Motley crew

This page refers to a common cliché in fiction. For the 1980s Rock band, see Mötley Crüe. For the 1976–1999 comic strip, see Motley's Crew.

A motley crew is a cliché for a roughly organized assembly of characters. Typical examples of motley crews are pirates, Western posses, rag-tag mercenary bands or freedom fighters. They may align with, be (as a group), or include either the protagonist or the antagonist of the story.

Motley crews are, by definition, non-uniform and undisciplined as a group. They are characterised by containing characters of conflicting personality, varying backgrounds, and, usually to the benefit of the group, a wide array of methods for overcoming adversity. Traditionally, a motley crew who in the course of a story comes into conflict with an organised, uniform group of characters, will prevail. This is generally achieved through the narrative utilising the various specialties, traits and other personal advantages of each member to counterbalance the (often sole) specialty of a formal group of adversaries.

Archetypical examples of the "motley crew" overcoming adversity are commonly found in fantasy and science fiction. Examples include The Fellowship of the Ring repeatedly escaping overwhelming bands or armies of fairly uniform Orcs in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, or parties of the Rebel Alliance (often including both humans and other species such as Wookiees, Ewoks, or Gungans) defeating many identical battle droids or stormtroopers in the Star Wars universe. A motley crew is also the archetype for most sports stories. Examples include The Mighty Ducks, The Sandlot, in which the opposing and antagonistical team that is ultimately defeated is also much more organized and coherent.

Etymology

Motley from 13th-century Middle English means composed of elements of diverse or varied character. In the 15-16th century came the "Motley", the official dress of the court jester. He was an important person in court circles, who could say the truth without punishment even if contrary to the King’s or senior officials’ opinion. Their uniform was multi-coloured.

From this usage came "motley crew" after about 1710 in the English Navy, which was a captain’s longboat crew who all wore identical multi-coloured uniforms rather than the dull navy blue or individual clothes of the common sailor. The term was used in a letter from an officer of the "Royal William" in 1719 describing the crews' uniform of the admiral's boat. In the 17th to 19th centuries fashionable captains invented unique motley uniforms to make their personal crew look smart, paying from their own pocket. The uniform was sometimes elaborate, for example that of the "Centurion" in 1750 with Roman styled fashion. A "motley crew" was a uniform, disciplined team of the best rowers in the ship. Two hundred years later 'blazer' is still used for the coat or jacket invented by the captain of HMS Blazer for his personal motley crew, then adopted by university rowing crew in the 19th century. The term 'motley crew' dropped out of frequent use in the late 19th Century with the adoption of standard Navy uniforms, but was still in use in the 1870s with 'Galatea cloth' used widely for Victorian children in mock navy uniforms from the blue and white striped motley of HMS Galatea commanded by the 'Sailor Prince', the Duke of Edinburgh.

The spelling of the word motley varied in the 14-18th centuries to include 'Motly crew' as used by Pope in 1748 to describe this small naval team.

In the 1920s at Oxford University, an additional meaning of motley crew came into use in English literature analysis to describe a small group or gang of people, each with a different skill or knowledge, who could overcome any problem or adversity as at least one member of the heterogeneous group could find a solution. The hero with his small band of faithful followers could beat enormous odds, a story theme going back to the Norse Sagas, and in English starting with the deeds of Robin Hood and his merry band of men, to the latest exploits of Biggles and his faithful minor character friends. In this word usage, 'motley' described the characteristics of the group, rather than the characteristics of their uniform.

In the mid-1980s the technical term motley crew became used in rowing coach circles to describe a crew who were of significantly different height or strength, which made it difficult to establish an optimal length of stroke for a race distance. This was a particular characteristic of crews from small English public school with limited rowers.

References