I Don't Understand What "Mouse" means?
Instructions for rigging a "foreyard horse or jackstay" are incomprehensible to
me, including the term "mouse". They say,
"The upper end is set up on a bight over the trestletrees between the foremast
head and fore topmast heel. The bight is formed thus: first a small eyesplice
is turned in the bitter end. Several feet below the eye, a mouse is raised on
the horse." The running end of the horse is passed over the trestletrees
between the foremast and the fore topmast and down the fore side of the mast to
the deck."
Any hints or advice regarding the instructions or what it means to "raise a
mouse on a horse" will be appreciated.
Mike
From Lever's Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor, 1819:
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| A MOUSE FOR A STAY, Fig 53
|
A MOUSE FOR A STAY, Fig 53
Is generally raised with Spun-yarn, taking a number of turns, heaving them
well taught, jambing them with Rope-yarns laid under, and over, alternately,
and then parcelled and pointed. It is, however, found by practice in the
Merchant service, that the parcelling alone is sufficient, which is tapered to
the shape required.—Fig, 83 represents the Mouse made with parcelling.
Knittles for pointing, made of Hambro' line, &c. according to the size of the
Stay, are middled, laid with their Bights just above the head of the Mouse at
(b), and the Warp passed round, proceeding as before-mentioned in pointing. As
they rise on the Mouse, more Knittles are added; and when got past the thickest
part, they are decreased: They are frequently worked a little distance below
the Mouse, on the Stay, according to fancy: the service of the Stay is taken
over their ends, to secure them—The Warp is House-line, Marline, &c.
A "mouse" is essentially a lump woven onto the line. Given an eye splice at
the end of the line, the line can be rove over a masthead or other object and
threaded through the eye, and the mouse will serve as a stopper for the loop
thus formed. The mouse is wider than the line but narrower than the eye.
Do get yourself a copy of Steele, or any of the other references cited in the
FAQ. Learning old nautical terms is great fun.
{Phil Gustafson}
Seems to me that two, maybe three, separate rigging elements have been rolled
together - horse, jackstay, and a moused bight.
A horse (AKA footrope) is a length of line attached to a yard at its ends and
suspended beneath it, supported at intervals by stirrups that are themselves
attached to the yard. A jackstay is a device attached to the top surface of a
yard to which are attached the lines securing the sail to the yard. Jackstays
can be/have been made wood, metal rods, and rope and attached to yards in a
variety of ways. Neither horses (footropes) nor jackstays are attached to the
mast, in the manner described in the quoted paragraph or any other way. The
"raise a mouse on a horse" bit may imply that something akin to a Flemish horse
is intended, but as I understand it, the workings on a Flemish horse entail
making a rose knot, not mouse making.
The quoted paragraph reads very like a description of how to attach the upper
end for the forestay to the mast top - a process divorced from anything to do
with horse or jackstay furnishings on a yard.
It would help to know what time period, nationality, and specific ship is being
modeled, as well as the maker of the kit and/or set of instructions/plans with
which you are working.
{Mike Graff}
Put in simple terms. A mouse is a form of stopper knot. It's shaped rather
like a mouse's head (triangular).
To use. An eye splice is made in your rope at one end. This rope is then
passed around the Mast, passing between the Top of the Lower Mast and the Foot
of the Upper Mast. The two ends are then taken forward. A Mouse is then
formed into the line that will run to the deck (See your plans for the position
of the Mouse).
The tail of your rope is then passed through the eye and down to the deck for
securing.
The Mouse stops the loop you have formed around the mast from closing up like a
slip knot would. NOTE when formed the mouse should point down towards the deck.
{Dave M.}
This sounds like the line run from the lower mast top down to deck upon which
the course yard runs, rather than having truss or parrel around the mast. This
was done to keep the mast free to set a schooner's foresail. Is this a
schooner or cutter rig?
The horse has a small eye in the end. The line is run around the topmast heel,
passes through the eye and down to deck where it is set up with tackle of some
sort. The mouse referred to is a lump, as stated in an earlier post, made of
turns of small line and the last layers being woven together. The lump is
larger than the eye so the loop cannot close down tightly upon the topmast
heel. This is indeed how stays are set up.
Darcy Lever, A Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor (quoted above—ed.)
or some such title is a
comprehensive source for this kind of information and is available in an
inexpensive Dover reprint. It is comprehensively illustrated. I highly advise
this or some similar resource be in your library.
{J B Sanborn}
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