# Disguised as dancing bear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2020, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951 "2020-01-04T23:40:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/1 "2020-01-04T23:40:14Z")
In the Aubrey-Maturin novel by Patrick O’Brian “Post Captain”, Aubrey is forced to wear a bear costume and pass as a dancing bear to get out of France. Am I completely imagining it that this was inspired by a supposed true incident? ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/2 "2020-01-05T03:23:38Z")
Searching uncovers [Man dressed in teddy bear suit sought in armed robbery](https://www.wxii12.com/article/man-dressed-in-teddy-bear-suit-sought-in-armed-robbery-deputies-say/29816870) and [Zoo practices escape drill using man dressed as polar bear](https://www.goodthingsguy.com/fun/polar-bear-escape-drills-lol/) but those are too recent, as is [Elon Musk reveals how disguised Carlos Ghosn escaped Japan](https://www.ibtimes.com/elon-musk-reveals-how-carlos-ghosn-escaped-japan-tesla-ceo-reveals-disguise-photo-2895115). Searches continue. The truth is out there. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/3 "2020-01-05T04:11:18Z")
Possibly a reference to… > **[Jörg Jenatsch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6rg_Jenatsch)** > > Jörg Jenatsch, also called Jürg or Georg Jenatsch (1596 – 24 January 1639), was a Swiss political leader during the Thirty Years' War, one of the most striking figures in the troubled history of the Grisons in the 17th century. > He was probably born in Lohn, or Samedan in the Upper Engadine. His childhood was spent in Silvaplana, before studying theology at Zürich and Basel, and in 1617 he became the Protestant pastor of Scharans (near Thusis) on the Protestant-Catholic border. Almost at once he ... > [@](#): > > On 24 January 1639 Jenatsch was assassinated in Chur by a band of men whose leader was costumed as a bear, as it was Carnival. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/4 "2020-01-05T06:16:08Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Searching uncovers [Man dressed in teddy bear suit sought in armed robbery](https://www.wxii12.com/article/man-dressed-in-teddy-bear-suit-sought-in-armed-robbery-deputies-say/29816870) and [Zoo practices escape drill using man dressed as polar bear](https://www.goodthingsguy.com/fun/polar-bear-escape-drills-lol/) but those are too recent, as is [Elon Musk reveals how disguised Carlos Ghosn escaped Japan](https://www.ibtimes.com/elon-musk-reveals-how-carlos-ghosn-escaped-japan-tesla-ceo-reveals-disguise-photo-2895115). Searches continue. The truth is out there. John Meyer used to dress up in a bear suit and hang out in the parking lot before his own shows. He’d make fun of ‘John Mayers’ and watch people defend him. It was kind of entertaining. I’m not sure if he was doing it to stroke his ego or because he thought it was funny. Probably both. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/5 "2020-01-05T06:16:46Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > In the Aubrey-Maturin novel by Patrick O’Brian “Post Captain”, Aubrey is forced to wear a bear costume and pass as a dancing bear to get out of France. Am I completely imagining it that this was inspired by a supposed true incident? It’s pretty silly to think that anyone would mistake a person in bear costume for a real bear. This is why I find O’Brian’s novels unreadable. They exceed any reasonable suspension of belief. They are about as realistic and historically accurate as James Bond. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/6 "2020-01-05T07:14:28Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > It’s pretty silly to think that anyone would mistake a person in bear costume for a real bear. > > This is why I find O’Brian’s novels unreadable. They exceed any reasonable suspension of belief. They are about as realistic and historically accurate as James Bond. [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3172/3172-h/3172-h.htm](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3172/3172-h/3172-h.htm) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/7 "2020-01-05T09:31:24Z")
On the other hand, award-winning author Nicola Griffith described the novels thus - "In these books every reader who loves fiction both intellectually and viscerally will find something to treasure – and every writer _something to envy. They will sweep you away and return you delighted, increased and stunned"._ Quite what Mark Twain’s diatribe about Fennimore Cooper has to do with it I am not sure. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/8 "2020-01-05T09:33:59Z")
Missed edit - Quite what Mark Twain’s diatribe about Fennimore Cooper has to do with it I am not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/9 "2020-01-05T11:56:45Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > **It’s pretty silly to think that anyone would mistake a person in bear costume for a real bear.** > > This is why I find O’Brian’s novels unreadable. They exceed any reasonable suspension of belief. They are about as realistic and historically accurate as James Bond. I haven’t read the novel; but it doesn’t seem _totally_ impossible if the “bear” was merely resting or even asleep in its cage? Perhaps in winter hibernation? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/10 "2020-01-05T12:46:52Z")
It’s not. The bear is extremely active and under close inspection on their long walk to Spain. I love a bit of Aubrey-Maturin but yeah, the bear thing \*\*is \*\*totally ridiculous ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/11 "2020-01-05T14:35:45Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > It’s not. The bear is extremely active and under close inspection on their long walk to Spain. > > I love a bit of Aubrey-Maturin but yeah, the bear thing \*\*is \*\*totally ridiculous Wait; does the bear _walk_ all the way, on all four legs, on a leash along with its keeper? Yeah, that’s ridiculous. Not only would it give the human bear-impersonator a severe backache after a mile or two; it’s also totally contrary to common circus practice. A bear owner would certainly let his precious animal rest between the performances, in a cage on a cart pulled by a horse or an ox (which can be sustained on a much cheaper diet)! ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/12 "2020-01-05T16:04:03Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > It’s pretty silly to think that anyone would mistake a person in bear costume for a real bear. > > This is why I find O’Brian’s novels unreadable. They exceed any reasonable suspension of belief. They are about as realistic and historically accurate as James Bond. I’ve only read the first one, but I did it just after reading a biography of [Thomas Cochrane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cochrane,_10th_Earl_of_Dundonald), and the whole of the book was just a novelization of Cochrane’s time commanding _HMS Speedy_, right down to minute details of Cochrane’s capture of _El Gamo_. The only original elements in the entire book were the character of Maturin and the root cause of Cochrane/Aubrey’s enmity with the Admiral (had something to do with a woman in the book, whereas Cochrane was just an insubordinate prick in reality.) I stopped reading after the first one because I thought it was _too_ realistic and historically accurate. The bear thing does sound ridiculous, though… ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/13 "2020-01-05T17:03:57Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > Wait; does the bear _walk_ all the way, on all four legs, on a leash along with its keeper? Yeah, that’s ridiculous. Not only would it give the human bear-impersonator a severe backache after a mile or two; it’s also totally contrary to common circus practice. A bear owner would certainly let his precious animal rest between the performances, in a cage on a cart pulled by a horse or an ox (which can be sustained on a much cheaper diet)! Maturin doesn’t walk all the way in the costume, he only wears it when he needs it to fool soldiers. Even in recent times, people who exhibited ‘dancing’ bears were abominably cruel to them. In the story, Maturin suffered badly inside the costume and he was a man who could stand a great deal of suffering, especially if the alternative was being tortured/imprisoned by the French. O’Brien wrote fiction but he seriously researched 19thC British Naval practices and language and only altered the battles to allow for Aubrey and Jack to be present, when obviously they were not. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/14 "2020-01-05T17:29:38Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > It’s pretty silly to think that anyone would mistake a person in bear costume for a real bear. Even someone who had never seen a real bear, or a photo or video of one? ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/15 "2020-01-05T19:02:20Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > O’Brien wrote fiction but he seriously researched 19thC British Naval practices and language His naval practices and language are only good enough to give an illusion of historical accuracy to people who are not familiar with the real thing. Try [Frank Mildmay; Or, the Naval Officer](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21554) by Captain Frederick Marryat Start at chapter 2 if you find the beginning too slow. Or just jump into the middle. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/16 "2020-01-05T19:13:12Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Maturin doesn’t walk all the way in the costume, he only wears it when he needs it to fool soldiers. Even in recent times, people who exhibited ‘dancing’ bears were abominably cruel to them. In the story, Maturin suffered badly inside the costume and he was a man who could stand a great deal of suffering, especially if the alternative was being tortured/imprisoned by the French. > > O’Brien wrote fiction but he seriously researched 19thC British Naval practices and language and only altered the battles to allow for Aubrey and Jack to be present, when obviously they were not. Jack Aubrey wears the bear suit, not Stephen Maturin, and it is sewn closed. I too wonder if it has any historical accuracy. It certainly sounds impossible. I believe it was written before a series was considered. The author did much research for historical accuracy. Cochrane’s attack on a larger ship has been the subject of much fiction, including Horatio Hornblower. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/17 "2020-01-05T19:18:46Z")
FTR, be careful when Googling “dancing bear.” It tends to the NSFW. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/18 "2020-01-05T19:28:45Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > It’s pretty silly to think that anyone would mistake a person in bear costume for a real bear. > > This is why I find O’Brian’s novels unreadable. They exceed any reasonable suspension of belief. They are about as realistic and historically accurate as James Bond. I don’t mind this aspect too much. It’s kind of like settling down with a good swashbuckler from Clive Cussler. I never made it past Post Captain because what started out being a good Horatio Hornblower-style sea adventure suddenly bogged down into Jane Austin 18th-century romance and intrigue. If I wanted to read Jane Austin, I would be reading Jane Austin. A swashbuckler needs to swash and buckle! ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/19 "2020-01-05T19:29:54Z")
Wasn’t there one of these in Gravity’s Rainbow? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951/20 "2020-01-05T20:27:02Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I don’t mind this aspect too much. It’s kind of like settling down with a good swashbuckler from Clive Cussler. > > I never made it past Post Captain because what started out being a good Horatio Hornblower-style sea adventure suddenly bogged down into Jane Austin 18th-century romance and intrigue. > If I wanted to read Jane Austin, I would be reading Jane Austin. A swashbuckler needs to swash and buckle! His writing has been compared to Jane Austen; he read Austen’s books. There is indeed more to the books than swash buckling. May a suggest [Adam Hardy’s Fox series?](https://www.historicnavalfiction.com/general-hnf-info/blog/fox-is-back) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disguised-as-dancing-bear/845951.md?page=2)