Saturday, March 25th, 2006. Hunter Wellingtons.
I ordered today two pairs of Hunter Wellingtons: Green Hunter Original and black Argyll Farming. Not for the remote chance of landing over gnarly coasts as my feet would go numb, would I scratch my way over rugged stone. Furthermore, my landing spots meet most of the times this customary description so usual in paddling articles: "… waves lapping smoothly over a gently sloping sand beach".
The reason for this step are some whining complaints that I have received for drenching the floor of the Yacht Club’s cafeterias to the annoyance of the rude brutes that manage them. I see a fair cause as the water draining from my Artistic neoprene boots and my Chill Cheater long shirt and trouser produces an offensive, brownish concoction with the scraps and rubbish that litter their floors.
After some internal dispute management, my ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage prevailed. The Wellingtons seemed the perfect solution for the after paddling soirée -for winter journeys I’ll go for the Chota Mukluks- as they would allow to:
a- Help in my well-mannered commitment to avoid rinsing the floors of the premises.
b- Wade through the vulgar litter.
c- Display with a piece of casual country wear, my offhand disregard.
Confronted with an array of choices, I went for classic Hunter designs. This brand just had me with the first openings of their marketing literature:
"Somewhere, doubtless, there’s a machine that can churn out boots, of a sort, in the blink of an eye, at the push of a button.
But they wouldn’t be our sort of boots. They wouldn’t feel so good. They wouldn’t fit so well.
They just would not be up to the job. Of course, making Hunters by hand id harder, granted.
But in our long experience, there’s not other way to make the kind of boot we’d be happy to put our name to."
Since Mr Henry Lee Norris set up shop with his master bootmaker back in 1856, Wellingtons boots are crafted by hand. The maker feel that they would unsettle the spirit of Henry Lee in they didn’t carry on his bootmaker’s traditions.
Although, the first of the famous Hunter Green Wellingtons was seen back in 1956, the Wellington boot is based upon Hessian boots worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and fashionable among the British aristocracy in the early 19th century.
The first Duke of Wellington, instructed his shoemaker, Hoby of St. James Street, London, to modify the 18th century Hessian boot. The resulting new boot designed in soft calfskin leather had the trim removed and was cut closer around the leg. It was hard wearing for battle yet comfortable for the evening. The Iron Duke did not know what he’d started—the boot was dubbed the Wellington and the name has stuck ever since. An incidental note: The Duke can be seen wearing the boots in his 1815 portrait by James Lonsdale.
These boots quickly caught on with patriotic British gentlemen eager to emulate their war hero. Considered fashionable and foppish in the best circles, they remained the main fashion for men through the 1840s. In the 1950s they were more commonly made in the calf high version and in the 1960s they were both superseded by the ankle boot, except for riding.
Now, if only I could come across a pretty, athletic paddler in a floral dress and Wellington boots! …
[Ignacio Wenley Palacios]
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