Page 166 - The Ashley Book of Knots

MULTI-STRAND BUTTONS, TIED IN HAND

847~. Left-handed specimens of the MANROPE KNOT are often

found. This knot is shown at the right of 847.

848. A MANROPE KNOT with the lead followed above is less com-

mon than one with the lead followed below. The result is a flatter

knot. Generally this knot is merely doubled, for if tripled it crowds

the center. 8S0

849. The FIVE-STRAND MANROPE KNOT is also tied, and generally

it is doubled only. But with more than five strands the center of the

knot is too open to be altogether pleasing, and the knot tends to be

flabby unless it is made over a core.

850. On old chest beckets the MANROPE KNOT is sometimes found

•
tied with a reversed crown. I have one chest with double beckets in

which one only of the four knots is tied in this manner. In this case

it must have been by mistake. The knot, however, is pronouncedly

square and distinctive in character and is not at all an unusual knot. 81"" \

A flatter knot will result if the lead is followed above when doubling.

851. A DIAMOND AND CROWN is an uncommon knot, and few

sailors tie it. It makes a larger knot than the WALL AND CROWN or

MANROPE KNOT and is usually doubled; for if tripled it may require

a core. There is an example of this knot on exhibit at the U.S. Naval

Academy in Annapolis.

852. The same knot tied with five strands may be worked into a

flat form to give a starlike knot quite dissimilar in character to the

last. A TWO-PLY or DOUBLED KNOT is quite sufficient; a larger knot

unless very carefully worked will not be firm.

853. The Vocabulary of Sea Phrases of 1799 mentions the

"DOUBLE CROWN KNOT." A CROWN, either doubled or tripled, forms

a BUTTON KNOT. The lead may be followed either above or below.

Although distinctive in appearance, it is hardly a practical knot.

854. Steel (1794) gives two different descriptions of a TACK KNOT

(Vol. I, pp. 180, 182), one of which may be a CROWN AND WALL

with the ends tucked down at the center.

MULTI-STRAND BUTTON KNOTS are used as terminal knobs for a

great variety of purposes, both practical and decorative. They are

found on yoke lines, bell lanyards, watch guards, manropes, chest

beckets, etc. Many of these applications are illustrated in Chapter 41.

For tying the knots of this chapter I recommend banding, the

material that is described on page 20 in the first chapter. After being

filled and painted, the strands are scarcely distinguishable from can- 6S3

vas-covered ones. Either a hardwood filler, shellac, or a coating of

casein glue may be first applied, and when dry this is followed by a

coat of paint. Whiting may be added to the casein.

Brady (1841), in describing how knots are doubled, says: "Fol-

low the lead until it shows three parts all round, and it is completed."

Many nautical authorities recommend tying BUTTON KNOTS

against the lay. This is contrary to the common practice, as ex-

emplified by the sailor's knots that have survived. Presumably the

recommendation has been abstracted from Steel, who first pub-

lished it.

A left-handed man will naturally tie a MULTI-STRAND KNOT in

right-handed rope against the lay, and a right-handed man will tie

a knot in a left-handed rope against the lay, because it is easier for

them to do it that way. I do not doubt but what this was the occasion

for the recommenda·tion. A knot tied against the lay, in theory, is

a little firmer and a little weaker, but not enough of either to be of

much moment.

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