Hi,
Hoping someone can help here.
I'm trying to compile a list of knots (and other rope working procedures) which can definitely be dated to the first half of the 18th century or earlier. A lot of knots are so simple that they must be ancient (figure of 8 for example), or have such an obvious purpose in a historical context that it is most likely that they date from an early period (a reef knot for example), but I'm looking specifically for knots and the like which can definitely be shown to have been in use in the 16th-18th centuries.
I've looked at various sources such as Smith's Sea Grammar, Butler's Dialogues, Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine etc., as well as extant knots which can be seen such as the turks heads which often adorned sword hilts. So far I've been able to place the following in the period:
Bowline
Wall-knot
Sheepshank
Cringle
Plaited sennet
Short, eye, back and cut splices
Diamond knot
Rose knot
Crown knot
Half-hitch
Clove hitch
Rolling hitch
Seizing
Parcelling and serving
Turk's head
Carrick bend.
Can anyone else add to the list?
Many thanks,
Foxe