Marlinspike Hall Marlinspike Hall Marlinspike Hall ( ) is Captain Haddock's country house and family estate in "The Adventures of Tintin", the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The original French name of the hall, "Moulinsart", is derived from Sart-Moulin, a village near Braine-l'Alleud in Walloon Brabant, Belgium. In an allusion to the Haddock family's maritime history, the hall's English name refers to the marlinspike, a tool used in seamanship to splice ropes. The Belgian corporation managing Hergé's work (principally "Tintin") is also called Moulinsart S.A. Marlinspike Hall first appears in "The Secret of the Unicorn" as the home of the story's
Nicholas Haddock of Barcelona in 1706. On 6 April 1707 he was promoted to the rank of captain and placed in command of the 42-gun fifth-rate HMS "Ludlow Castle". England was at war with France, and Haddock's orders were to hunt for enemy privateers. On 30 December he brought "Ludlow Castle" into range with two such vessels, "Nightingale" and "Squirrel", both former English merchantmen captured and refitted by the French. Haddock ordered that "Ludlow Castle" give chase, and was rewarded with the capture of "Nightingale". This vessel, Haddock's first prize ship, was returned to England along with her crew. Haddock was also