Sea Sayings, Quotes and Banter:
"Six Days Shalt Thou Labour....and do all that thou art able,
On the seventh day thou shalt holystone the deck an' clean-scrape the rusty cable."
- quoted by Stan Hugill in Shanties from the Seven Seas
You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. Christopher Columbus
A smooth sea never made a skilful mariner.
English proverb
Learn the secret of the sea?
Only those who brave its dangers
Comprehend its mystery!Henry Wadsworth Longfellow "Well it's all for me grog, me jolly jolly grog..."
In 1740, British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon , whose nickname was Old Grogram for the coat of Grogram (A coarse fabric made of silk, often combined with mohair or wool and stiffened with gum.) he wore, ordered that the sailors' daily ration of rum be diluted with water. The men called the mixture grog. A sailor who drank too much grog was groggy.
“Mind y'er P’s and Q’s.”
When sailors went ashore carousing, they usually bought their PINTS and QUARTS on credit. Not keeping a proper tally of the P’s and Q’s they consumed could lead to real problems later.
"Damn y'er eyes man....!"
"Dressing down” was the process of oiling or waxing thin and worn sails to make them better able to catch and hold the wind. A sailor could also be subjected to a rather salty dressing down when his work was thought to be not up to standard.
“There’s the captain what is our commander.
There’s the bo’sun and all the ships crew.”
The boatswain or bo'sun was responsible for keeping the ship’s hull, sails and rigging in good repair. The bo'sun's call or pipe was used to summon the crew for work tasks and special occasions.
“... no more salt beef, no weevily bread...”
The Royal Navy diet consisted primarily of salt beef, salt pork, peas, oatmeal, butter, cheese, ship’s biscuit (also called hardtack or ship’s bread), and a pudding (Spotted Dog) made of flour and suet or currents. The flour and hardtack were usually overrun by weevils (small beetles) which added flavour and protein.
"You play the cribbage and I'll stick the pegs."
Cribbage was originally a game played by sailors as it was one of the few games that could be played on a ship that was pitching and rolling in heavy seas. A track of holes could be drilled into any wooden surface of a ship and the pegs would stay where they were put.
Sailors' Weather Forecast
Under the Weather
When a sailor, standing watch on the weather side of the bow, was drenched by the spray and frozen by the biting wind, he was said to be 'under the weather" and without a doubt he felt pretty miserable.
Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.
Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.
A ring around the sun or moon, means rain or snow coming soon.
Sun sets Friday clear as bell, rain on Monday sure as hell
A wind in the south has rain in her mouth.
When the wind is in the east, 'tis neither good for man nor beast.
When sea-gulls fly to land, a storm is at hand.
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