Page 349 - J. C. Turner "History and Science of Knots"

342 History and Science of Knots

techniques they had painfully acquired for maintaining the ship's gear, and
constructed decorations for their small personal items such as knives, needle-
cases, kitbags and the like.
In much the same way, the men of the Merchant Navy, who had long peri-
ods of inactivity when becalmed, or when at anchor they awaited a favourable
wind or a berth in a harbour, turned to the same kinds of pastime. Up to the
19th century a seaman was very interchangeable; he may have found himself
aboard a merchant vessel one day, and in a navy vessel the next. When the
press gangs were abolished, and long term engagements were introduced in
the Royal Navy, then the two navies began to diverge. The Merchant Service
changed; speed became all, and ships were driven hard by crews that were
kept to minimal levels by penny-pinching Owners. In those conditions, sailors
concentrated their spare time occupations on the intricate, fancy knots which
could be made at one sitting, or over a short period. While in the Royal Navy,
and to a lesser extent in the superior passenger lines, conditions did not change
so much except that discipline became less harsh. However, in both services a
certain pride in profession arose, now that sailors were there from choice. In
this atmosphere, the Victorian Navy adopted the fashionable macrame crafts
from ashore, and set about developing them with a will. Both the British and
American Navies specialised in square knotting, and sometimes called it Mc
Namara's Lace, a humorous corruption of Macrame Lace. Much of the work
done aboard ship took the form of fringes for sea-chest covers, tablecloths,
shelf covers; binnacle and skylight covers; and even capstan covers, wheel cov-
ers and bell covers. They made spray screens for their launches; and also `eye
screens' for ladders, because Navy ships were often visited by ladies, and this
was a time when ladies were not acknowledged to have legs (or at least, legs
were considered to be in their complement of `private parts'). It was probably
during this period, when sailors' fancy knotting was at its pinnacle of develop-
ment, that square knotting was recognised ashore as being a sailor's art. And
Jack Tar, ever resourceful, made for sale ashore handbags, belts, watchguards,
dog leads, lampshades, bell-pulls, wall tidies, and a dozen other articles which
by today's standards were rather tasteless; but they were often quite intricate,
and cleverly done, and so were in good demand. From this time on, macrame
has remained a sailor's art, in that it has been practised continually at sea
ever since, whilst ashore its popularity has waxed and waned.
After the Victorian and Edwardian periods were over, the First World
War changed tastes; soon thereafter glass and chrome replaced lace frills in
the public fancy. Throughout Northern Europe, and also in the United States,
macrame faded from the scene; but it persisted in Italy; and it remained a
popular sailor's art.
In Italy a particular kind of macrame evolved under the auspices of a
Madame Cavandoli, who was head of the Casa Del Sol, an open air school in