just who were the rodneys that were queing up??

Question

in the stranglers song " duchess" the lyrics say " and the rodneys are queing up" ive never understood who or what they were. could someone tell me please, it will solve a 20yr mystery
regards

Answer 1

It seems to be a reference to Royal Navy sailors going into battle. See the poem "Admirals All" in the link below:

http://www.geocities.com/~bblair/admirals1.htm