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'"You told me to bring cannon-shot next time, an' I've brought 'em."

'He saw we had. He ripped out a fathom and a half o' brimstone Spanish, and he swung down on our rail, and he kissed me before all his fine young captains. His men was swarming out of the lower ports ready to unload us. When he saw how I'd considered all his likely wants, he kissed me again.

This is from "Simple Simon" in "Rewards and Fairies" by Kipling.

I do not understand the meaning of this.

He ripped out a fathom and a half o' brimstone Spanish

This is from the note of Kipling Society.
[Page 300, line 4] brimstone Spanish Brimstone is sulphur. In this context, 'fiery', or 'burning'. The reader can assume that Drake was swearing exuberantly in Spanish.

I am so glad if somebody kindly teach me.

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    I think you answered your own question. The notes on this suggest Kipling is using a very colorful metaphor to say that Drake is swearing, in a fiery and excited way, in Spanish.
    – Andrew
    Commented Dec 29, 2017 at 3:00

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One of the meanings for "Ripped out" is "burst out with a violent or profane utterance" (quoting after https://www.thefreedictionary.com/rip+out).

"A fathom and a half" is an unit of measurement (equivalent to about 2.7 meters), in this case meaning something like "a lot".

The word "brimstone" modifies "Spanish". Brimstone is the alternative name for sulfur, an element associated with fire and heat. Thus, "brimstone Spanish" can be understood as "fiery (= aggressive, passionate) Spanish".

In total, the whole sentence is a colorful metaphor which can be interpreted as "he said a lot of violent, passionate things in Spanish," or -- as the note from Kipling Society remarks -- Drake started "swearing exuberantly in Spanish".

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"He ripped out a fathom and a half o' brimstone Spanish"

'ripped out' is an idiom meaning to tear something out of something else.

'a fathom and a half' is a way of measurement. 1 fathom ~ 1.82 meters.

o' is short form for 'of', you may have already known that.

I am not sure about brimstone Spanish, its blank meaning is azufre or sulfur which is a substance. It could be something else.

So, this sentence can be translated into

"He torn out a piece of azufre which is about 2.7 meters long and he swung down on our rail"

This is just my personal opinion but i hope it helps :)

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  • The note says "The reader can assume that Drake was swearing exuberantly in Spanish." Why do you think this means "he ripped out 2 meters of azufre"? Ripped it out of where?
    – ColleenV
    Commented Dec 30, 2017 at 3:57
  • @ColleenV - don't go there!
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Jul 28 at 10:44

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