The voyage of the Lady Juliana

The PBS series "Secrets of the Dead" continues to shine in obscurity--though with a decidedly Australian flavor this season.

Tonight's episode described the voyage of the Lady Juliana, a ship of female convicts sent to populate the British penal colony down under.

It was really an interesting account, and the producers are to be credited for tracking down and interviewing a handful of descendants.

Again, I don't know why the "big" networks continue to force-feed tripe like American Idol.

Or, could it be that I'm just "out of step" with the rest of the tv-viewing public.

Sadly, I think the latter is the case.

Oh, well . . .

The Catalpa Rescue

I just watched an excellent documentary on the "Catalpa Rescue."

The rescue got its name from the ship Catalpa pictured here, an old whaler from the port of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Anyway, it was featured on the PBS series "Secrets of the Dead," which usually includes a lot of forensic detective work in its episodes.

But, that was not the case tonight. There were no bones, no DNA testing, no botanical consultants.

Just the recounting of this fascinating story, one that (despite my lifelong love of history) had completely escaped my usually astute radar.

Anyway, it seems the British imprisoned 6 Irish soldiers for treason back in 1866 and sent them to a remote prison at Fremantle (near Perth) in western Australia.

One of the men, James Wilson, managed to sneak a plea for help to Irish nationalist John DeVoy, who had been exiled to the United States.

DeVoy rallied the American Irish group Clan na Gael to free the "Fremantle Six," as they were called. He soon had thousands of dollars pouring in to his office, enough to buy the Catalpa and finance a bold raid on the British prison.

If your local PBS station airs this episode, I can highly recommend it. True stories are always the best, and this one is full of a lot of drama, adventure, etc. And, it ends with an emotional unfurling of Old Glory by the captain of the Catalpa as a warning to the British navy vessels pursuing them that all those aboard enjoyed the protection of American sovereignty on the high seas.

I like any such reminder of America's long association with the cause of liberty. I only wish examples like this weren't relegated to PBS. The "Big 4" networks should be taking note.