on the clock costs. But they have a your organization. Yeah. Remember that. God I wish Jorgen was alive to hear that. He'd love it. From what I've heard so far about the guy. He'd love it. His mother never fully recovered from his birth and

could not nurse him so a wet nurse was hired. Okay. Jorgen considered the nurse a second mother. He was also the second of five kids. Two of the other sons followed their dad into clockmaking. Cool. But not Jorgen. Jorgen was extremely energetic strong and could be violent. Oh that the last one is what gets you out of the clock factory. Damn it. It was Jorgen. He's a ticking time, Paul. Let's not put him like. Hickory dickory. Here again. He attacked anyone who offended him. Quote, at the age of four I was able to beat up any boy aged six. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. It's not amazing. It's not

great. It's not like if six you're like you go through a growth spurt. Right. Four beating six is still pretty good. Any six year old. Any six year old. He was very smart. He spoke several languages. At 13 Jorgen was the at the top of his at the top of the highest class at the school he was at with studying with boys as old as 20. Can you beat them up? Yeah, you can beat up anybody. Awesome. He passed his finals exams at 14 and was done with school. Jorgen became fascinated with England and its dedication to exploration. Sure. They've always they've had a good track record. Finders keepers is the foreign policy of England.

Exploring, invading, exploring, invading. Let's call the whole thing off. You say it's your land and I say it's our land. It's our land. It's our land. We changed it. It's our land. The Danes were not big fans of the British but his parents presented and helped him sign up as an apprentice on the Jane, an English coal ship. We know the Jane is an English coal ship. Dave, we know the Jane. I think we all know the Jane. Yeah. Don't talk down to us about the goddamn Jane. All right. You weren't there. All right, take it easy. Two favorite boats, Mary and the Jane. This clock is always set to 420. He loved England. He worked on the Jane for

four years and spoke fluent English. In 1798, he finished his apprenticeship at 18 and found the job on the Fanny, a whaler and cargo vessel and English slang for vagina. So we don't have to do it. I am a well-traveled man. Yeah, sure. I just came in on the Fanny. Hello. My name's Jorgen Jorgensen. This boy here says he came in on a pussy. No, no, no, no. Sorry. Okay, keep going. But he deserted the ship in 1799. And in November of 1800, Jorgen was on a ship headed for the Australian colony of New South Wales. He was either a convict on the ship or a sailor. And if he was a convict, he impressed the captain and was freed upon arrival. Okay, so we

don't know for sure, but either way is off. Right. That bit of history was written like somebody doing a school report where they hadn't looked up the facts. He was on the boat, so he was either a convict on the boat or like he was a sailor, I guess, on the boat. So a sailor convict, maybe a convoy, like a convict. Well, he was arrested, but they don't know if he, you know, they don't know what happened after that. But they know when he got to Australia, he was free, but doesn't make sense. Yeah. So they filled it in. The history people over at the history house where they were they right where they fill in the parts.

Are you still ready to be great to see that just a lot of spaces. What is he planning? What is he doing? Pausing an early 1801. He was a crew member on the Lady Nelson. Sure. We all remember that one. Yeah, it's a wrestling move. The Lady Nelson was a surveying and exploring ship. It was the first ship to find and claim Port Phillip. They did that. They rolled up and shot cannons, and we're like, it's ours now. Okay. I was promoted to first mate at 22. That's great at that age, too. That's a prime age. That's big. Yeah, first mate, 22. Yeah. That's a bright future you got there, sir. The Lady Nelson brought the first permanent

colonial settlers to Van Diemen's land to get there before the French, who really didn't want it because people already lived there. So they're they're weird like that. Yeah. Weirdos. The Lady Nelson dropped off settlers in 1803 and returned early in 1804 with a second group. The sediment eventually became Tasmania's capital Hobart. And then everyone lived happily ever after. Thanks, guys. Thanks for coming out. Australia is a great country. Nothing more to hear. Let's just move on. In March 1804, Jorgen signed up as first mate on the Alexander, which was a much larger ship. The Alexander was headed to London at the

time to sell goods, but the captain took a very slow route. First they went to New Zealand to pick up seal skins, then to Tahiti, where they stayed for seven weeks. So I mean, when you say he took his time. Yeah, he was not in a big hurry. No. For a while, Tahiti had been a place for sailors to go and have sex and relax. Seven weeks, huh? Now that we know the details, I'm shocked that this group of classy gentlemen were like, let's not leave. But now missionaries had come to Tahiti, who were basically cock blockers. We're the cock blockers. Put it away. Put them all away. No. Jorgen described the missionaries as weird with a withered

bunch of sour Evangelical grapes. Fair. They didn't speak Tahitian. They didn't understand Polynesian culture, could barely communicate, and were a bit hypocritical. They preached against extramarital sex and intoxication, but were constantly getting shit-faced and fucking anyone they could. So that's the same. Right. Was that an eye shit? Could people, could they tell that that was going on? Yeah. Oh yeah. Okay. So that's probably, okay. So that's a clear message. Yeah. King Palmeir II was known to demand brandy, then drink it until he passed out. Okay. Once the king boarded Jorgen's ship and said, quote, Master Christ, very

good, very fine fellow, me love Christ, like my own brother, give me one glass of brandy. I think that's worth another round. He repeated this phrase until he had drunk about a pint. Wait, what would he say? Each time he said the same thing. Yeah, he kept saying the same thing. Which was? Master Christ, very good, very fine fellow, me love Christ, like my own brother, give me one glass of brandy. Like, right up until the end, it's a Trump Tweet. Like, right up. And he grabbed a leg of mutton and began, quote, to gnaw it with his great and ugly teeth. Okay. Sure. The crew tried to remove him. The king said he'd take back

everything he said about Christ if they didn't give him another glass of brandy. Oh, you mean all those sweet sentiments he expressed would be retracted? Oh gosh. Me don't love Christ. He's not my brother. You don't have brandy. So they didn't give me any more brandy and he yelled, quote, Damn Christ, Christ, very bad. And then he jumped overboard and swam off. That's how you do religion, right? Do you think he's cool to swim guys? He's had a few brandy and he ditched Christ. He's drowning. Me love Christ, please. Let me love him again. Oh, thanks for saving me. Damn Christ. Fuck Christ. More brandy. Oh God. This guy, he's just circling the ship the whole time.

I think he's going to try to attack. I don't know what his plan is. Very aquatic. He drinks like a fish. That makes sense. I mean, Jesus. So all of this made Jorgen start to question the church. When Alexander, the Alexander left at the beginning of August 1805, two Tahitians sailed with him and Jorgen was assigned to take care of them. So again, the captain is in no hurry. He's stopping up port after port and it started to eat into the sailor salaries because they're just getting paid for the voyage and the cargo starts deteriorating. A lot of the skins rotted and had to be thrown overboard and the oil was rotting and leaking. And in June 26 1806, they arrived in London. Jorgen was now 26. The captain made no profit

because everything was fucked. What was his plan? I don't know. I don't think you have one. I mean, he just really wanted to just chill. You know, every once in a while, there's a really fucking shit captain. Yeah, sometimes. Yeah. So the captain made no profit. He couldn't collect insurance on the cargo because it was ruled. It happened because of his incompetence. Yes, negligence. And then the captain was thrown into debtor's prison. Jesus. So that didn't work out. Jorgen, but he had a good run. Yeah. And a good plan. So now Jorgen's still in charge of the two Tahitians who he was responsible for. And every spare moment, he's got him living in his place, right? And every spare moment, the Tahitians went next

door to a pub and drank beer. And then a little while later, Jorgen got the tab. They had been charging it all to him. One of the Tahitians, Jack was super into sex workers, but didn't always understand who was or who was not a sex worker. One day, he stopped a very fine woman on the street and said he would pay two shillings for her services, and he was almost lynched. So that happens. I've done that. Yeah. Two shillings, quite an offer too. Some serious cash. Jorgen got Sir Joseph Banks, the president of the Royal Society and lover of Tahiti to take charge of the Tahitians. And then Jorgen went back to Copenhagen and his family. He was now a national hero. He was the first Danish explorer to circumnavigate

at the globe. Around this time, Britain decided to invade Denmark to take their ships. A volunteer army of Danes tried to hold them back, but they had no uniforms, wore wooden clogs, and were armed only with, quote, rusty cutlass or instruments of agriculture. Anyway, they have a bunch of rakes. Get them. Let's clean the yard. Fuck it. So for whatever reason, it was over pretty quick. Copenhagen was surrounded and bombarded with missiles, quote, the streets were filled with dead or lacerated horses. Almost 2000 Danes had been killed. Somebody is a weird thing about horses. They're dead horses, right? Yeah. Or just cut up. Well, I'm assuming that's hard to come back from. Yeah, it's not great. It's not ideal to be

a cut. They're laying around. They're cut up horses. Yeah, yeah. Right. At least someone's tickled. Somewhere 2000 cut horse. I was like, Oh, not everybody. I remind the only one who thinks that's amazing. No. Her family were killed by a one-legged horse. Finally. The Danish government surrendered and gave its fleet to the British. Jorgen was stunned. He just spent months talking up how great the British were and now this. As soon as the British left, Denmark joined France, declared war on Britain, and started rebuilding their navy. By the end of 1808, Denmark had armed 150 ships, most of which were licensed as privateers. Jorgen was chosen to command one. His mission was to attack British supply routes.

He took several ships from the British, but on May 2, 1808, he met his match. His ship was badly damaged and he was forced to surrender. He was taken prisoner, but quickly freed on Pearl, which was common for high-ranking prisoners of war on the condition that he not leave Britain. They put him on country arrest. Yeah, it's like house arrest, but it's in a country. And okay, but he doesn't like the British anymore. No, not as much as he did. And now he's forced to be there. This is like a rom-com. He feels comfortable around them, but he doesn't like he's a little mad now. Okay. He found lodging at the spread Eagle Inn. Did he take the fanny there? He won a lottery, which was being held there,

$1,000, and then he borrowed another thousand and invested in cargo that was being smuggled. But the cargo disappeared. I can't believe that didn't work out. Yeah, that's weird. It's like future profit earnings, essentially. And Jorgen lost everything. This is when he met a couple of traders who said they had a cargo of tallow waiting in Iceland. If you are going to get the tallow to England, he would be handsomely rewarded, but there were a few. Yeah, what's tallow? It's like a rendered beef situation. I thought it was. Yeah. So here are a few problems. First, the British prohibited trading to enemy ports. Okay. Iceland was controlled by Denmark who banned all foreigners from trading with Iceland. And Jorgen was

on parole and couldn't leave England. So he did it. A man named Phelps gave him the ship and they would bring the cargo to sell and return with the tallow. Easy money. Another man named Savagnac would take charge of the trade. On December 28th, Jorgen and Savagnac sailed to Iceland. Now Iceland is the middle of a big famine because a volcano had got off and there's nowhere to go. You're like, oh. Is that a quote? I mean, yeah, there's not enough boats. And everyone's just like, oh, fuck. Oh, oh. And then the sheep just fall over and die. And you're like, oh, that's a wee. And then you starve. And then you're like, we're in Iceland. That's my version of what happened. The ship arrived at port

near Reykjavik on January 12th, 1809. The governor was away. So acting governor, Isfair Eit, Einarsson refused them permission to trade. So Savagnac sent Isfair Eit a letter threatening him. It didn't work. So they just took a ship in the harbor and seized it and held it for ransom. And that did it. Then Isfair Eit signed an agreement lifting the Danish trade monopoly. So now they can trade. Right. Okay. So they went to Reykjavik to sell their goods, but nobody came to buy them. Is that a problem in the business? Yep. Okay. It turns out rural Icelanders were the ones starving and they only came to Reykjavik in the summer. So that's just bad planning. I mean, you just got to really you got to

do a little homework. You got to read a little bit of a little bit. Yeah. Oh, they're not here now. Oh God, we are gonna get a travel book or something before you go to a fucking country and read about it. You just fucking come wandering in and go what they do in Brisbane. Because then you see a volcano. No, no, Dave. Nobody. Nobody. That's not a dancer's dancer's nothing. Okay, let's. I think that's nope. So the only people who live in Reykjavik are Danish officials. And so there's no tallow to pick up that that's not even there. So they don't even have the tallow. No, they got nothing. So in mid March, they gave up and went back. They go back empty with their tallow between their legs. Lord. So they so they have to

go back empty because they've left the cargo with a savagnyak. So to so they need weight in the ship. So they had to take rocks from Iceland. The Icelanders charge them for the rocks. Jesus. So they ended up having to pay 235 pounds for a bunch of rocks. They're not good at business. Right. So having a stay behind trying to sell the cargo, he's going to wait till the spring till the people came out of their death valleys. Whatever was happening. Yeah, sure. You say is they were all okay. So he demanded use of an empty government officials house and they said if they didn't give him the keys that he just break in and take it over. Seems like he is an aggressive negotiator. Yeah, he's a bit of a dick. Right.

So they let him have it. Okay. And then in London, Phelps, the guy on the ship started a second expedition to recover his investment. And this time, a British government warship went first. And they paved the way and be like, hey, they should be able to trade. And then they'd roll then and yeah, it's all stupid. So in Iceland, the governor, Trempa came back. So is there it had signed the trade agreement and jug governor Trempa was mortified and ruled the agreement invalid and said any trade with Britain would now be punishable by death. So the rover comes rolling in and the captain commanded governor Tempa to restore the trading agreement or he would do so with force. Okay. I was basically defenseless. They didn't have

any army. So yeah, that's their whole deal. They were like, okay. Oh, this is like volcanoes. But oh, it's people. We used to have those rocks we throw at people. Where are they? Well, we have let's throw the money at them that we made. Oh, oh, why did we sell the rocks? Those were only defenses. Oh, for the teller. What is it? It's rendered beef, but we don't have any beef. Oh my God, this is shit. Hello, it's beef. That's right. It's beef. Thanks, jingle. So they they give in and now they let trading happen. So the rovership takes off and then Governor Trump on me to the reinstates the trading ban and then Jorgen ship rolls out. Oh, but they've been warned about the trading situation. Savinac wrote

out to join them and they talked about what to do and they plan for four days. And then on day five, Sunday, June 25th, they took action. Most people were in church and a lifeboat carrying the captain and a dozen sailors armed with muskets and swords rode in and went to the governor's house. The front door was unlocked, so they went in. And they said that they were seizing the governor as a prisoner of war and took him to the harbor and by armed escort and put him in a cabin on the ship. Jesus. I mean, that reaction makes me think they were gonna behave like that regardless of whether the door was open or not. Well, yeah. I think that's fair. I also think I also think. All right, if it's open, we get a bugger.

He's read our book. Unbelievable. Only was unlocked. I mean, all right, turn around. It was locked. He's a genius. I don't know. He figured it out. Put your muskets down. He locked it. He wins. So no one on the streets did anything when they walked the governor through and or armed escort. So you're gonna took this as an approval of their actions. The governor, they put him in this cabin on the ship and then the governor has a 17 year old Norwegian secretary boy who rode out and begged in tears to be allowed to stay with the governor. He wants to be sick. Take me as well. Yeah, he wanted to be with his man and they were like, all right, weirdo. Okay. And he's just a boy. He's a

boy secretary. Norwegian boy. He's a Norwegian boy. Who's the governor's secretary. Okay, and scared to be alone. There seems to be a little codependency. Yeah, there was something going on there. Okay, that's okay. The takeover of Iceland happened in less than an hour since the invaders. That's really. Is that a record with commercials? On the television. Since the invaders did not have British support, they decided to pick a governor who was not British. Jorgen was it. Oh, he was installed as quote his excellency, the protector of Iceland and the commander of sea and land. Hang on. He's like being there for days, right? Yeah, not long. Oh, man. And he's Poseidon as well now. And he controls sea too. What? Everything's

coming up. You're good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're good. Talk to the fish. Your command. His first public announcement appeared the next day. He ordered all weapons, public funds, and keys to warehouses to be turned over. It ended with quote, should any person act in opposition to what is here directed, he shall immediately be arrested, brought before a military tribunal and shot within two hours. Jesus. After the offense is committed. I mean, it seems pretty quick, but it's twice the amount of time it took for them to take over their country. Oh, that's a life. Don't worry. We have two hours. The next day. So how are the people? What are the what are his poll numbers like? Are people liking his new 11

what he's doing like the new direction like a bold, bold choice maker. That's good. Yeah, somebody is willing to make decisions. So the next day you are going to clear quote Iceland is free and independent of Denmark. He then got busy. He released everyone in Reykjavik's prison and converted it to barracks for his new national army. The army consisted of eight men, all volunteers, though basically most had been inmates in the prison and just decided they wanted to stay there. That's a no brainer. All your stuff's there and you're free. What are you going to do? Okay, yeah, I'll be in an army instead, whatever. I was riding and yeah, for sure. Yeah, that's great. It's all my stuff. My stuff's here. I go

in and out now. Yeah, you can go in and out. Yeah, I'm army then. You're in the army. Yep. Yeah. Y'all again. Y'all again. I wish there were more than eight of you, but stop, stop. You're too good. Pick me up. Pick me up. Come on. Your fucking legs. Let's go. So you're going to wipe out all debts to the Danish government and trading companies. This was very popular on the island. And Iceland was about to get its own flag, a blue background with three white cod. With three white cods? Yeah, three white cod. It's three fish on a blue. Blue. I mean, I guess he is taking over the sea, so he's allowed to pick his flag. Is he Aquaman? He can talk to the fish. Okay. But even if you're going to put fish

on your flag, which is fine, like do it, but why just three cod? Like this heaps of fish. Well this is what they only do about cod. Like put one cod in like one Nemo and a shark. Well the shark's going to eat the other one. Yeah, you can't put them on the same flag. You can't have a shark on a flag with a cod. Now he'll eat it right away, Will. Oh my God. The shark's like cod. You're such a farm guy. He doesn't know that. No, I'm fucking turf not surf, so. And he raised the salaries of clergy so that Sunday morning sermons became about how awesome things were. Okay. On day three, Jorgen heard there were rumors that people were afraid to travel to the city thinking a bloody revolution had occurred. So he promised

to punish anyone caught spreading false reports. That's how you get rid of that worry. That's a good way to stab it out. People are worried they're going to get killed. Well, if they're talking about it, I'll kill him. What are you kidding me? Jorgen started getting petitions requesting favors. One man asked him to intervene with the bishop to allow the man to divorce because the man's wife had been imprisoned for sheep stealing, so he wanted a new wife. He's in the army now. Don't worry about anything. So he wants a new wife, so Jorgen smooths things out with the bishop, so he's fucking doing his part. So that's the solution? Okay, well, we'll just get you a new one. Yeah, they let him have a new wife. Okay. Well, that's what

happens if your wife goes to prison, then you got to get another one. Is that what happens? What are you going to do? Not fuck for a week? She's a lucky lady, Dave. Yep. I just, I just say again, I hope my wife doesn't listen to this one because... Now, none of this was easy because Jorgen did not speak the native language. Oh my God. And he knew absolutely nothing about Iceland and its cultures, but he really liked being in charge. But he's a Washington outsider, which I like. That's what I'm fucking talking about. He issued letters and orders and he inspected his troops and he threw parties. Then he really started to get into it. On July 11th, he released a proclamation, quote, that we Jorgen Jorgensen have undertaken the

management of public affairs under the name of protector until a settled constitution can be fixed on with powers to make war or peace with foreign powers. How did it start? It started that we Jorgen Jorgensen. That we Jorgen Jorgensen? I think he's saying we, my people. The royal, the royal. Oh, the royal Jorgensen. The royal we. Because he's kind of just making himself like the, the boss. He's turning himself into like, yeah, okay. So he's become some unconstitutional later type. Right. Jorgen was essentially announcing himself as king. He also wrote, quote, that the military have nominated me, their commander by land and sea and to regulate the whole military department in the country.

Enough sea. Enough of the sea talk. The sea has not been involved. You throw three cards on a flag. You don't rule the sea. He's got the eight guys. He's got eight guys and then he's like the sea's mine too. This guy's three cards short of a flag, Dave. Two and a half weeks into his reign, Jorgen set out with five army members. I believe a lot. I mean, the fact that everyone's like, this sucks, but what are we going to do? He's got an army of eight and I mean, what are we going to do? He's got a flag. I don't want to be rude to the guy. Also two weeks in their time is a lot of time. That's like, what, 360 invasions? Yeah. Well, most people, they didn't give a shit. They were like farmers and some guys

were like, I rule the city. And they're like, yeah, all right, I'm here with my sheep. Right. Give a fuck. Yeah. So, so two and a half weeks and he takes five army members to travel and meet the people of the island. Over half the army, huh? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Wow. Yeah. Big number. Most Danish merchants were not happy to see him. And in one incident, Jorgen pulled out his gun during a disagreement. He also argued with a district governor and ended it by having his men pile brushwood around the governor's house and threatening to set it on fire. So he's getting shit done. Hi. Hi, cold beer. Hey. No, what? There's a lot of fucking animal noises happening. Those ones are warmer. So that's why I didn't take

them in here. So solve it. Clank clank. Okay, that's done. So when Jorgen returned, he found Phelps had started building a fort on the shore. Phelps was also confiscating Danish property. The entire trip for him was about making money and he was plundering. Then on August 14th, a British ship, the Talbot, came. Captain Jones had come to investigate. And on August 20th, Jones ruled that Phelps had far exceeded his limited authority by taking over an entire island. That was an overreach? Yeah. Okay. Jorgen had broken international law, quote, by assuming an authority which no subject of any realm, whatever can have a right to namely that of declaring this island free, neutral, independent and at peace with

all nations. It doesn't work like that. No, you can't do that. It's the whole time. I'm thinking this doesn't work like this. Yeah. I mean, it did for a little while. Two months about is about I think about how long he ruled. And then what do you plead at the end of that? You're just like, adorable. I don't know. Ambitious. What do you want? How about a fucking? Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't know no better. So Jorgen was removed from power. Governor Tempah would be still at the sea, right? Yeah, he's still rules the sea. Awesome. Finally. And then he can still talk to the fish like that's an innate power that he has. Oh, well, yeah, his approval rating with the cod was through

the roof after the flag. It's a huge cod. They really turned out. So governor Tempah was brought to London as a prisoner of war and all of Jorgen's proclamations were abolished. I love that they even had to do that. Right. They all the shit the crazy guys been saying it's out. Oh, thank God. Okay. Can the governor get out of the fire pit? No. All government officials were rehired. The only thing that didn't go back to 100% was that British subjects would be allowed to live and do business with the island. So Jorgen wept for his quote poor unfortunate Icelanders. Wait, wait. The guy who's been in charge for two and a half months or two months. Two months. He's like an inconsolable right now. What about my people? What would

they do? The guy who did not understand the language, the culture came in and just went mine for two weeks is now really upset someone else's in charge. We had it all and we had a plan. Captain Jones called Jorgen quote a good natured madman. He's super cool, but he's just fucking nuts. Sorry, you said that he is. Oh, well, I mean, technically we call him a loose unit. And he's a good man. Yep. And crazy. Oh, fuck yeah. Okay. Out of his fucking mind. Have you seen the flag? Yeah, no, the flag's terrible. You know, I would say get a shark on there. You can't put a shark on there with the cod. It'll eat the cod. Right, it'll eat the cod. You're not from the sea, are you? I'm not. I'm not. You

would have known that. Yeah. Shark and cod are like not down with each other. Right. Good to catch up. So they left two Danish brothers were put in charge. In Denmark, the government officially condemned Jorgen as a traitor and put a bounty on his head. On August 25th, exactly two months after the invasion, Jorgen was taken from his kingdom as two ships set off for Britain. Since there were not enough crew, Jorgen served as an unofficial crew member. Wait, but he's the reason for the trip. Well, yeah, I mean, they're bringing him back and the other guys that Phelps and right, but now he's got an internship. He's got a war. He's got to work also because there's not enough guys. Okay,

that's a little awkward. Yeah, let's get me there. Come on, guys, dig deep. A storm hit and the ship separated and then one ship caught on fire. It's a tough one. It's tough when your ship catches on fire while at sea and also when it's raining. Yeah. You're like, you know what, I guess it was just a tough time. It was going to happen. I think wind's going to have to get us out of this one gang. I don't know what we're praying for. Put it out. We'll sink. Oh, fuck. So there weren't enough lifeboats and the seas were too rough to launch the ones they had and everyone started to panic. Then Jorgens ship appeared in the distance and he came and jumped onto the burning ship and quote set the crew to work launching

boats and even rescued the cat's dogs and sheep on board. All right. Well, yeah, that's the end. I know someone is not clapping the horse giggler up there. She's like, Duh, why waste the space? She's up there like, just tell me one. Tell me one horse died on this fucking ship or at least a cut. He also rescued his friend William Hooker who was on the ship. Others confirmed Jorgen was the hero. But now the other ship was super overloaded so they had to return to Reykjavik. So they sailed for Britain again this time on two ships and Phelps and Jorgen had a fight. Phelps was drunk and upset about all his financial losses and he grabbed Jorgen by his neck cloth and twisted it. Oh, how dare he? He's twisted

his neck cloth. Etiquette much. Jorgen refused to fight him quote. I said not a word. I put up with it very quietly. Just I just picture it like this. You ruined everything you. Now if you do it again, I'll come back for a second lashing. Okay. All right, thanks. Hey, I'm sorry about earlier. I got such a temper. I really shouldn't have done that. And God, I'm up. Are you okay? I think my neck cloth is a little stretched. Yeah. I really twisted it back there. I'm a monster. That was violent. Yeah, I've been drinking. You should see what I did to this kerchief. I need help, man. I beat up an outskirt. I'm a fucking asshole. I drowned a bow tie last week. Oh, it feels good to say. It feels good to say. Can I

cigarettes? The ships arrived in Britain on September 19th. Jorgen made a good scapegoat, and his enemies aligned against him. His only is saved the scapegoat in the rescue. Yeah, only his friend a scapegoat. Only his friend William Hooker stood by him. Jorgen was arrested for violating parole. He tried to get off on a technicality because the letter sent to him was addressed to quote, captain of a French privateer, which he said he was not, but it didn't work. It's not me. I'm not the French. So Jorgen was put on the prison ship Bahama. It's a fucked up name for a prison ship. Yeah, it's gonna be like a vacation, but you're in jail. He was these are my slave ships. This is the muta. This is the Bahama. Come on, pretty mama.

Jorgen started writing. He wrote drafts of a historical account of a revolution on the island of Iceland in the year 1809. There's two. It was two months. Yeah, you got to let go at some point. Yeah, a good little run. You had a nice little break. Backs of the reality. Historical account from who people are wanting to know the history of the island. No, he does trust me. It's a big one. It's a big moment. It's a big deal. He also wrote the autobiographical adventures of Thomas Walter. He wrote an autobiography on Thomas Walter. Yep. Not a lot of people brave enough to try to do stuff like that, Dave. He did not know what an autobiography was or he just was crazy. Yes. Thanks for closure. He wrote in English, though he did have a strong Danish accent

quote, I am not responsible because the English have taken it into their heads to pronounce some of the letters of the alphabet in a manner different from all other European nations. So Dave, I was just going to say, you must have read that been like hero. We have a goddamn hero here. In 1810, he was released to reading a town for paroled enemy officers. Was it Reading? Reading. Yeah, Reading. What do you say? I don't know. What did you say? He was reading and writing. So it's a town for paroled officers. Okay. The whole town is? Yeah. Okay. So he stayed for 10 months. And at this point, he was living on loans from his friend Hooker. His lenders started pestering him for repayment. And you're going to refuse to take any job lower than a captain because that was beneath

him. And he wrote two new books. Oh, boy. Description of the kingdom of chandria and the adventures of King Detrimides, a fantasy set in a fictional Central Asian kingdom. What happened to him in Iceland? He just like he got bit by the entertainment bug all of a sudden. He's like, you know, after my two months of ruling Iceland, I want to write a movie. I really I think I could be really good. Does he have any connection to this shit? No. They're not even loosely based on his time in Iceland anymore, right? No, he's just making shit up. It's hard to make at your second and third book weirder than your first one, which was an autobiography not about you. Yeah. But he found a way. He did. Now, Jorgen continually wrote to Hooker while he was in a reading quote,

one friend, an Englishman equal true faithful. And that is you, my dear Hooker. He described the peculiar pleasure he took in communicating his thoughts to Hooker. He said he felt a bond of friendship, which depended not on time, but on quote, something else, something like what the French call Genet sé quoi. Another letter starting to think Hooker's not real or something. Like, I think it's real. Okay. Hooker's actually a famous guy. Okay. Another letter quote, I see good nature in everything you say and do and the longer I am acquainted with you, the more I love you. Pray, is that a proper expression to a man in this country? Jorgen said he mistook her so much he could not sleep. Okay. He kept getting up early and going to bed late,

quote, which proceeds from being such a short distance from you and not confined for I think it hard not to see you. Yes, I think it hard not to be able to embrace to shake hands with you, my glorious friend. I have loved, I have loved deeply indeed, but never did I with such eagerness wish to see any person as I do you now. God, how happy I shall be when I see you the first time. I'm going to ink your your organ diner, your organ diner. I've got a organ for you. So is it mutual? Yeah, is it? Okay, so it is just totally unrequited. Yeah. Okay. The organs. That's like the overtext. Yeah. You know, well, plus, Jorgen kept an amazing evening. I could see myself spending the rest of my life with you. She hasn't written back. Plus, Jorgen kept asking for money with

all these letters. Okay. I love you so much. I want to touch you. I want to be inside of you. Can I have $5? In August, 1811, Jorgen was released from where any letters written back was he just like another one? Not that I could find. We've got a fictional ruler of a country and a guy writing letters asking for money. This isn't the original Nigerian fucking scam. It's not a scam. I just have to send him 5,000 shillings and then I get 500,000 in like two months. Once he figures his ship back out. He used to be King of Iceland. Yeah. He's a great dude. He wrote an autobiography not about him. So he keeps asking for money in August, 1811, Jorgen was released from Redigan, moved to London, a free man. By September, he was in debt again and confined to a

sponging house, which is sort of like a private semi prison kind of thing. What is there? I think it's, yeah, he's a fucking sponger. He uses... He's a sponge guy. What does that mean? He likes sponge cake or he's cleaning shit with sponges? Yeah. Or he just absorbs information? All the things. Yeah, I need to do a sponge. Okay. Everything sponge related. Yep. They have sponges back then? Yeah. I think you're placating me. Around this time, Hooker stopped giving Jorgen money and suddenly their relationship cooled. Oh really? He wasn't into it anymore. Yeah. Interesting. My boner's gone, dear sir. My love, my boner's gone. Because my wallet is empty. Jorgen borrowed money from a former landlord to pay off his debt and get out of the sponging house. Then his drinking got

out of control. Quote. He drank like a sponge. I do not think I was sober for three months on a stretch and so violent that I scarcely a day passed over my head, but I got into some scrape, whatever, that's all fucked up. He also became a compulsive gambler. He wasn't good at it, but he kept trying. That's the compulsive part. On November 21st, 1811, he was thrown into the King Bench Deaders prison. What kind of gambling is going on? I don't know. What are they betting on? I bet you this will sink. What could they? They're probably just playing games. I don't think they were betting on like. Yeah, there's nothing. There's nothing. No boxing. Okay. Rat races. Well, all right, I think the list took a dive. Pretty fast. Cod fights. Yeah. Yeah. Cod fighting. Cod

fighting. Put them in the ring. Oh, wait, they're dead. Well, this has shark written all over it. Hey, this is fixed. That card ain't fighting. He's fighting. He's trying. He's scared of the other guy. He's laying there. No, he's not. He's trying. It's a fix. It's not a fix. He's come on. He was good in practice. Go buddy. Go. You buckled out there, little man. Gotta change your training. Something we're not doing right. I don't know what it is. In January, he was freed again. He began taking a tonic medicine that made him quote as happy as a king. In that time, wait, first of all, he knows what that feeling is, right? He's one of the few people who's like, no, it's true. You know what, coming from other people who didn't feel like hyperbole, but it does. For me, it's actual

experience. This takes me back to the best two months of my life. Good ass tonic. He wrote to Hooker quote. My love. The psychic has driven all ill humors out of my body, cooled my blood in my frugal mode of living restored harmony and peace to my mind, which had for a long time been in a tumultuous state. Oh, topsy turvy. You see, like the magnetic needle always points into the true north. So do I always return to my friend Hooker when I have it does sound like he's on some pretty good shit now. He wanted to work. He decided he wanted to work as a war correspondent, war respondent, a war respondent, and he went to the Iberian Peninsula. But he didn't find work. Then he was either hired or shanghide into service shanghired on on a British Navy ship and quickly

kicked out. Okay. He wrote to Hooker a deadly and slow poison consumes me. Is he getting the letters? Do we know if there's any correspondence? It's I think it's pretty one sided. Okay, so he's just I mean, this is at some point you got to take a hand. I like the idea that he doesn't even have an address. He's just writing them like a kid's letter to Santa to hooker. He's just talking about changes in his mood that have not been addressed by the other side at all. He's like, okay. Well, here's my update since you're so tight lipped. I've been drinking tonic and I've been shanghide. You good? Right back. So a deadly and slow poison consumes me gradually and runs through my veins sickness praise upon my vitals. What you've been up to.

How you doing my man? In the spring of 1813, Jorgen visited Hooker and stayed a while. One day a visitor came by and asked Hooker who the quote strange looking man wearing the sailor's clothes was Hooker replied quote. Oh, that is the king of Iceland. Oh my god. Oh, man. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you guys were crazy for a minute. Your majesty fucking psycho. All right. Bye guys. Oh, that's my friend, the king of Iceland. He's wearing a sailor's uniform. He's drinking tonic. You good? In the summer of 1813, Jorgen was back in the sponging house and then he was put in fleet prison. There he wrote a history of the Afghan revolution and a manuscript on Russia. What? How Dave? Dave? What's going on? He just he's just allotted himself knowledge of

everything. Is he reading anything? He's just writing the history of Afghanistan in a book about Russia with just like my intuition ought to do it. Russia started out of potato spores. Boom. Now we're off. Hooker finally stopped replying to his letters. Okay. Jorgen somehow got a job translating documents from Scandinavian into English. Well, he knows about every other country. I mean, surely then somehow the guy who had hired him recruited him into the British Intelligence Service. Whoa. He's in that. What? Take it in a little turn. Yeah. Well, look, he he was he's the king of he's been the king of Iceland. He has experience in lying. No, with foreign relations. Yeah, sure. That comprehensive history of Russia. Yeah. Is that what got him

hired? Is the fact that he wrote books that were based on nothing? They were like, we had no idea Afghanistan had snow welcome aboard rookie. We got a good feeling about you. Now tell us more about Russia being underwater. The whole thing is underwater. Yeah. I think he got the job because he was good at the translating job. But okay, but that's all I took from it. His first assignment was they send him to Waterloo to report on it. He's king of the water again. Jorgen quickly gambled away his first paycheck before he left and had to sail across the English Channel as a hired hand. He then had to travel on foot to Waterloo. He claimed he saw the battle, but probably arrived after it ended. Okay, so then he went to Paris where he had a breakdown.

Finally, this has been a long time coming. I was starting to think he had no judgment. Quote, built a little butt of branches of trees. I tore my clothes and remained unseen for four days when I was taken up naked. I was placed in a Mazande Sente, the doctor comprehending my case, applied bleeding, purging, blistering and hot baths with a moist rigid diet. I was cured and cooled in six weeks. So he was found naked in the bushes. They drained him of blood. Yep. Put leeches or blisters on him, purged him. And he was like, that was good. Yeah. Now he's good. Just six weeks. Okay. But he was better. British intelligence told him to go to Russia and gave him more money. So we don't need to tell you what to do. You're obviously very familiar with Russian

culture. You wrote an autobiography on Russia, I believe, correct? So he stopped at a Paris casino and lost all the money. Jesus. He literally lost his shirt and had to keep his overcoat buttoned up to his neck on his walk to Russia. Chili, isn't it? Cold, isn't it? You're gonna arrive in Germany on New Year's Day, 1816. You're gonna then just made up fake reports and stayed in Berlin gambling for eight months. Okay. So he was just writing reports about being in Russia while just in Berlin. Very, very comfortable position for him. Yeah. Things are great here. Everything I said in the book, pretty much true. Send money. After he went back to London and spent three years just gambling. On May 25th, 1820, he was arrested for stealing and paunting the mattress, blankets,

and pillow from his rented room. So you just go sell it all and you're like, he's in the made up. I'm actually, I need turnover service. Like the hardest thing to steal from your hotel room is the fucking mattress. Like, how did he get? He's got that big coat now. It's buttoned all the way up. How are you? Great meal. Well, I should go. Ta-ta, open the other door too. Please. I think it'll take two to get me out of here. Have you put on shoulders? Yeah, I just, I'm, I'm working out. I've been working out a little bit. You know, I got a, I'm on a low carb, enormous body thing. Yeah, you're very, you've gotten very rectangular. I'm doing, I'm doing a lot of upper body stuff to sort of tangle out as we call it.

I'm trying to tangle out a little bit, you know, get that rectangle, the rectangle forms in now. Oh, listen to me talking a mile a minute. I should get out of here. Don't make me strong, army now, sonny. Why are you holding a pillow? I take this with me when I travel. When I walk, I take the pillow with me when I walk. The truth is that I'm so muscular. And again, I'm going right now, but I'm so muscular that I hold this in case I bump into someone. They're not knocked the steel that I am now. Anyway, I should get a move on. Yeah. And I got blankets in my pants. And sorry, should point that out. There's blankets in my pants too. Yeah, I have blankets in my pants. And yeah, so I'm doing the, I'm tangling out, blankets in my pants,

holding the pillow. Yeah, just, I'll be back soon. And when I come back, I might not look like this. I got to tell you that right off the bat too. It's a whole thing where I'll go out there and I might not look like this when I come back. I might not even have the pillow and I might have my money and it might be gambling, but chances are the next time you see me after that, I'll be tangled out again. And which reminds me, I'm going to need to switch rooms. Other one doesn't have a bed. I don't know what kind of shit show this is. Let's grab the rock beer. So he was sentenced to seven years' transportation for stealing the mattress blankets of pillow. Jesus. Again, what gets you punished? What carries what term is insane?

Everything was seven or 14 years or death. That was all it fucking was. It didn't matter what you stole. He got a job as an assistant in the prison hospital helping the surgeon, and Jorgen turned out to be an excellent medical student. Okay. After a year and a half, Jorgen was released. Well, he actually wrote the book. Medicine. A book about me. Thomas Howell. What the hell is this? I've written a book on the history of Russian medicine.

From the perspective of an otter. What is he doing? I'm sorry, I meant otur. So after a year and a half, Jorgen was released on the condition that he leave Britain for his seven-year sentence. That's the opposite. It's got to be kind of like great to get to the point where people want you gone so much that like just get out of here. We'll wipe away everything you've done. All right, I'll leave. Off the fucking island. All right. So of course he didn't leave. Right. Of course. And his daddy just started gambling.

Hey, did you hear Jorgensen's leaving? I bet he doesn't. Take that action. I'll see your five with a mattress. I got two queens and a king. So on September 28th, 1822, he was arrested for not leaving and sentenced to death. What are you going to do? Arrest me for not leaving? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I know what I get seven or 14 years. Oh, God, what? Oh, God. No, I. That was a standard sentence for someone who fled transportation. So

then his old friend Hooker came through and a hooker is getting more and more famous and as a botanist and he comes through for his old friend and submitted a petition to commute the sentence and using his contact, Jorgensen's life was saved. Okay. And then Jorgensen found religion. But he wasn't, wasn't freed. On December 1825, he was put on a ship for Australia and headed for Tasmania. The colony Jorgensen had helped found in 1803. Remember that? Yeah. That was a long fucking time ago. It feels, I mean, I feel like I lived it. I forgot Australia was involved in this story. And fine with it, whatever, man. Let's do Iceland. We've been there. So Hobart town had grown over the 23 years since free settlers had been moving in and made money

selling wool. But Tasmania was still basically an open air prison with about 7000 convicts. Bush rangers terrorized settlements, drunk sailors roamed Hobart creating chaos, floggings and hangings were common. Jorgan had the claim to fame that he'd been present at the colony's founding. So he landed as kind of a famous guy and he got a sweet job as a clerk in the customs house in Hobart. And after a couple of months, he had covered a big banknote banknote banknote forgery operation. And the criminals were arrested. One was executed and Jorgan was a hero. He's busting people on forgery. Yeah. He's finding inauthentic writings problematic. Yeah. What a guy.

He got a new job, partly because he was now every job is his forest gump. Kind of is. But he's now kind of like a known snitch. And the job was out of the city. He was hired to lead a party of explorers into the Northwest Forest in search of good land. He was given a map, which was the only map in existence. Well, be careful. Good Lord. Where is it? Oh, we don't know anything again. God damn it. Most of the map was a large open space marked this country is unknown. You think that map's bad? You should say the one that drawn on the apple. Wow.

Jorgan and two other convicts were supposed to find a route to the coast. One of the convicts was a black guy from Africa who Jorgan called Black George. George would do. I mean, everybody, I mean, unless there was another George around, it feels unnecessary. Like if there's two Georges, like a survivor and then one has to be like Maddie B and one has to be Maddie C or whatever. But like, yeah, white and black George, you could do that. Yeah. Okay. Was there two Georges? Nope, just one George. Okay. Shocking black guy. Okay. They went out on October 11. Could he call them Liar Jorgensen? Why would he? Yeah.

They went out on October 11, 1826, but the land was difficult and there were no kangaroo to hunt. There were also no trees with big branches enough to build shelter. Wood was too wet to burn. In the foothills, they had to walk through snowdrifts a meter and a half deep, and they hacked their way through scrub tearing their clothes and they found nothing. Their dogs were close to starving, then fog came and they got totally lost. Finally, Jorgen said they should turn back. All three men's feet were now frozen numb. They went back down and soon were back amongst kangaroo where they ate and rested for a few days and returned to Hobart to collect nine weeks pay for the journey. Okay. On February 1827, Jorgen joined a party

for another trip into the wilderness. He was not the leader this time, a younger, more experienced surveyor. Clement Lorimer was chosen for that job. They argued the entire time. The train was rough for the days past. They were soaked. There was no wildlife. The dogs and men were starving. One of the dogs got pregnant. What? From another dog. Yeah. We don't know. We can't say for sure. They find a bunch of lettuce. He's been running to the dog for months. The baby comes out. It's a Yorgie. I like how dogs, even when they're starving, are like, we should fuck.

Come on, that's what we're gonna do. What's going on out here? Nothing to eat. Another dog kept eating what kangaroo he caught before the man could take it away. And finally, one man just shot the dog when he was eating a kangaroo. The third dog, Boxer, could hardly walk and was useless, so they all turned around. Then the dog gave birth, rain poured down, rations were running out. They probably ate the puppies. John's went hunting. The things are going pretty well. John's went hunting with two dogs and came back with one. He set it to run off as he rubbed his stomach and twirled the tooth pick in his mouth.

Oh, no, yeah, that one's gone. Oh, you guys, we should nap. They saw their destination, a mountain, and decided to take a shortcut and head directly for it. Big mistake. They kept getting stuck in mud. There was no fresh water and Dun, who was still injured, was so thirsty he drank seawater and went partially mad. Oh, boy, you know, that's quite a move. I'm dying. A little seawater ought to help. I'm living. Oh, boy. I'm the king of Iceland. He's had too much. No more salt water for him. The next day they arrived at Duck River. The river was deep and fast. They built the raft using blankets and branches. Went on it. I was hoping a mattress would be involved in this boat.

It sank and they almost drowned. Okay. The next day, Laurie Mer insisted on swimming across the river. They hadn't eaten since Friday. Laurie Mer tied a blanket rope around his waist and went into the river and sunk. They tried to pull him out with a blanket tour. That was the end of Laurie Mer. He had a good run, though, huh? Then they walked a very short distance and found a huge tree had fallen across the river. I wish he'd... Right here. I mean, right here. The next thing we would have seen. Wow. Boy. Let's tell his wife he died valiantly. Not eight feet short of a tree. Maybe he saw the tree. Back in. Let's give it a whirl. A hard cross. I'll swim it. Tie a blanket around me. It'll be fine.

That afternoon they reached their destination. On June 7th, 1827, Yorgen learned that his ticket of leave had been granted. So he's free. Okay. He was now free to choose where he wanted to work. He literally ran out of the office as soon as he learned without saying a word, took a boat to Hobart, and got shitfaced. We've all been there. Then he became disorderly, which was a misdemeanor, and he was arrested in fine five shillings. Guy. I mean, and before he's managed to ruin his life again gambling, this is so unfortunate. No, he's right there. It's the celebration. He's mid-party. What do you mean? No, I'm partying. Get back. In 1828, he was hired as Confect Constable in the town of Oatlands. He was good at it. Yorgen was

known to rise as early as two in the morning if he was following a hunter tip. He wrote that he was never more happy, which might have been because another part of Yorgen's job was to sit in pubs listening for information. That's great. I can tell you all the specials. In a year, Yorgen helped capture over 50 thieves and outlaws, including a large gang. In the gang was a 23-year-old woman named Nora Corbett. She was a convict from Ireland who ran away to join her boyfriend in his sheep-stealing gang. She was illiterate, and her prison report described her as, quote, bad. Not illiterate over there, are they? No. I got a strong vocabulary. Nora agreed to become a witness against the gang to reduce her sentence. She was placed in Yorgen's care,

and they started fucking. Okay. Yorgen asked her to marry him. The gang off married. Yorgen asked her to marry him. Can you knit me a mattress out of wool? Easily. The gang offered a reward for the murder of Nora and Yorgen. Yorgen's boss recommended him for a pardon and wrote it in a letter. That night, Yorgen found Nora in a pub surrounded by 10 men with a glass of gin in front of her. He lost it, swearing and raving and swinging away. He was arrested for drunkenness, violence and the use of indecent language, and, quote, certain very unmanorly actions. But he was not suspended from the field police because it would have looked very bad. He blamed being with a, quote, wild Irish girl.

The boss threw out the letter of recommendation he had just written for him that day. And when the trials were over, Nora was assigned as a servant in a remote country location to keep her safe. At the end of the year, she was granted her ticket of leave. Yorgen then joined in the hunt for indigenous people, as everyone in Tasmania seemed to at that time. He was very successful, exhausted, very unsuccessful, exhausted in his frustrations obvious. A police magistrate wrote, quote, Yorgansson was really insane many days last week. It's only seven days in the week. How hard is it that three days would do? Many days. Not Saturday. The success led Yorgen, anybody got a conditional pardon. To celebrate, he got drunk, was arrested

in five and five shillings. He was given a hundred acres as part of his pardon and would get another hundred if he used it well, but he had no clue what to do and he had no money for sheep, so he sold it. On January 25th, 1831, Yorgen married Nora. Yorgen's employer was officially required to give Lieutenant Governor Arthur his opinion on the marriage and he wrote, quote, I have often told Yorgansson that his ruin is inevitable if he marries this woman. His infatuated attachment to her has now existed a long time and as it cannot be subverted by any reason or reflection, I most respectfully beg leave to solicit his excellency's permission for the man and woman to be married. Nora Corbett did most undoubtedly render very great service to the police since

time sense in breaking up several gangs of desperate villains. I know nothing to the woman's prejudice save that of being much addicted to liquor and of her propensity to beat and scratch Johnson when she's drunk. Okay? He was right. The couple spent their time drunk. Nora was often yelling or hitting Yorgen. Nora took in laundry and Yorgen started writing for newspapers and in 1832, Nora was arrested twice for assault and theft. Yorgen asked Lieutenant Governor Arthur to put her in, quote, a hospital or elsewhere to cool the fermentation of her blood. Oh boy. But she was acquitted on a technicality. They sound like a couple on cops. This is totally the original cops. Yorgen later wrote Arthur saying she had tried to commit suicide by swallowing a piece of copper. That'll

I mean, it was so much harder to kill yourself back then. I mean, really? But is it? He just jumped off of something tall as copper around copper. I just eat copper. I feel sick. Just drunk. Fuck you. I hate everything. Did you just eat copper? Yeah. She said do anything. I don't know. Does it? I don't know. Well, okay. We agree on something. Arthur sent her to the factory. Hobart's dreaded women's prison. She was released after a month. One day, Yorgen came home drunk and found Nora with another man, a local butcher. They fought. The cops were called. And when the cops came, they found Yorgen sitting outside half naked, his boots and trousers burning in the fireplace. Hey, what's the problem? I don't know why anyone

called you here. Did they call you because I said fuck my pants? Fuck you pants. Sir, are you fighting with your pants again? Fucking pants. Okay. Let me ask you this. What did the pants do to you this time, sir? Fucking. They were on you again? Yeah, I looked down and they're like, hey, bitch. I'm like, I don't need no pants. Your pants called you bitch, sir. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Well, look, we're not going to keep coming up here. We're up here about every two to three days with you guys and see you in the pants. Fuck my boots. Okay. I'm going to leave you with your boots until something actually happens. We can't do anything, but you are out of pants. And that's a problem for everybody. I don't know how we're going to handle

that. I'll fight them. You'll fight the pants. Fuck. Yeah. Get a panzer on fire, which means you're a liar. And I've buried. Jorgen, then attack the constable. Smart. Bottomless? That's a hard position to defend from when you're like, you don't have. Okay. Listen, what are we doing? We fighting? You've got a very strange stance. Just a shirt on. What do you want? You to put pants on, buddy. Come on. Don't do this. At trial, Jorgen said it was his right to burn his boots and pants. And then he don't argue with that. No, it's his God given right. And then he wasn't drunk, and that the constable had barged in. That's why he attacked him. He lost. Then the butcher paid Jorgen's bail. He was fucking Nora. Small town, small town. Yeah, that feels weird though.

He just put a bunch of salami down. He's like, get him out of there. In 1832, Jorgen was back in prison for debt. When he got out, Arthur hired him as a division constable in the small town of Ross, Jesus, where teams of convicts had been working for five years on a bridge over the Macquarie River. But there was no bridge. There was no sign of a bridge. It was just a corruption operation. Okay. Arthur thought Jorgen could get to the bottom of it. And one day a drunk Nora in the town became violent, and Jorgen couldn't handle her. So the constable constable was called. He left two prisoners unattended who escaped and Jorgen was blamed. Pick that up. It's totally ruining the like feel of the 1800s.

Jorgen was told to resign from the police. The bridge was eventually completed in 1836 with the help of two new convicts. They created an artistic masterpiece sculpting Celtic motifs and gargoyle-like faces. There is a king and queen who are clearly Jorgen and Nora. Still there today. Still there today. Do you know what their key was? They started. That's the secret to that bridge. If you want to make a bridge, start making a bridge. Jorgen finally received his full pardon in August 1835. Nora got hers a year later. Jorgen's old friend Hooker was now a famous and respected botanist in Scotland. He asked one of his friends in Tasmania about Jorgen because he was always looking for people around the

world to send him samples of plants. He was then sent a copy of Jorgen's autobiography. Somehow Jorgen found out about it and wrote to Hooker, quote, I remember you my Hooker. He's making it. Okay. And I burst into a flood of tears. I was then determined to write and if possible to hear from you and once more to see your handwriting before the grave closes on me forever. Hooker did not write back. Getting excited about handwriting. Everyone in Tasmania knew Jorgen as quote his Icelandic majesty. Thanks to his autobiography, he had other nicknames Convict King, Little Napoleon, Dog Day King because his Icelandic reign lasted only through a dog days of a single summer. Did you say Little Napoleon? Yeah.

That was also his hip hop name. Everybody drops the little of actually. I'm just Napoleon now. I'm a grown ass man. July 17th, 1840, Nora died. The cause recorded on the death register was quote visitation of God. I didn't know you could die from that. Yep. Yeah, he just he just comes in. He just come in the front of your house and be like, well, I'm here, man. And then that's it. That's it. Yeah, you're out. I think that I think this is a typo. It says visitation of cod. Oh, God. Oh, God, God, three. She saw three cards. Oh, no, the three wise God. Night of the cod. It's my version. Mine's more of a horror movie. Yeah. Sure. Night of the cod. Oh, no, they're coming. This summer, the cod are approaching the beach and they're deep frying you.

Oh, my God. Starting Mark Wahlberg. I'm telling you, Tim, there's something wrong with the fish all of a sudden. God damn it. Won't you listen to me? Oh, my God, Mark. Start going on and on. Here we go again. The court are coming. The court are coming. The court are fucking coming. Okay, Mark, the court are fucking coming. This summer, we asked the question, what if cod was one of us? Look at the alignment of these fish though. They're all of a sudden lining up. I think they're playing at something. Mark, stop already. Jesus Christ with the cod philosophy.

What the fuck is going on with you lately? I don't know. I'm just, I'm losing a little, I guess, but he was right. This summer in cod we trust. What if cod was one of us? Nora was just 35. They had been married for almost 10 years. That August Hooker's son, naturalist Joseph Dalton Hooker, came to Hobart. Yorgans sought him out several times, but Joseph Hooker... How's your dad? Is your dad good? Did he get my letters? Have you seen his handwriting? Oh, my God. A lot of times when I'd write him, I'd picture if I was the pen in his hand.

Does that make sense or is that crazy? I love your dad. I love your dad. You remind me of your dad. Write something down. Did you get my note? No. That's weird. He didn't get it. He just have greeted the, quote, shambling, weepingly, sentimental Yorgan with distaste. He wrote to his father that Yorgan appeared, quote, in a half tipsy state and in rags and begged for half a crown. He was quite incorrigible. He was always in that state when I saw him and used to cry about you. This is the king of Iceland, right? Okay. Full moon. Full moon. Yorgan, on the other hand, was so overjoyed to meet Hooker's son, especially as the young man

looked just like his father. August 20th, 1841, Yorgan collapsed and was taken to Hobart's Colonial Hospital where he died at age 60 of an inflammation of the lungs and very, very, very possibly because of alcoholism. Right. There is a plaque at an inn in Campbell town where Yorgan worked as a spy and in the northwestern town of Bernie, there is a street named after him. On May, 2001, the local library gave free ice cream to every resident to celebrate his fame. Well, that's, that's the king of ice cream. Iceland does not have any memorials to Yorgan. They regard him with a fondness but not pride. That's kind of how they approach everything over there. Icelanders today may know of him from a musical variety show translated as We Remember

at Yorgansson, which was first performed on 1970 and was broadcast on Iceland television in 1994. On the television, right? Yeah. Well, that guy had quite a run, huh? I mean, what I'm getting out of that story is that you thought you were going to sell an extra show in Iceland and you prepared a story for there. And you've kind of vaguely jammed it into Australia. That's what I'm hearing. If you're insinuating that we overestimated our numbers in Iceland and had one burning a hole in Dave's pocket, I mean, that is outlandish. No. No, I didn't read about this when I was researching Iceland in a book. And it wasn't too long that I didn't want to do it then. No,

that didn't happen. Wait a minute. But he was, he spent more time in Australia. Quite a run in between, though. I mean, I just wish he kind of declared himself king of Tasmania or something for a bit. Yeah. Like, why didn't he do that? It's heavy. I mean, it's just not that it's he learned a lesson, right? At some point that he can't declare. I probably not. No, he didn't learn any lessons. They never learned a lesson anywhere. I was trying to put a little silver lining in there, but no, he didn't guess he was just a bottomless shithead. Gumpion, though. He was one of those guys who's gumption. He was like the bad lieutenant of the eight early 1800s. Right. He's just addicted to everything and

bottomless and bottomless and all tracks. All tracks. Well, we should go. Thank you. Have a great evening.