Page 147 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

Knots at Sea 137

classes, which depend on the rope-users. Therefore I would like to distinguish
between Sailors' and Fishermen's Knots. Professional demands posed by both
groups are fundamentally different, though they do have the Mariner's knots in
common, which could be regarded as forming a separate, or third class. Due to
my severely restricted access to Oriental sources, the Sailors' and Fishermen's
Knots to be discussed here will be those of the Western world from the past
millenium.

Mariners' Knots

Driving even the most primitive of ships demands relatively advanced rope.
If we assume this was (already) the state of affairs when Man took to sea,
then Man the Mariner took with him knowledge of the' core of applied rope-
working techniques. Until quite recently not only Mariners' knots, but indeed
all knots, were tied mainly in rope made from coarse natural fibres. This
caused relatively simple knotted structures to suffice as solutions to the rope
problems encountered. Knotted structures split into two classes, according to
structural complexity:

1. Temporary `simple' single-stranded structures, which we shall call knots.
This class comprises the classical knots such as Reef and Granny Knot,
Bowline, Sheet Bend, Two Half Hitches, Clove Hitch and Lark's Head.
They are quite material independent, and are still used world-wide. Less
well-known, but equally old knots are the Timber Hitch and Anchor
Bend. We shall speak a little about the archaeological evidence and
literary evidence of the four last-named knots.

a. It is of great interest that already in antiquity the Clove Hitch was
appreciated and considered a knot belonging to the sailors. Oreiba-
sius (A.D. 326-403) calls it Nautikos Brokhos meaning Seaman's or
Nautical Knot [6], [331-
b. Likewise the Lark's Head was known to Oreibasius by the name
Ertos Brokhos [6].
c. The Timber Hitch is a knot which can be readily derived from
the Figure of Eight Knot by dogging the working end. Throughout
time many people have noticed this, so it is a very old knot indeed.
The Swedish name timmerstek, for instance, is mentioned [5] in J.F
Dahlman's Utkast til et Sjplleksikon from 1765. It is rather telling
that the name was already so internationalised in the western world
at such an early date.