Enjoying the short moniker "Budworth's Quibble", Geoffrey's article of km102:16
(in unwanted longhand, 'Knotting Matters issue #102, page 16') has raised some
discussion in the current issue, at km103:06-8! It might as well gain some forum
contribution, and I'll begin that here.
In short, Budworth's Quibble is that
Ashley's Book of Knots was somewhat of
an anachronistic repository of knots even upon its publication; and that in today's world,
there is little such evidence of much knotting afloat. He further piqued the Ashley fans
by quoting Pieter van de Griend's admonishment to move towards active, scientific
researchof knotting, and not to "continue bashing out all that (mostly silly) sailor lore." One might
think that the Quibble wasn't such a provocative assertion, but PvdG's urging likely adds
some spite to it, and Geoffrey closed his article by inviting challenge to it, and --by golly--
he got some in #103.
Four responses have been published in the Letters section [km103:06ff]; one and a half
of these seem to concur in the Quibble, and two take strong (and not so graceful) objection
to it. I think that I shall send in my own concurrence and challenge to the Quibble quibblers.
Here is my take on what has so far been written.
1) Robert Jackson reports taking a sort of informal inventory of knotting as he was able
to find in Venice, while on vacation. His conclusion is pretty blunt: he saw "nothing more
than the odd half-hitch and I doubt seeing a bowline." (Actually, sometimes this can be
tricky to discern -- they can capsize, i.e.!) So, he continues, "it's clear that one needs no
proper knotting to get on with life, ... folk get along fine with no fancy theory and nothing
elaborate." Okay, next ... .
2) Louie Bartos Ketchikan seems to concede that
ABOK is largely historical rather
than current information; but he says that at least some cadets will need to know such
things on (fully rigged, I presume) training ships. Moving on ... .
3) John Jamieson, who claims nearly five decades as a seaman --with "five years in
various types of fishing vessels" [!]--, also concedes that
ABOK "saves the knot-craft
of a bygone way of life ...," but yet thinks that "seamen should be responsible for
nine tenths of all recorded knots [!!], as Ashley claims." (I must wonder if he counts
decorative knots in this tally, and how one can obtain all these records; and should we
include surgical, angling, & arborist knots -- the latter two applications having a good
many non-Ashley knots and things specific to their materials and uses!?)
Mr. Jamieson asserts that there was considerable rope work in the Refrigerated Cargo
liners, that one needs a secure knot when "going aloft" (where?), that current seamen
receive extensive training in knotting & splicing, and most of the "irrelevances" asserted
in the Quibble are in fact relevant today. However, he is completely devoid of counter
examples: we are left at "is so" v. "is not" -- score zero for enlightenment.
4) Finally, Forrest McDougall, of Wires Ropes & Rigging NZ, writes to "take [GB] to task
over his quibble." Mr. McD. claims 46 years at sea, prior to his current rigging business.
All that going for him, he, too, has little to offer in the way of counter examples, and
we are left with his assertion that if one would simply "take a stroll around any busy
port, ... [one will/can] observe the art and skills of the seafarer." --which brings to
mind our first correspondent's Venetian activity, which had a markedly different
assessment vis-a-vis Budworth's Quibble.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Well, what of others? Have you looked not (only) to books and on-line documentation
of knotting, but "in the wild" (as one forum thread calls it)? What can others report of
knotting knowledge in today's world?
I have done more than a casual glance at commercial-fishing (and other dockside) knotting
on a parts of the eastern seaboard of the States. Notice of yet again the west coast's annual
Fishermen's Festival raises the urge for gaining insight of actual knotting engaged there, at
last, in 2009. I can't say that I can other than concur in Budworth's Quibble. Much of what
I have found is not what Ashley describes or would've recommended, even, though some
age-old structures are present (clove hitch & sheet bend & bowline). At times, I almost
gave up hope of finding either of the two competing "proper" ways to make a cleat hitch,
among docks of small craft; I then found surprising adherence (mostly) in pricey yachts'
moorings!? But "nine tenths of all recorded knots" ... ?! -- rather, some things that I've
yet to find recorded (e.g.: what I'll call a Reverse Groundline Hitch, as a mid-line binder;
it is recorded I think by van de Griend, but elsewhere ... ?).
Messrs. Jamieson & McDougall need to articulate exactly what knotting IS currently done
aboard, so that we can attempt to understand the activity (or to challenge the assertion
by observations on our own "strolls" around ports). It's not clear to me even to what
extent on any modern commercial ship that a sailor goes aloft, as Mr. J asserted. (And,
in the days about which Ashley wrote --esp. those trips documented by R. Dana(!)--,
there was hardly any knotting involved for personal security (there were no OSHA/HSE
rules to follow on the high seas) -- even under harsh conditions, Force 9 & freezing!!
Moreover, consider that Ashley wrote prior to the advent of synthetic cordage,
with newly developed materials and constructions; and largely the cordage with
which he was concerned is now infrequently used.
Furthermore, we cannot let stand John J.'s remark that "going to sea is one of the
few professions where knot-tying is a requirement," for we have only to look back
(a decade plus) to km58:21 (Winter - January 1998) and Paul Evans's letter in which
he cites his then near 3-decades of British Merchant Navy seamanship and position
-- to wit:
Part of my job is to help and train younger seamen to get their qualifcations
in seamanship. The governing body who sets the exams and who actually examine
seamen is the Board of Trade. Their manual stipulates that to join two ropes of
equal thickness you must use a Reef knot and to join ropes of unequal thickness
you must use a Sheet Bend.
How can the Budworth's Quibble quibblers square this official seamanship stipulation
with Ashley, who famously wrote
"... under no circumstances should it be used as a
bend [ends-joining knot]"!? This admonition did not go away but if anything became
more urgent with synthetic cordage (though I've seen rockclimbers join nylon tubular
tape with a Reef)! Yes, we can question the exam's stipulation. Paul as much does
so himself, reporting that they are "taught three types of whipping: West Country,
Palm & Needle, and Sailmaker's. While I have been to sea I have never put a West
Country whipping on anything except for my exam."
Sounds like useful instruction?
--dl*
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