The myth

Admiral Nelson wore a patch over his right eye-socket, to hide the disfi gured (or missing) eyeball.

The “truth”

Nelson never wore an eye-patch. The nearest he came to it was a peaked eye-shade which he had built onto his naval hat, but that was there to protect his good eye from the sun, not to hide his bad eye. Horatio was awarded a disability allowance for his missing right arm (mislaid during the battle of Santa Cruz), but the Navy refused him one for his blinded eye, because their doctors couldn’t tell whether it was genuinely sightless.