From December 1913[REF] to May 1914,[REF] Smyth stayed at a hotel in Helwan, Egypt, in order to compose The Boatswain's Mate free from distractions,[REF] although she kept up a continual correspondence with Emmeline Pankhurst [REF].
The opera was performed with full orchestra and chorus a number of times at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in the 1920s.