|
|
The Stays
Lead of the stays:
French warship, 1700
|
Next
to the shrouds the stays are
the most important part of the standing rigging, and in the history of
the
development of shipbuilding they are also the oldest part. They support
the
masts towards the bow, but they also serve to bring the shrouds and
backstays to full supporting effect by exerting a balancing
counter-tension. What I have already said twice in this chapter about
equalising the tensions between shrouds, stays and backstays does not
need to be repeated again here in detail, does it?
The stay eye
An eye was formed in the end of the stay which was rigged round the
masthead over the shrouds and the trestletrees. Until the beginning of
the 16th century a seized or spliced eye was used for this connection
(although the latter was less durable), and in the case of double stays
a seized eye was used, like those of the shrouds, The stay eye ended
approximately below the front edge of the trestletrees.In the first
half of the 16th century a new method of forming the stay eye was
introduced: the mouse. A small eye was spliced in at the upper end of
the stay, which was just large enough for the rope itself to pass
through, thus forming a loop. However, to prevent this eye tightening
up on itself, the stay was locally thickened, this thicker part being
termed the mouse.
The model mouse is made as follows: woollen thread is
wrapped tightly round the stay to form the shape of the mouse, which in
the 17th century
was rounded, and in the 18th century more pear-shaped. It is a good
idea
not only to wrap the woollen threads round, but to glue them to the
stay,
so that the mouse cannot slip later. Then a loose ring of strong thread
is
fitted round the stay at both ends of the mouse. Using a needle and
thread these two rings are then linked with a continuous series of
vertical stitches. When this is complete, the thread is woven in and
out as when darning, alternating above and below the thread all round.
Take care always to take the thread alternately over and under the same
thread, i.e. - for example - first round under, second round over,
third round under , fourth round over etc., so forming
a strong, evenly woven surface. Weaving a mouse evenly and neatly
demands
a degree of patience, but this is just the sort of small detail which
makes
a good model into an excellent one.
After the second half of the 16th century the stay eye
itself was fully served, although the mouse was never served, thus
leaving the elegant weaving exposed. Where the spliced eye of the stay
end was located on the mouse, the rope was sheathed in a short leather
sleeve for protection against chafing. The stay itself was wormed, like
the shrouds, and was fully served from about the middle of the 19th
century , when steel wire ropes were introduced. Around 1830 the mouse
began to disappear; the upper end of the stay had a leg spliced into it
with an eye spliced into the ends of both legs. They were
seized together abaft the masthead with a rose lashing. A little later
the
system changed back again; the stay went over the masthead with the
spliced eye, or- in the case of double stays -with a seized eye, as
used for the shrouds.
The mainstay
The mainstay was the strongest rope on the whole ship
(with the exception of the anchor cables) and its blocks were the same
length as the diameter of the main mast.
Until the middle of the 17th century the mainstay was set
up with
blocks or deadeyes. After this time triple blocks were used exclusively
on the Continent until the
first half of the 18th century .In Britain deadeyes were used up to
1690, and thereafter hearts, which also came more and more into use on
the Continent after the middle of the 18th century .After 1.830
the mainstay was set with rigging screws or thimbles. Continentalships
also used deadeyes with 5 holes.
The lower stay block, deadeye or heart was seized into the
stay collar , a rope, slightly thinner than the stay itself, which
reeved
through a hole in the gammoning knee, or engaged on the hook of the
gammoning
knee. The combination of blocks, deadeyes or hearts for setting up the
stay
could be located ahead of or abaft the foremast.
|
British warship, 1720
|
Swedish merchant ship, 1760
|
French warship, 1770
|
|
