Page 21 - The Ashley Book of Knots
P. 21
THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS
I have never found a sailor who used or even knew one of Bowl-
ing's titles, but I know of no current dictionary or encyclopedia that
has not adopted some of them. \Vith the exception perhaps of "SKULL
PIG-TAIL," all of those I have listed are to be found in various com-
mercial knot pamphlets, and in government, agricultural-school, and
college knot bulletins.
12. .3
Sailors have an idiomatic language of their own which provides
about everything needed for a discussion of knots. A splice is put in,
a hitch is made fast or taken, two ropes are bent together, a knot is
put in, made, or cast in a rope. A sailor takes a turn, he belays; he
claps on a stopper, he slacks away, and casts off a line. He clears a
tangle, he opens a jammed knot, and he works a TURK'S-HEAD or a
sinnet. But about the only time he actually ties is when, his voyage
over, he ties up to a wharf. The word tie is used so seldom by the
sailor only because it is too general a telm for daily use, where some-
thing specific is almost always called for. But when a sailor refers to
IS" 11 the subject as a whole he always speaks of "tying knots" or "knot
tying."
The word knot has three distinct meanings in common use. In
its broadest sense it applies to all complications in cordage, except
accidental ones, such as snarls and kinks, and complications adapted
for storage, such as coils, hanks, skeins, balls, etc.
In its second sense it does not include bends, hitches, splices, and
Ie " 20 sinnets, and in its third and narrowest sense the term applies only to
a A'lIob tied in a rope to prevent unreeving, to provide a handhold, or
(in small material only) to prevent fraying.
At sea, the whole subject of knots is commonly divided into
fOlK classifications: hitches, bends, knots, and splices.
12. A hitch makes a rope fast to another object.
13. A bend unites two rope ends.
Z.l 22 2.3 14, 15. The term knot itself is applied particularly to knobs (14)
and loops (15), and to anything not included in the other three
classes, such as fancy and trick knots.
16. LONG and SHORT SPLICES are MULTI-STRA1'.'1J BENDS.
17. EYE SPLICES are MULTI-STRAND Loops.
F or the purposes of this discussion the word knot will be used in
its broadest meaning, as an inclusive term for the whole subject, and
the word knob will be used to designate a bunch tied in rope to pre-
•
vent unreevmg.
18, 21. There are two kinds of KNOB KNOTS: the STOPPER KNm"
in which the end of a rope, after forming a knob, passes out of the
structure near the top; and
20, 23. The BUTTON KNOT, in which the end of a rope, after form-
2S'
ing a knob, passes out of the structure at the stem, parallel with the
standing part.
There are SINGLE-STRAND and J'\'IUI:n-STRAND KNOTS of both these
kinds ..
Furthermore, the STOPPER KNOT is subdivided into two classes:
18, 21. The STOPPER KNOT proper, which is a TERMINAL KNOT;
and
19,22. The LANYARD KNOT, of similar construction, but tied in the
bight or central part of a rope.
There are four exceptions, among sailors' knots, to the classifica-
tion that has been given.
[ 12 ]
