This is a very clever story, incorporating as it does, a number of important issues, principally (a) that anyone with the slightest trace of Afro or Asian in their ancestry is "black" or "coloured", regardless of skin or hair coloration (the main plot of the musical "Showboat") and (b) the increasing number of disclosures of sexual abuse of pre-teen boys by celibate clergy.

I'm unsure when the burdizzo was invented, and this story is supposed to have taken place in the 1850's. Nowadays the method isn't recommended for castrating boys.

Sailorboy's e-mail address proved to be invalid or I should have preferred to remind him privately that the term for a neutered boy singer is CastratO - CastratI being plural.

Also I'd have liked to request him for a sixth chapter in which the boy encounters a girl, who, taken with his good looks, offers him sex. He can only falteringly decline, and the girl mocks him for his impotence and sterility.

C van D

Hi,

Thank you for your comments about my story, "Daddy's Little Boy." To answer your question, the burdizzo has been around since before the Roman Empire. On occasion, the Eunuch Archives will post a pic of an ancient burdizzo.

I researched the castrati from the 16th to the 20th century and could not find a detailed account for the castration of those thousands and thousands of boys who were castrated to sing in Church choirs, especially

St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. It is documented that the boys were given opium and then castrated, but I couldn't find any official accounts about making a castrato. It is believed that the castrators cut the boys' spermatic cords, but that is difficult to prove. The parents' rationale for doing such a thing was an "accident" that happened to the boy since the Church "frowned" on a deliberate castration or else "winked" at the practice.

Thank you also for telling me of my error of using "castrati" rather than "castrato." Your critique is appreciated as is any constructive critique by anyone who reads the story.

By the way, the location of the slave auction site is real in Natchez as is the church. The Diocese of Natchez, responsible for all of MS, was established in 1837. St. Mary Cathedral, the was dedication of 12/25/1843 and took 40 years to be completed. On 9/8/98, St. Mary was designated a Minor Basilica, thus downgrading the church's functions. Franklin and Armisted are the actual names of slave dealers in Louisiana and John Anderson sold slaves in Natchez. I just switched some names around for my story.

I researched where railroads were located in the 1850's and had to use the ones completed by the time of my story. The steamboat's name is fiction

I looked at my story and noticed that, indeed, my e-mail address is incorrect. I must have hit another key when I posted it to EA. My CORRECT e-mail is "sailorboi4action@yahoo.com"

Thanks again for your comments,

Sailorboy

Hi C van D,

I forgot to mention that I will include your suggestion about Joel meeting a girl who thinks he is cute, offers sex, finds out he is a eunuch, and humiliates him in another chapter. I generally work out the general ideas of a chapter in my head (over a an indeterminate) period of time and then enter them in my word prcessor, fleshing out the characters and story as I go. It takes longer if I'm checking to ensure that what I am writing is appropriate for the 1850's time period. Thank you again for your suggestion. I like the idea! Sailorboy

About castration methods, as done on choirboys. Not many months ago there was an exhibition in London with the title "Handel's Castrati". Among the objects on display were instruments said to have been used by barber-surgeons and the indications were that the boys' testicles were taken right out. There is a paragraph from a book of surgery written by a Dr Sharpe in 1702 "Make sure that the largest needle is used when tying-off the boy's spermatic vessels, in castration" which seems to support the idea that total removal was practised.

Thank you for your information. I have done further research on Castrati and while some sources state that "we just don't know", other sources state that the spermatic cords were cut and the testicles were removed. The boys were given opium and placed in warm water to loosen their scrotums to facilitate the castration. At the time I wrote, about one month ago, I decided, with some questions about the actual type of castration, to use a little artistic license and use the burdizzo on my character "'Joe" , since the instrument had been around for thousands of years. I wish I had the information you provided in this thread and I could have used it as my source.

By the way, while I haven't read all of your stories, you are a good writer. I have two or three favorites written by you!

Thank you for your further research which enlightens all of us at EA. I am leaving for my 45th Senior Class high school reunion soon, so I won't resume my Part II until August. I'm getting ideas in my head now, including your suggestion of a girl who likes "Joe" and then humiliates him when she finds that he's castrated. It's a good storyline!

Best wishes,

Sailorboy:)

So you're away from home just now and won't see this for a few days.

I've seen pictures of the gizmo sometimes shown on EA, and it was described as a Roman castration clamp rather than the forerunner of the burdizzo. Assuming we are talking about the same thing, a loop at one end held the penis out of the way, while the serrated jaws gripped the scrotum. This with its contents was then sliced off and the cut edges cauterised.

One of the Handelian castration instruments I mentioned a bit back, resembled the kind of hook used about 1900 for fastening button boots. The accepted wisdom is that this instrument was passed inside the incision in the boy's scrotum to catch hold of the spermatic cords.

C van D

I am working on Part II of "Daddy's Little Boy", incorporating suggestions made by C van D in Chapter 6 and am now writing Chapter 7. Any comments or suggestions about what members of E.A. would like for me to include in these chapters will be appreciated. I know my story isn't as wild as some other stories, but that's just me:D!!!!!! I like to read wild stories too, and may try and write one after I complete this story.

Thank you for reading this,

Sailorboy

I completed

sailorboy (imported) wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:24 pm Part II of "Daddy's Little Boy"

and submitted it to the EA. In a post on this Board, CvanD made some suggestions which I incorporated in Chapter 6. I appreciate his help.

Chatpers 7 and 8 involve Joel being sold to a Plantation Owner, finding love in the slave quarters, his lawsuit for freedom in the MS court, and his trip home to his family in KY.

I appreciate any comments or constructive criticisms concerning the story and hope that members and non-members like it. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read it

I wish to thank people who wrote to me about "Daddy's Little Boy, I & II."

Your comments were very kind and I hope others who read the story were also entertained?

I was thinking about another story and Cvan D suggested that I write a sequel to "Daddy's Little Boy" in which Joel returns to the region where he was enslaved as a Union soldier attached to Gen. Grant's army. I have researched to see if eunuchs could become soldiers, but have not found anything on the Internet. If any of you reading this has information bearing on this topic, I would appreciate your sharing it with me.

Sailorboy

I doubt whether a eunuch would be allowed to join the army of today. During the Civil War, they probably didn't check that closely. I've even read of a woman that joined the army, passing herself off as a man, during the Civil War.

Throughout history many eunuchs served as generals and admirals, most of them quite successfully. Between the sixth and twelfth centuries, the Byzantium empire employed over 40 eunuchs as generals and admirals.

here (http://books.google.com/books?id=MsNBVZ ... Cr-o&hl=en)

Some say that the great Chinese Admiral, Zheng, even discovered America in 1421. At that time, China had the largest navy in the world, and Zheng, a eunuch, was its admiral.