Traditions and ceremonies

By luck gentlmen I have two teenage daughters - and am a very protective father....Bottles of the real McCoy - $5 a piece (you pay postage).

 

I thought the thing with the earring was when you went round the horn - you get the earring in the left ear, no?

 

Bergalia, how can we be sure of the quality?

 

Poida, you sadden me. Have you ever known me to exaggerate ?

 

Slap me victuals sir. You have the gall to join this forum without having rounded the Horn ?????

 

And where would you find one of those creatures these days, especially in seafareing ports? Heard about them tho'

Tis said of the Lions (stone) on the Guildhall steps in Portsmouth (the original one - home base to many a good seaman) would roar if a virgin walked past! Ain't done too much roaring over the last few dozen years thats for sure!

 

Ah Jack me Lad many's the time I've had to lower me yardarm to waterline level to stay with that saying!!!

did anybody notice the colour of the Bourbon Dolphin the supply boat just lost (with loss of life unfortunately) off the Shetlands? Case rests me lud!! poor sods, God rest their souls!

 

Similar to the dragon in the Klagenfurt town square. (Bit of a navigational error to find me so far inland)
Rumour had it the tail would wag at the sight of a virgin. Sat there all one afternoon (a surfeit of local brew) with my mate. Not a twitch - even when a party of nuns hovered by. Must have been something dreamed up by Tristran Jones....

 

I've seen pictures. Can i have an earring?

 

Amazingly enough I do have a couple of sources for this lovely cocktail, both out of Maine. It comes with a guarantee too, though sadly no pictures. Personally, I've often thought of entering the bottling business myself, typically after several beers and I've pissed on my dog's head by mistake (again) while watering the large live oak, just off the back door. I can just imagine several 60 year old semi retired (a girl has got to make a living you know) hookers dangling lableless bottles under themselves several times an hour, drinking Mountain Dew (good virginal color) by the gallon per hour, waiting for night fall and their second job(s). It is a time honored tradition in many parts of the world, though I've read that the middle eastern areas, may squeeze the pee out of the girls directly into the bilge, skipping the middleman markup and any possible scams, in a bottled product.

 

Virgins are useless, and I use that word carefully. Only a virgin would enjoy the company of a virgin.

I dont understand the hype of a Virgin . I can only assume none of you have seen one. Exept those of family connection which are even more usless.

Would you really want one on your boat.

Even in your bed- like a shivering little rabbit with the covers pulled tight to thier chin.

Im going back to the pub!

 

Careful Jack - you may recall I've only just stopped being a rabbit...

And SouthernCross - OK you can wear a picture of an earring.

 

Bergalia,
I understood the coin at the base of mast (and also at the keel of merchant and war ships, including submarines) is to pay Charon (Not Neptune), the boatman who crosses the souls of the dead through the Acheron river. This was/is done to pay him to safely cross the souls of crew to the other bank of the Acheron, if the boat/ship sunk.

About the earrings: It is said that the practice of wearing them (in the Royal Navy) dates from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), not so much in loyalty to the queen as to satisfy a fisherman's old superstition that pierced ears would improve their eyesight and make them more lively.

 

More customs:

Burial at sea: It was the custom to sew the body into a hammock or other piece of canvass with heavy weights at the feet, to compensate the tendency of a partly decomposed body to float. To satisfy superstition, or to ensure that the body is actually dead, the last stitch of the sailmaker's needle is through the nose.

Tattooing: This custom began among Roman Catholic sailors, usually in the form of a crucifix, as a means of identification for their bodies so they would be assured of the sacred rites and burial. The idea was taken from the natives of some regions of the South Pacific. One particular design which is considered a charm is that of a pig; it used to be on the foot but now normally appears just above the kneecap.

About the use of rhum: If provisions were lacking liquor certainly was not. Fresh water, even in casks, would not keep for long and in an early century wine or beer was substituted. The usual ration was a gallon per day per man. The common saying was "We'll sail as long as the beer lasts" (I love this one! ). Shortage of stowage space, caused the introduction of rum in the 18th century. This was issued twice a day, at lunch and at supper; the daily ration was a pint for a man and half a pint for a boy.

 

No no Guillermo. This is the hot Spanish blood in your veins (but possibly 'watered down' with the blood of the Rhum Islanders.) Rhum is one of a group of islands in the Inner Hebrides - Muck, Eigg and Rhum, which during (I hesitate to upset you old friend) the failed Spanish invasion of England (not Scotland) - received an unexpected infusion of Spanish blood from sailors washed ashore after their ships foundered in a 'Protestant' induced storm. many of the lads decided to stay on and interbreed with the local island girls - hence many a fine Hebridean Scot has dark curly hair and an olive complexion. Puts us fair skinned ginger-haired blokes to shame...

But Charon I'll accept. Forgive an old man's fading memory. Good job I never sank. I can just imagine Charon turning up, taking one look and saying - "Bugger it, this is one of Neptunes mob...."
Great subject by the way.