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The Parral
Rose lashing on the yard
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In ancient times and in the
early Middle Ages the parral consisted of a strong rope strop which
held the yard to the mast. Wooden balls known as trucks were threaded
on to the parral
from the 13th century on, to permit the parral to slide up and down the
mast
as easily as possible when the yard was hoisted or lowered. They were
soon
fitted with a tackle which ran down to the deck, so that the parral
could
be loosened when the yard was hoisted.
The lower yard parral
From the beginning of the 13th to the middle 18th century
parrals wit up to four rows of trucks were fitted for the lower yards,
and ribs
were used as spacers where there were two or more rows of trucks. The
ribs
of three-row parrals were about as long as the yard diameter , and
sometimes
slightly longer. A rope seizing was usually laid round the yard on the
larboard
side.
The parral ropes were fixed to this seizing, then passed
round the mast and reeved through a thimble, which was seized to the
yard on the starboard side. They were then spliced together just below
the thimble and led down to the deck, ending in a purchase.
In the 18th century parrals were no longer used on the
lower yards. Two truss pendants were now used, which, as the drawing on
the left shows, led to the top in Continental ships and to the deck in
British ships up to 1810, after which they led to the top and could be
set up with
purchases. As this form of parral did not slide easily on the mast, it
was& fitted with a downhaul when the pendants led to the top. In
the,
second half of the 19th century fixed iron trusses came into use, which
no longer permitted the yards to be moved up and down.
The topsail yard parral
The topsail yards nearly always carried parrals wIth ribs and trucks un
the first half of the 19th century , but in this case a purchase was
not fitted,
instead they were seized to the yard on either side .
In the first half of the 19th century rope parrals alone were used in
some areas, in which case the part which passed round the topmast was
protected from chafing with a leather sleeve. After this time the upper
topsail yard and topgallant yard parrals were also made of iron and
fixed to a batten, as the drawing on the right shows.
The topgallant and royal parrals
Topgallant and royal parrals were sometimes fitted with trucks (but not
ribs) until the end of the 17th century, after which time rope parrals
were used exclusively without trucks until the middle of the 19th
century.
The spritsail and cross jack parrals
Until the beginning of the 17th century various types of parral with
two rows of trucks appeared, and after this time ( and very often
before this time) the spritsail yard was suspended from the bowsprit
with just a double rope sling. A similar sling was used for the
crossjack yard, which could
also not be moved up and down.
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Truss pendants on the lower yards, I8th century:
1. Mast; 2. Yard; 3. Truss pendant; 4. Thimble; 5. Seizing.
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Dolphin
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