Why are so many sand banks called 'horse'?

[Colvic Watson]

Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

Seeing the report of the Clyde rescue made me wonder about the number of sand banks, mud flats and small islands called 'horse'. Is it a derivation of something - if so, how come everywhere from the Clyde to The Swale have them?

 

[savageseadog]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

White Horses? .......... Horses Tails?

 

[sarabande]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

the only "horse" I know of in nautical terminology is an upside down frame used as a mould for laying up timbers. Could it be by analogy that a sandbank is like an upside down hull ?

 

[dt4134]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

It probably means something in one of the Celtic languages or Anglo-Saxon or Norse.

By way of comparison, Down (as in hilly bit of chalk) probably comes from Dun meaning hill fort. Rocks like Scare, Scar, Skerry etc are definitely related to the Scandanavian languages.

 

[BobnLesley]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

The 'Horse Latitudes' around the equator are allegedly so called because there were instances where the early transatlantic sailing ships got caught up there for too long in the Doldrums, then threw the horses overboard there as they couldn't afford the large amount of water they needed to drink. Now whilst they're hardly going to be dying of thirst so close to home, perhaps having run aground there were instances where the cargo of horses was similarly thrown overboard to lighten/refloat the ship?

 

[patturner]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

the one I got stuck on yesterday for more than an hour got called a lot more than horse!!

 

[peterb]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

Strange. I've looked in several dictionaries without success, al;though it's a frequently used term. I've always understood it to be a sandbank in the middle of a river, with passage on either side.

 

[Dipper]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

Horseback is a geological term for a low and somewhat sharp ridge of gravel or sand according to my dictionary presumably because it resembles the back of a horse. Why mud flats should resemble a horse's back I don't know but I can understand a narrow spit being compared to one and then shortened to horse.

 

[Solitaire]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

[ QUOTE ]
The 'Horse Latitudes' around the equator are allegedly so called because there were instances where the early transatlantic sailing ships got caught up there for too long in the Doldrums, then threw the horses overboard

[/ QUOTE ]

Could be that horses played a part in this definition as well. There is a symptom which horses get where sand accumulates in the intestinal tract and the colon. It accumulates over time and then sets solid. Now it may sound far fetched, but many such maritime sayings have sprung from such experience by sailors. Horse Sand - an accumulation of sand over time, much like a spit. Sounds plausible to me

 

[Black Sheep]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

From the OED online:

A mud or sand bank. dial.
1926 H. A. TRIPP Suffolk Sea Borders vi. 109 Below Waldringfield is a ‘horse’ in mid-channel{em}‘horse’ being the name given to banks that crop up with rounded backs like the back of a horse.
1929 E. A. ROBERTSON Three came Unarmed ix. 149 Now the shoal-water of this coast is..full of under-water mud-banks or ‘horses’ which come dry or are barely covered at low tide.

(public service announcement - you *might* be able to access the OED online through your local library website)

 

[duncanmack]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

Sarabande,

Another nautical horse I'm aware of is the round bar type of main sheet track on which the bottom main sheet block slides.

 

[Colvic Watson]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

I did some more googling and they are everywhere. It seems every cruising ground with a bit of sand or mud has a 'horse', almost as if it is the agreed name for a half tide bank. I guess they do look a bit like a horse's back but I prefer the 'horse latitudes' explanation.

 

[sarabande]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

ah, yes; I forgot that one /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

It's not only sandbanks that are called Horse.

 

[Spyro]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

Perhaps because you are usually "horsing along" when you run into one /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

Wasn't there a man called Horse?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

Do pay attention!

 

[jhr]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

Shurely it was a woman?

 

[duncanmack]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

[ QUOTE ]
Shurely it was a woman?

[/ QUOTE ]

She is not a horse. She is the famous Sealion Demon! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: Why are so many sand banks called \'horse\'?

Sealion Dying, isn't it?