Page 73 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

The Netmaker

400 4a. 400. The CLOVE HITCH (jf;! I 177) is the customary knot with which

to tie the first tier of meshes to the headline of a net.

401. Sometimes a Cow HITCH (jf;! 1802) is used for the purpose.

402. The MESH KNOT, sometimes called the FISHERMAN'S NE'I'I'ING

KNOT, is the ordinary way of tying the SHEET BEND when it is made

with a netting needle.

403. The Martha's Vineyard method of tying the same knot, or

rather the same knot mirrored (with the left and right sides reversed),

was first shown to me by F. Gilbert Hinsdale, who had seen it tied

by Captain James Look, of Chilmark. I afterwards learned it from

the latter's brother, Captain Daniel C. Look, of Menemsha Bight. Al-

though somewhat more difficult to learn than the usual MESH KNOT,

it will prove much more rapid and exact when a little experience has

been gained.

After reaching the position shown in the third diagram, continue

to pull steadily on the needle while casting off the loop held by the

thumb. While still pulling steadily on the needle, gradually let go the

loop around the ring finger. When all material has been taken up,

cast off the remaining loop around the little finger and draw the knot

snugly against the s 001. The spool regulates the size of the mesh.

The spool is also cal ed a "gauge," a "mesh," and sometimes a "mesh

stick."

The same method of netting is given by Caulfield and Saward and

also by De Dillmont, but with the fingers in somewhat different posi-

tion, which is probably better for lightweight thread and smaller

fingers.

Considerable has been written about netting from the needlework

standpoint, where it is often difficult to differentiate clearly between

netting and tatting, macrame and various other kinds of lacemaking.

,*03 Nets and seines are made in many different forms for different

conditions and different fish, but although the nets of different conti-

nents, countries, and localities show a diversity of form, the MESH

KNOT itself is universally the same. The various United States Gov-

ernment fishery and ethnological reports give a vast amount of in-

formation regarding all sorts of nets. These reports are always well

illustrated and are to be found in most public and college libraries.

The only monograph that I know concerning fishermen's neti and

seines is Notes on Nets by the Honorable and Reverend Charles

Bathurst, LL.D., published in Cirencester about 1840. It contains a

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lot of practical information and also many quaint digressions, mainly

on natural history. The author discusses such unrelated subjects as

how to "clean the floor of a fishhouse," "Unusual Structure of Cer-

vical Vertebre of a large Quadruped, found in a Boneyard," "A ball

of Hair contained in a Horse's Stomach," and a "Tick that made a

raft of its own detached stomach."

One interesting bit of information was: "Netting for fruit trees is

made I believe by machinery, . . . I do not know that any other
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nets have as yet been [so] made for general purposes .... "

The subject of netting will be referred to again in Chapter 41.

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