Four leggers

[longjohnsilver]

Seeing the post below, I've always known about green boats being unlucky, but was talking to the commodore of our sailing club recently who's also a fellow diver and mentioned r#####s and he almost had a fit.

Said that if I said that word in the local pub I'd be thrown out, proper description being underground mutton or four leggers. Now I thought I'd heard all the superstitions etc re boating, but this was a new one on me, but I see it's been referred to a few times in the green boats thread.

Does anyone know where it comes from and how many other unmentionables are there lurking out there?

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[tcm]

Ah i have heard of this. The fourleggers have buck teeth and long floppy ears?

Our skipper explained that when the dinghy smacked into the swim platform, there was a chocolate R****t in the fridge for easter, for the kids, hence the accident. But i said no it was cos it was on a painter 6 foot long and the wind got up, you berk.

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[Romeo]

Silver Fish

Must not mention the word for the silver fish (sort regularly released by accident from fishfarms). Also I was always told that if you were going fishing and you met a man of the cloth on the way to the boat you were as well to turn round and go home.

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[Metabarca]

Well, the story I'd heard (but could it possibly be true?!) was that these wee buggers were kept aboard on some long journey but escaped from their hutch. They fled down into the bilges and despite the crew's frantic searches were heard to scratch and scratch, trying to dig a burrow. Until one day, one of these r***its scratched a scratch and scratched no more...

.. glug glug!

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[Evadne]

It's an old one. "Bunnies" is acceptable. Once knew a skipper who wouldn't mention them, threw you off the bridge if you wer wearing a green gansey and refused to turn the ship anticlockwise, although he had to compromise occasionally going into the lock at Barry.

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[tome]

Norwegian ships are notoriously superstitious. You shouldn't ever bring a rucksack onboard, sail on a Friday, or mention horses. My dad sailed on a fishing boat and opened a can of evaporated milk upside-down by mistake. The skipper went into a rage and hurled it overboard.

When I was on Norwegian ships we used to photo-copy and hang up pictures of horses to try and encourage bad weather, which would get us into port early for a crew-change. Never worked.

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[qsiv]

Coincidentally I was telling someone in the office of this superstition today. He wouldnt hear any of it (mind you he keeps the wretched things as pets). He also found the concept of whistling being frowned on as quaint.

Me? My old man was a square rig sailorman, and owned his own schooners and ketches. I would no moe mention floppy ears, than talk of the Scottish Play by name, or allow a glass to ring out. Daft? Maybe - but it doesnt hurt..

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[Mirelle]

The Land Buddha

In the days of my youth, I worked for a celebrated British line of steamships, still going strong today, after 131 years, which traded, and trades now, in the Conradian seas of East Asia.

Some many years ago, the Company built itself a fine pair of cargo passenger liners, to run between Hong Kong and Australia. These ships carried large Chinese crews, with, mainly, British/Australian/New Zealand/White Russian/Various officers.

One ship enjoyed a long and trouble free career.

Her sister, on the other hand, was unlucky. She dragged her anchor in a typhoon and went aground. Not too much damage, but then she did it again - right in the middle of a Japanese oyster bed. Expensive.

The crew jacked up, and demanded that a feng shui man should attend on board and sort the problem out.

The Office shuddered; feng shui men in Hong Kong have been known to require front doors of office blocks moved, and there is, in Repulse Bay, a block of flats with a hole in the middle, so the dragon who resides on the adjacent mountain can get to the sea to bathe. Would he require the bridge to be rebuilt, or the funnel moved?

He attended on board, and looked all over the ship.

"Simple!" he said. "I see your problem quite clearly. In the first class smoking room you have an alcove. In the alcove there is seated Buddha." So there was; rather a nice antique.

"He is a Land Buddha. He hates the sea and is always trying to get ashore; therefore the ship is always running aground. What you need is a Sea Buddha. I will bring you one and replace him; then you will have no more trouble!"

He re-appeared a couple of hours later with a rather nasty, cheap, garish, evidently mass produced, seated Buddha. This he exchanged for the antique, which disappeared into his rucksack. "This one," he said,"is a Sea Buddha. You will have no more trouble!"

And the ship operated perfectly for the next twelve years, until Containerisation and the 747 made an end of her and all her kind.

Absolutely true, every word of it.

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[Ohdrat]

What about Hares?.. Bunnies are in import (Blomin Romans have a lot to answere for)

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[LadyInBed]

This is a list of some of the unmentionables that I know of:
#####'s
******ed
$$$$er
and ?????ers

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[maris]

Re: Silver Fish

I worked on west coast fishing boats many years ago and if any of the words you guys are on about were mentioned several of the older skippers would bang metal on metal to cancel the bad luck.

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[longjohnsilver]

I use those constantly on board, they're not bad luck, just essential nautical language. You silly old #@##er!! /forums/images/icons/blush.gif

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[LadyInBed]

HAY less of the old!

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[Gunfleet]

Me too. My Grandad was a boatswain on sailing ships and spent 40 years at sea (from the age of 12), much of it on square riggers. He had the most splendid range of superstitions of any man I ever met. We never discussed underground racehorses. Cards were not allowed. Vicars were considered extremely unlucky omens. Also he would not speak, sometimes for days. Imagine being an 8 yr old with Mr Bosun square rigger who never spoke. I have never squirmed so much in my life. Minutes ticked by like hours. A lunchtime lasted a day. Those were the days! The truth is I wish he were here now, and miss his long silences after all these 35 years.

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[townquay]

I find this superstition a bit odd because the nickname for presents (as purchased on voyages to take hope to the beloved & kids) is 'Rabbits' in the R.N. and has been for at least 30 years and almost certainly far longer.
The 'Andrew' are as superstitious as anybody but you can well imagine the number of times the word or nickname is mentioned in the mess (or wardroom)when packing to go home on leave after a passage or when showing shipmates a good bargain found ashore.

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[Twister_Ken]

Re: The Land Buddha

How much did the feng shui man sell the "rather a nice antique" land buddha for?

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[pugwash]

And porky things too

I always understood your floppy-eared jobbies and curly-tailed porky things were considered bad luck in the fishing industry because they were competition in the market for silver finny things. Story goes that not a trawler sailed out of Grimsby for 24 hours after a couple lof lads drew a picture of a porky thing on a fogged-up pub window.

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[Twister_Ken]

Spotted in Yarmouth harbour

The good ship 'Wight Rabbit'.

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[longjohnsilver]

Re: Spotted in Yarmouth harbour

Is she still afloat? Very important as it could prove or disprove this nonsense!!

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[Twister_Ken]

Re: Spotted in Yarmouth harbour

Very much afloat on Saturday, but may no longer be so.

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