Cat O' Nine Tails

[fishfish]

didnt the originalls have pieces of bone and other sharp bits tied into it?

 

[K.NYPH]

I don't know ,but based on the fact that the sailor receiving the lashing made his own I would doubt it,unless he was a complete masochist.

 

[Greg]

That is seriously good John, I enjoyed the couple of chats we had at the moot around your tidy little fire place, and I'm still getting my son Josh gobsmacked by the magic knot you showed me how to do!

 

[ickyan]

Yes they were used to flog sailors in the old days when they disobeyed an order ,the sailor would have to make his own and if he recieved a large number of lashes 100+ he would possibly die .there is a huge ammount I could say on the subject but my typing is not good .The knot on the end of the tails is the blood knot for obvious reasons and we use this today as a stopper knot.

thanks

Also well done I cant imagine how hard that must of been

Question: Why dont people use the tarbuck knot for their tarps?

 

[Minotaur]

The sayings :- Has the cat got your tonge , so small you couldn't swing a cat all originate from the cat o'nine tails.
:why:​

Just checked Wiki, was going to argue about the Nine tails business, but you are right they should have nine tails.

Apprently, I was with you on this, but the swing a cat thing, is not to do with the nine tails.

Looks really good, and now I will go away and workout were the last three lengths of ropes end up.

Question: Why dont people use the tarbuck knot for their tarps?

It slips.

 

[Tadpole]

Yes , you are absolutly correct they did .
The sayings :- Has the cat got your tonge , so small you couldn't swing a cat all originate from the cat o'nine tails.
:why:​

There is a school of thought that thinks that the ‘swing a cat’ expression is more to do with the Whitby Cat, a coal and timber carrying boat, than a cat of nine tails. The colliers had to load and unload in harbours that were quite small, and some were to small to allow the Whitby cat to turn on their anchor, when it came time to leave, and had to be swung by hand, others were too small even for that and they became know as places where it was too small to swing a cat.
Flogging had to be, by the Naval Discipline Act carried out either on gratings, lashed to the main mast or hung from the riggings on deck, so there would be few boats with decks too small to swing a cat of nine tails or even the thief’s cat.

 

[Silverclaws]

Yes , you are absolutly correct they did .
The sayings :- Has the cat got your tonge , so small you couldn't swing a cat all originate from the cat o'nine tails.
:why:​

Maybe the origin of the saying ;

Who let the cat out of the bag,- indicating trouble to come.

The Cat-O-Nine tails from what I heard, was kept in a bag, possibly red in colour.

Tarred codline is good for making those things anyway.

 

[Matt.S]

Maybe the origin of the saying ;

Who let the cat out of the bag,- indicating trouble to come.

The Cat-O-Nine tails from what I heard, was kept in a bag, possibly red in colour.

I've read that it's related with 'pig in the poke'; when meat was scarce disreputable merhchants would sell a 'pig' in a poke (small bag) without letting the purchaser see it. The trick was that the animal squirming inside was a lower-value animal such as a cat (presumably a mute one, I don't know many modern cats that'd be happy to be carted around in a sack).

Wasn't it tradition for the sailor to make his own cat while in the brig? Surely it wouldn't be a surprise in that case when pulling the 'cat' out of the bag then? At least for the offender, though perhaps it was (or was supposed to be) a surprise for the audience, considering the pomp, ceremony and ritual of the flogging.

 

[Tengu]

Who would buy a piglet without seeing it?

 

[Tadpole]

Who would buy a piglet without seeing it?

The idea was that the man selling the pig would show you the pig, then offer to put in in a sack for you, he'd pretend to search for a sack at the back of his stall, and swap the pig for something else. If you didn't check the poke you'd not know that you'd been 'sold a pup' until it was too late.

 

[EdS]

punishment by a high number of lashes where normal carried out over a considerable period of time - those of 250 or more could take years to complete.

 

[Matt.S]

The idea was that the man selling the pig would show you the pig, then offer to put in in a sack for you, he'd pretend to search for a sack at the back of his stall, and swap the pig for something else. If you didn't check the poke you'd not know that you'd been 'sold a pup' until it was too late.

I believe this is known as a 'bait-and-switch' scam.