View Full Version : Cat O' Nine Tails
I mentioned this to a number of people who ventured over to my Baker Tent at the Bush Moot and I said I would try to photograph it and post it on the forum.
It is a Cat O' Nine Tails that I made a number of years ago,it was a challenge I gave myself , I started with one 7m length of 8mm diameter rope " example of original rope is the short bit at the bottom of the pic" Normally a Cat O' Nine Tails is made using a large diameter rope then unlaying the rope to make the tails, well I fancied going the other way.
The Cat O' Nine Tails pictured was made from one 7m length by unlaying relaying etc "I wont go into detail as it would take a number of pages to explain plus you would be very bored" there are no bits added no joins ie if you had the urge it could be unlayed back to the original 7m length of 8mm diam rope.It is the only one in the world and I doubt I will do another one as there is a lot of maths and patience involved it took about 45 hours to do.:ban:
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/knyph/cat-o-ninetails001.jpg
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http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/knyph/cat-o-ninetails002.jpg
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http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/knyph/cat-o-ninetails003.jpg
well that looks pretty hard
Does it have a use (mabyee a whip?)
John, now that's *knotwork* :D :notworthy:
Seriously you had to have that sorted in your head before you even thought of unlaying the rope.
Beautiful work, just beautiful.
For those who don't do knotwork, the fan of knotted ends at the left are the ends of the rope, there are no other cuts at all, the tails, the weavings and the turk's heads are all worked in and from the one continuous length.
Thanks for posting :D
cheers,
Mary
Yes they were used to flog sailors in the old days when they disobeyed an order ,the sailor would have to make his own and if he recieved a large number of lashes 100+ he would possibly die .there is a huge ammount I could say on the subject but my typing is not good .The knot on the end of the tails is the blood knot for obvious reasons and we use this today as a stopper knot.
gregorach
14-08-2009, 16:15
Impressive. Nasty, but impressive. :)
Wow, that's beautiful, I wish I had had time to come and see you at your tent, I was going to come along to the rope brush making session but I had other things that needed to be done, I'hope you'll be there next year!
verynice , i have a handle nearly the same made by my father in the fifties
Wow John you must have a lot of patience, very nice fella
No. Just an obsessive masochist.:banghead:
Thank you all, for your interest ,all I will say is..... GET KNOTTING :why:
No. Just an obsessive masochist.:banghead:
:lmao:
Yep, that'll do it aswell I guess
I've only just about mastered the paracord bracelet so I've got a bit of catching up to do by the looks.
m.durston
14-08-2009, 17:02
that is quality work. it would take pride of place in any politicians dungeon lol
i saw a cat o nine tails on HMS Victory in portsmouth, the petty officer doing the tour mentioned that the sailor would receive extra lashes if it was deemed his cat o nine tails was of shoddy workmanship!!!
Yes , you are absolutly correct they did .
The sayings :- Has the cat got your tonge , so small you couldn't swing a cat all originate from the cat o'nine tails.
:why:
w00dsmoke
14-08-2009, 22:11
As someone who is continually learning new knots this just blows my own attempts into insignificance. Awesome. I must say though, you must have the patience of the gods.
Awesome, thanks for showing
WS
Cheers w00dsmoke,
There is a fine line between Genius & Madness , Patience & Obsession ,Euphoria & Depression I'm affraid I fall on the wrong side of all of these.:red:
Carbuncle
14-08-2009, 23:46
As someone who is continually learning new knots this just blows my own attempts into insignificance.
WS
I was thinking that, I feel a tad smug cos I can tie an evenk knot, then I read this!
By the way, before you framed it, did you give it a go? Not in the pervy sense (necessarily), but if I had made one of them (not that I could) I'd have asked my missus or the kids to give me a quick lash just to see if it was as bad as I imagined. Or is that just me?
Yarr......That be much better than mine.............
Ye seems like a tar that knows the ropes...http://www.wayland.me.uk/assets/images/pirates.gif
Wayland , You may be interested in this guy ,also a Viking.http://www.wielandforge.co.uk/index.php/site/historical/ and a good mate of mine
NO I didn't Carbuncle.
But I have experienced the effect of another one,lets put it this way ,I would not have disobeyed orders on board ship.:tapedshut
mayobushcraft
15-08-2009, 12:06
NO I didn't Carbuncle.
But I have experienced the effect of another one,lets put it this way ,I would not have disobeyed orders on board ship.:tapedshut
My mom had one made of leather. All she had to do was show it to me after the first she used it. I hated that thing. But I think yours is a work of art. Wonderfull job there.
John Fenna
15-08-2009, 12:19
That is some piece of work there!
I hope never to find out how effective such a tool is......
fishfish
16-08-2009, 01:02
didnt the originalls have pieces of bone and other sharp bits tied into it?
I don't know ,but based on the fact that the sailor receiving the lashing made his own I would doubt it,unless he was a complete masochist.:banghead:
That is seriously good John, I enjoyed the couple of chats we had at the moot around your tidy little fire place, and I'm still getting my son Josh gobsmacked by the magic knot you showed me how to do!;)
Yes they were used to flog sailors in the old days when they disobeyed an order ,the sailor would have to make his own and if he recieved a large number of lashes 100+ he would possibly die .there is a huge ammount I could say on the subject but my typing is not good .The knot on the end of the tails is the blood knot for obvious reasons and we use this today as a stopper knot.
thanks
Also well done I cant imagine how hard that must of been
Question: Why dont people use the tarbuck knot for their tarps?
Minotaur
17-08-2009, 14:15
The sayings :- Has the cat got your tonge , so small you couldn't swing a cat all originate from the cat o'nine tails.
:why:
Just checked Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_o%27_nine_tails), was going to argue about the Nine tails business, but you are right they should have nine tails.
Apprently, I was with you on this, but the swing a cat thing, is not to do with the nine tails.
Looks really good, and now I will go away and workout were the last three lengths of ropes end up.
Question: Why dont people use the tarbuck knot for their tarps?
It slips.
Yes , you are absolutly correct they did .
The sayings :- Has the cat got your tonge , so small you couldn't swing a cat all originate from the cat o'nine tails.
:why:
There is a school of thought that thinks that the ‘swing a cat’ expression is more to do with the Whitby Cat, a coal and timber carrying boat, than a cat of nine tails. The colliers had to load and unload in harbours that were quite small, and some were to small to allow the Whitby cat to turn on their anchor, when it came time to leave, and had to be swung by hand, others were too small even for that and they became know as places where it was too small to swing a cat.
Flogging had to be, by the Naval Discipline Act carried out either on gratings, lashed to the main mast or hung from the riggings on deck, so there would be few boats with decks too small to swing a cat of nine tails or even the thief’s cat.
Silverclaws
17-08-2009, 15:37
Yes , you are absolutly correct they did .
The sayings :- Has the cat got your tonge , so small you couldn't swing a cat all originate from the cat o'nine tails.
:why:
Maybe the origin of the saying ;
Who let the cat out of the bag,- indicating trouble to come.
The Cat-O-Nine tails from what I heard, was kept in a bag, possibly red in colour.
Tarred codline is good for making those things anyway.
Maybe the origin of the saying ;
Who let the cat out of the bag,- indicating trouble to come.
The Cat-O-Nine tails from what I heard, was kept in a bag, possibly red in colour.
I've read that it's related with 'pig in the poke'; when meat was scarce disreputable merhchants would sell a 'pig' in a poke (small bag) without letting the purchaser see it. The trick was that the animal squirming inside was a lower-value animal such as a cat (presumably a mute one, I don't know many modern cats that'd be happy to be carted around in a sack).
Wasn't it tradition for the sailor to make his own cat while in the brig? Surely it wouldn't be a surprise in that case when pulling the 'cat' out of the bag then? At least for the offender, though perhaps it was (or was supposed to be) a surprise for the audience, considering the pomp, ceremony and ritual of the flogging.
Who would buy a piglet without seeing it?
Who would buy a piglet without seeing it? The idea was that the man selling the pig would show you the pig, then offer to put in in a sack for you, he'd pretend to search for a sack at the back of his stall, and swap the pig for something else. If you didn't check the poke you'd not know that you'd been 'sold a pup' until it was too late.
punishment by a high number of lashes where normal carried out over a considerable period of time - those of 250 or more could take years to complete.
The idea was that the man selling the pig would show you the pig, then offer to put in in a sack for you, he'd pretend to search for a sack at the back of his stall, and swap the pig for something else. If you didn't check the poke you'd not know that you'd been 'sold a pup' until it was too late.
I believe this is known as a 'bait-and-switch' scam.