Page 20 - The Ashley Book of Knots

ON KNOTS

Whall is equally brief, and he expresses doubt of the success of his

own effort. Unfortunately, a man is apt to forget in the cabin the

things he learned at the forecastle.

The earliest, and still the outstanding marine authority on knots,

is Darcy Lever, author of Sheet Anchor (London, 1808). Lever gave

nearly forty knots and splices, and many of these had not appeared

before in print. His plates and descriptions are clear and remarkably

free from error; his terms are convincing. Many of the illustrations 4 ~ ......

for his book have never been improved on, and most of them are still

being copied.

Since the forecastle provided the best possible school for the pro-

fessional seaman, no nautical authority ever considered it necessary

to devote a whole volume to knots. Chapters on the subject were

included in a number of early seamanship books, but these were

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hidden away in a mass of other technical material and were not open

to the general reader. So it fell to the hands of a landsman first to

bring the subject before the public in printed form.

This earliest English volume to deal exclusively with knots has

been attributed to both Paul Rapsey Hodge and Frederick Chamier.

It was entitled The Book of Knots and was published in London in

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1866 under the pseudonym "Tom Bowling"-a name with a nautical

smack well calculated to impress the sea-loving Britisher.

The original engravings, although clearly drawn, presented many

errors, and owing to the engraver's process a number of the knots

II.

were reversed-that is to say, "mirrored." Being the first book in the

field, it was given a prominence far beyond its merit, which was

slight, and it is today by way of being considered a "source book."

Much of the confusion that now exists in the terminology of knots

may be traced to this one "source."

Presumably the material was abstracted from a French manuscript,

since most of the knot titles are literal translations of the common
,

French names. A total of only eight English sailor ntrmes for knots : \ ~ ~

is included, which is an amazing discrepancy. Even such common_ -1-:::'

titles as OYERHAND, FIGURE-EIGHT, HALF HITCH, CLOVE HITCH, SHEET

BEND, WALL, and CROWN are lacking. The following parallel lists are

given to illustrate Bowling's method of nomenclature.

COMMON ENGLISH NAMES BOWLING'S COMMON FRENCH

NAMES NAMES

3. GRANNY KNOT FALSE KNOT N<EUD DE FAux

4. OVERHAND KNOT SIMPLE KNOT N<EUD SIMPLE

5. BALE SLING HITCH AND RING LARK'S HEAD TETE D'ALOUETTE

HITCH

6. SHEEPSHANK DOGSHANK JAMBE DE CHIEN

7. MARLINGSPIKE HITCH BOAT KNOT N<EUD DE GALI~RE

8. THE NOOSE RUNNING KNOT N<EUD COULANT

9. WALL KNOT PIG-TAIL CUL DE PORC

10. WALL AND CROWN SKULL PIG-TAIL CUL DE PORC AVEC

~
TETE DE MORT

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11. The CLOVE HITCH is called: (I) "WATER MANS KNOT," (2) "simple . ~

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fastening in a rope," (3) "LARK'S HEAD, CROSSED," and (4) "BUILDERS' •

KNOT." The name CLOVE HITCH itself does not appear at all, and the old

and reliable FISHERMAN'S BEND is called a SLIP KNOT!

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