Gats and swatchways

[Bru]

I'm curious about these terms both as to their origins and what they mean today

OK I'm clear that they refer to passages between sandbanks but what is the difference between the two or are they interchangeable terms?

I can't find much information on the term "gat" on-line and virtually nothing at all with regard to "swatchway" other than references to various 20th century books by a number of different authors

And where does "spitway", as in "Swin Spitway", fit in?

Curiosity, as they say, killed the cat but then ...

 

[philiphurst]

Good question. Is a gut the same as a gat?

I have a bit of a gut but no gat, as far as I can see.

I guess that gut and gat are a result of regional differences.

 

[Firefly]

It always seems to me that a swatchway is the channel between two long sandbanks or series of sandbanks and a gat is a gap crossing those sandbanks. Origins I don't know, and I suspect there will be exceptions to the definition anyway.

 

[LittleSister]

I seem to recall that gat comes from the Norse (or thereabouts), and swatchways refers to a channel marked by swatches. Presumably a spitway makes you spit if you get the tide wrong!

 

[LittleSister]

From Shorter Oxford English Dictionary -

Gat - an opening between sandbanks; a channel, a strait. (In use since in this sense since at least 16th century. Apparently from Old Norse 'gat' meaning hole, opening, passage. )

Spit - A small projecting point of land; a narrow reef or sandbank extending form the shore. (In use since at least late 15th century. From Old English, related to similar Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, and Old High German words. )

Swatch - A passage or channel of water lying between sandbanks or between a sandbank and the shore (In use since at least early 17th century. Local English, chiefly eastern counties. )

 

[tillergirl]

This prompted a memory that on one of my old charts I had seen 'Fisherman's Gateway' but no, on Reynold's 1903 'New' chart of the Thames Estuary (in colour) Fishermans is called 'Fisherman's Gatway'. Not buoyed of course. Foulger's is not marked nor even really obvious. Then when you look at Imray's 'Pilot Guide for the English Channel' of 1908 you can see that if us Essex boys and girls had been sailing then, crossing the Estuary was a real pain. First, the Spitway was 3 miles further East but there were no marks over the Sunk Sand so you had to go West to the buoyed gap between the SW Sunk and the Knock John where there was a massive four and a half fathoms! Some scary pre-GPS leading lines. To come in from the then Sunk Light Vessel lining up Clacton Church with the east end of the Holland Cliff would keep you off the end of the Gunfleet but Clacton Church would be at least 13nm from the Sunk Lt Vessel. It was ominous enough the day before yesterday in the poor vis with GPS and the laptop running. Imagine running in towards the sands to find a Gat or Swatch with no GPS or radar.

 

[Cantata]

So it looks like 'Gat' comes from the same origin as 'Gate', then.

 

[DanTribe]

So it looks like 'Gat' comes from the same origin as 'Gate', then.

I'd always assumed that the were words originating from the Dutch.
Just checked my Nederlands dictionary; Gat = hole, gap, channel or bum, bit of a theme here?
No reference to swatchway though, perhaps our Flemish friends could help.

 

[tillergirl]

Wikipedia!

A gat[1] (German: Seegatt, Seegat or diminutive Gatje) or gut[citation needed] is a strait that is constantly eroded by currents flowing back and forth, such as tidal currents. It is usually a relatively narrow – but deep (up to 30 metres) – passage between land masses (islands and peninsulas) or shallow bars in an area of mudflats, as well as – less deep – on lagoon coasts, including those without any tidal range. The name comes from the Low German and Dutch word Gat = gap. The word is incorporated into several proper names, which may or may not be true gats, including the Kattegat, Veerse Gat, Fisherman's Gat, and Biddeford Pool Gut.

On a slightly different tack (sorry), I must speak to an old chap at the club who knew Mr Foulger (he corrected my pronunciation of the name) and get him to tell me the history of the naming - if there is one.

 

[Athene V30]

On a slightly different tack (sorry), I must speak to an old chap at the club who knew Mr Foulger (he corrected my pronunciation of the name) and get him to tell me the history of the naming - if there is one.

Brian Foulger sailed out of Burnham for many years. Unfortunately I never met him and think he died soon after the millennium but he was a keen RNSA member & also of Royal Burnham YC I believe.

 

[DanTribe]

Brian Foulger sailed out of Burnham for many years. Unfortunately I never met him and think he died soon after the millennium but he was a keen RNSA member & also of Royal Burnham YC I believe.

Brian Foulger was a very well known and respected yachtsman who sailed out of Burnham for many years. He owned a beautiful wooden yacht called Ailish and later a Seastream called Shilia [anag].
A feature of Shilia was the number of glass holders available in the cockpit, so you could put your drink down in the unlikely event that he wanted you to do some work.
General good guy, much missed.

 

[Lodesman77]

Mr Foulger (he corrected my pronunciation of the name)

Well don't leave us in suspense...

 

[LittleSister]

I'd always assumed that the were words originating from the Dutch.
Just checked my Nederlands dictionary; Gat = hole, gap, channel or bum, bit of a theme here?
No reference to swatchway though, perhaps our Flemish friends could help.

From Old Norse, according the the Oxford English Dictionary (see my earlier post).

Dutch comes from the same roots as Old English (English was later more affected by French, etc., and diverged). You could probably read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the original (otherwise pretty hard going for the modern English speaker) if you can speak Dutch.

On top of that there was a lot of interchange across the North Sea that particularly affects local words around the East Coast.

 

[tillergirl]

Brian Foulger was a very well known and respected yachtsman who sailed out of Burnham for many years. He owned a beautiful wooden yacht called Ailish and later a Seastream called Shilia [anag].
A feature of Shilia was the number of glass holders available in the cockpit, so you could put your drink down in the unlikely event that he wanted you to do some work.
General good guy, much missed.

So how did the Gat take up his name? Anyone know?

 

[DanTribe]

So how did the Gat take up his name? Anyone know?

I have only heard the story second hand, so may not be fully correct.
Brian used to spend much time cruising the narrow seas and Thames estuary. He was credited with finding, or at least being an early user of, the swatchway we now know as Foulger's Gat.
He reported details of this to the Hydrogapher's who later issued a chart correction and coined the name.
I'm sure that there are people at the Royal Burnham Y C who can give a more accurate, first hand account.
BTW, I think I was wrong about the name of his boats. Brian retained the name Ailish when he sold her and used it on the new Seastream. It was old Ailish renamed Shilia. A picture of her featured in an edition of East Coast Rivers.

 

[tillergirl]

Thanks Dan. Interesting.

 

[Bru]

I am a considerably wiser person this morning thanks to the erudite contributors hereabouts. Thanks chaps!

 

[Lodesman77]

Well don't leave us in suspense...

But what's the correct pronunciation?!!

 

[tillergirl]

If I remember correctly (and it is necessary to issue an advisory on relying on my memory) it is said 'Fullgers'

 

[Cantata]

By the way, if we are listing gats, there is the Ham Gat which runs N from the entrance to the East Swale, frequently used by me, often to the horror of my clubmates! The Ham Gat buoy is at the S end of it.