Seizing implies the fastening together of two ropes, or different parts of the same rope, with several closely placed coils of small rope, spun yarn, etc. The several kinds of seizings take their names from the positions they occupy in a ship’s rigging. End seizing is a round seizing at the end of a rope. Throat seizing is the first seizing clapped on where ropes cross each other. Middle seizing is between a throat and end seizing. Eye seizing is a round seizing next to an eye in the rope.

To make a round seizing, make a small eye in the end of the seizing stuff, and, after taking a turn round both parts of the rope, reeve the ends through the eye, take two or three turns, and haul them taut with a marlinespike hitch (Fig. 40, p. 40); pass eight or ten turns close together, and heave taut. Bring the end back under these turns and out between the last two coils, and pass another series of turns on the top of the others, which are called riders, and are not hove so taut as the first turns. There is always one less of the riding turns than of the lower ones. Two cross turns sometimes are taken, passing between the ropes to be joined and across the whole of the seizing; the end is brought under the last turn, hove tight, and secured, if large, with a wall knot, crossed (Fig. 83, p. 66), and, if small, with an overhand knot, and cut off. Other seizings are done in a similar way.

Sennit is a flat rope, made by plaiting together rope-yarn or spun yarn, the outside yarns being brought over to the middle from each side alternately. It always has an odd number of yarns, generally from five to thirteen. French sennit is braided with an even number of yarns passed over and under every other time.

Gaskets are made of braided cordage in the same manner as sennit, and are used for confining the sails when furled to the yards. They are called arm gaskets when used at the ends of the yards. Bunt gaskets are used in the middle of the yard to hold the bunt of the sail, and quarter gaskets between the middle and extremities of the yards.

A Flemish eye (Fig. 122) is a form of eye made without splicing. Unlay one strand at the end of a rope, and bring the two other strands, just as they are, against the standing part, so as to form an eye of the size required. Lay up the unlaid strand in the intervals in the rope from which it has been taken, but in the reverse way—that is, begin at the end and keep on laying it round until it comes down the standing part and lies along with the other strands. The ends are then tapered, marled down, and served over with small stuff.

An artificial eye is the end of a rope unlaid, and the yarns of which the strands are composed are separated. The yarns are now hitched round a piece of wood the size of the proposed eye. They are then marled, parcelled, and served over.

A grommet (Fig. 123) is a ring of rope made by carefully unlaying one strand from a rope and cutting it off. All the turns must be left in it. Form a ring by laying one part over the other, taking care that the turns coincide with one another. Pass one end round and round, in the lay, until all the intervals are filled up and the ring is complete. The two ends are secured as in a long splice, first with an overhand knot, and then by dividing the strands and passing half of them under the standing part, and cutting off the remainder. Grommets are used for stropping blocks, handles for chests, snorters for the heel of sprits, etc. They are very often parcelled and served to make them look neater. It is easier to make them if the rope from which the strands are taken is laid up hard.

Selvagee (Fig. 124) is a number of rope-yarns fastened together. To make it, drive two nails into a piece of board at a sufficient distance from one another to form the size of selvagee required. Wind rope-yarn round these to form the desired thickness, and marl them down with spun yarn. They are used to form a neat stropping for blocks, or to go round a spar to which a hook is to be fixed. Fig. 125 shows how a selvagee is employed for fastening a block to a rope. The middle of it is placed against the rope, and the bights passed one over the other until they come close to the rope, when the hook of the block is inserted.

Worming is filling the intervals between the strands of a rope by laying spun yarn or other small stuff into them. This renders the rope more even and smooth for parcelling and serving. The first end of the worming is securely stopped and passed along one of the divisions of the rope. When it has been carried as far as it is required, it is stopped and laid back down another interval, and then forward along the remaining one, and stopped at the end. To estimate the quantity of serving stuff required for a given length of rope, multiply the length of rope to be served by the number of strands in the rope, and add one-third of the product. The result is the length of serving necessary to do the work. Thus, if six fathoms of three-strand rope have to be served:—(6 × 3 = 18) (18 ÷ 3 = 6) 18 + 6 = 24. Thus 24 fathoms is the length of serving. Fig. 126 shows at A how worming looks when finished.

Parcelling, B (Fig. 126), is done by winding strips of old and generally tarred canvas smoothly round a rope in spiral turns after it has been wormed and before it is served. To secure the canvas it is marled down—that is, some marline or other small stuff is wound round it, which is secured at every turn with a hitch, so that each of the turns is secure and independent of each other (see B, Fig. 126). The proper hitch for securing the turns is shown on a larger scale in Fig. 72, p. 60. In marling down, the coils are not laid close to one another as in serving, but always at some distance apart.

Fig. 127 shows the way a rope is served or covered with coils of spun yarn or other small stuff laid on quite close to one another. The end of the yarn is first secured by placing it under the first two or three coils. A serving-mallet (see Fig. 127), after being placed against the rope, has two or three turns passed round the body of it, and another turn or two on the handle. This produces sufficient friction to leave the coils taut as the mallet is worked round the rope by its handle. Another person is required for passing the ball of serving stuff. The service must be put on against the lay of the rope. A rope may be served single-handed by carrying the serving stuff on a large reel, with a hole in its centre large enough for the rope to run through. This is kept just ahead of the mallet, and the serving stuff comes off the reel of its own accord as required. When the mallet is within a few turns of the end, the turns are taken off it by hand, the end is put through them, and heaved well taut.

A rope is belayed or made fast by cross turns round a cleat in the way shown in Fig. 128. The cleat is assumed to be lashed to a stay or other rope, but it is often made fast to some part of the vessel. Occasionally a single hitch is put over the upper horn of the cleat to make the rope still more secure.

A rope is taken at right angles from one part of a vessel to another by means of a “fairleader” (Fig. 129). This is a block of wood with a hole in it big enough to allow the line to run freely through it. The back of it is grooved to fit the rope it is lashed to. Where more than one line has to be led, a piece of board or plank with holes through it is used. A fairleader is not necessarily fastened to a rope, but is fixed in any suitable position.

A belaying-pin with a rope made fast to it (Fig. 130) is the usual way of securing running rigging, as it can be made fast and cast off so rapidly.

Fig. 131 shows a method of securing ropes together by means of a toggle, a piece of wood turned to shape and having a groove in the centre, round which the end of a rope is spliced. An eye is made in another rope by any method and the toggle slipped into it. It is undone by slackening the ropes and putting the toggle through the eye, end foremost. Fig. 132 is another form of toggle, the round piece of wood being shaped like a button. It has a hole in the centre, through which a rope is passed and the end knotted.

A fender (Fig. 133) protects the sides of a boat from being chafed and the paint or varnish rubbed off. Occasionally a fender is of wood, which is slung over the boat’s side by a lanyard reeved through a hole in the end of it, but more often it is of canvas, stuffed with oakum and painted. Fig. 133 shows an easily made soft fender which does not need painting. Take a piece of Manilla rope double the length of the fender; unlay it, open the strands, and comb them down until all the yarns lie straight; double it and clap an eye-seizing on it, marling it down as illustrated. A lanyard of small cords, such as log-line, is then spliced into the eye.

Fig. 134 shows a handsomer form of boat’s fender. This is made of a centre or “heart” of rope-yarn worked over or grafted with short pieces of rope-yarn called “knittles” or “nettles”; this is a kind of weaving. The nettles are first cut to the right length, and the middle part slightly twisted. They are then brought snugly round a thimble, and a seizing put under it. The heart is put into its place and the nettles laid evenly over it. Half of the nettles, taken alternately, are turned back over the eye, the rest lying down the heart. Pass a turn or two of twine or marline, called the warp or filling, round the fender where the nettles separate, and hitch it. The turned back nettles must now be brought down, and those that are down turned up over the eye. The warp is now passed again, and hitched as before. This must be repeated until the whole of the fender is covered with a sort of woven coat as shown in Fig. 134. The ends of the nettles are brought round the last turn of the warp, and interlaced in the grafting. This fender requires a lanyard the same as the last one.

A thimble, shown in side view and section by Figs. 135 and 136, is an iron ring, usually galvanised, and a rope or strop fits snugly in its flanged rim. It may be heart-shaped or round, and is used as a small eye on the end of a rope to receive another rope.

Fig. 137 shows a method of “mousing a hook,” that is, preventing a chain slipping off a hook. A few turns of rope-yarn are passed round the end of the hook and the standing part, and the ends brought round the middle a few times, and fastened with a reef knot.

For “stropping a block” (Fig. 138) a grommet is neat, and a selvagee still neater, especially when leather-covered. The block is first fixed in one bight, so that the lower part of the block sits on the splice, if there is one. A thimble is put into the other bight, and a seizing put on between the block and the thimble, each turn of which is hove taut with a heaver. The turns are, lastly, crossed, and the ends knotted. Fig. 138 shows the work finished. Sometimes the stropping is made by splicing the ends of a suitable length of rope together.

Pointing a rope is done partly to prevent it from untwisting, and partly to make it go more readily through a block or hole. Fig. 139 shows one method. The rope is unlaid for the necessary length, the strands reduced gradually, and then laid up again. The ends are finally whipped with small twine. If necessary the end is stiffened by inserting a piece of stick. Sometimes a “becket”—that is, a piece of small line with an eye at the end—is put into the end and whipped over to secure it, as in Fig. 139. Fig. 140 gives a more elaborate method. The rope is first unlaid, and a stop put on it where the unlaid part begins. As many yarns as are required are taken out and made into nettles by twisting together the two halves of different yarns. The remainder of the yarns is scraped down taper with a knife. Half of the nettles is turned back on the standing part of the rope, and the other half allowed to lie on the scraped part. Two or three turns of twine are hitched round the division of the two sets of strands, and the nettles laid backwards and forwards, the weft being passed each time, as described in making the fender (Fig. 134). The end usually is whipped and a seizing put on the upper part, which is snaked, as illustrated, by passing twine diagonally under and over the outer turns of the seizing alternately—that is, if it comes out over the upper turn, it will go under the bottom one, under the top, and so on until it is finished.

Fig. 141 is part of a mainstay. An eye is first made in the end, and a mouse the shape of a pear raised on the rope with spun yarn. Each turn of the yarn is hove well taut with a large serving-mallet, and beaten close. The eye and the rope as far as the mouse are wormed, parcelled, and served over; the mouse and the part below it (the tail) are parcelled with worn canvas, well tarred, and pointed over or grafted with small stuff. The mouse is covered with nettles, and their number diminished as they are worked into the smaller parts. Below the pointing it is again served over.

Shear-legs are fastened together as indicated in Fig. 142. They are first laid side by side, and a lashing of rope put round them. The ends of the lashing are carried one up and the other down to form a cross lashing, and are knotted in the middle. This is called a Portuguese knot. When the legs are separated, the knot becomes very secure.

A neat pair of yoke lines is made and fitted in the following manner. The length of the lines depends upon the distance of the yoke from the after seat; that distance added to 3 ft. will give a good length for each line. Supposing the top of the back-board to be 3 ft. from the yoke, two-and-a-half fathoms of white cotton rope will be necessary, the extra half fathom being allowed for knotting, etc. Cut this in two equal lengths; take one of these and “stop” with a few turns of twine at 14 in. from one end and 6 in. from the other, which will leave 70 in. between the stops or whippings. Now unlay the longer end and whip each strand close to the end, leaving a few inches of spare twine on each, which will be useful when finishing the manrope knot.

Holding the line in the left hand, make a single wall knot, as shown in Fig. 143. The strand A is first placed and held in position by the thumb; B is next taken and passed round the end of A, then C round the end of B, and up through the loop formed in the first instance with A. Now pull together evenly, but not too tightly, and with the three ends remaining work a crown (see Fig. 144), where A is crossed over the knot, then B over A, and C over B, and down through the loop formed by A. After pulling this crown together evenly, the state shown by Fig. 145 is reached; notice that the ends lie snug against the strands of the wall knot first formed. Keeping each end on the same side of its partner, let it follow the same round, using a steel pricker to open the way between the strands. The twine ends before-mentioned will now be found useful in coaxing these ends through their holes. When each end has followed its partner round the wall and crown, the ends which will come out at the neck of the knot may be cut off and the manrope knot (Fig. 146) will be completed. A red leather washer with serrated edge is usually pushed up to the knot as a finish.

The other end of the line should be pointed. To do this, unlay and fray out the 6 in. of end, then pick out the yarns nearest the edge—that is, next the whipping—and make a number of 2-ply nettles by laying up these outer yarns, scraping them a little with a knife to make them taper slightly. There must be an even number of nettles, and sufficient to lay close together all round the “heart,” which is formed by scraping away the centre yarns to an even taper, then marling down tight with twine as seen at D (Fig. 147). Half the nettles must now be placed along the heart, and half and half back over the whipping, picking them out alternately. An indiarubber band is convenient to keep them in place while passing the “warp”—that is, two turns of twine hitched round the heart and those nettles lying along it.

The nettles must now change places; all that were placed back must go forward, and all that were along the heart must go back over the whipping, and the warp is again passed twice round and hitched; this process is continued till the point reaches the length of 2 in., or whatever length of point is required. Four times the diameter of the rope is a good rule for this. To fasten off, all the nettles are stroked down towards the tapered end, and all those round which the warp was last passed are doubled back as shown in Fig. 148, three hitched turns of the warp being passed through all the “bites” or loops of the nettles, which are then pulled down and cut off with the other nettle ends. The twine stop is then taken off and a neat snake whipping put on in its place.

A bunting fringe is generally added as a finish, and this is very easily made by fraying out a piece of blue or red bunting 4 in. square, and laying the threads down together ends even, then placing enough of these round the yoke line to encircle it at about 1 in. from the snake whipping. Pass a number of turns of twine round all near the centre of the bunting threads to form a little knob, then stroke all the bunting threads towards the point and put round all a neat snake-thread whipping just below the knob. This will form a little tassel, as shown in Fig. 149, which represents one yoke line completed. The other is, of course, made in the same manner.

A rope ladder, owing to its portability, is for some purposes more suitable than one made of wood, especially where the ladder is to be hauled up when not in use. Fig. 150 shows a rope ladder which is made of four-strand rope; the rounds are turned out of oak to the form shown in Fig. 151. The groove at the ends is for the reception of the strands of the rope. The rounds are rather more than 1 in. in diameter, and are placed 11 in. apart. The strands are opened with a marlinespike and the rounds inserted between them, two on each side: a seizing is put on below each round; a round thimble is put into the upper bight, and an eye seizing is clapped on below it. The lower ends are generally spliced together, or a thimble may be spliced in, as at the upper end, if it is intended to make the lower end fast.

Another form of rope ladder is shown in Fig. 152. A number of oak chocks (Fig. 153) are turned, usually about 5 in. in diameter and 5 in. deep, bored to 1 in. diameter with the grain of the wood; this will take a 3-in. four-stranded rope. Splice an eye at one end and seize in a thimble for the lashing; put on one of the wooden steps, flat side uppermost towards the thimble and about 30 in. down. Insert a strand of ratline stuff between two strands of the rope, and with the two ends of the strand work a “wall knot” round the rope, then a “crown,” which will bring the ends down to the first turns of the wall. Pull the parts up tight, and follow them round once; the result will be a neat knot looking like a two-parted Turk’s head. If preferred, two strands may be inserted crossing each other at right angles between the four rope strands; then with all four ends work a double wall knot round the rope. Between the knots, spaced 15 in. apart, slip on the wood. Do not cut off the ends short until the knots have got well jammed up.

For a 25-ft. ladder of a better kind, illustrated in Fig. 154, two dozen oval rungs of wood will be required, having at the ends scores rasped as shown at Fig. 155. The rungs may be 12 in. long. Nine fathoms of 4-in. four-stranded rope must be well stretched and the turns taken out, stretched again, etc. Middle it and seize a thimble in the bight, making this fast to a post. Then stretch out both parts together, and mark off the positions for the rungs with chalk, 12 in. apart. At every chalk mark, and round each part of rope separately, put a seven-turn whipping of tarred nettle stuff (this is sold in hanks). Now begin at the end nearest the bight or lower end, open the strands with a fid and spike above the seizings or whippings, and push in a rung, taking care to avoid twisting the rope by inserting the spike between the two strands best situated. When all the rungs are in and the ladder hangs without much twist, the open parts of the strands may be drawn together with a marlinespike and a piece of sennit or by carefully using a screw cramp above the rungs; then a six-turn seizing of nettle stuff put tightly on above each of the rungs keeps them in place. The top rung should be rather stouter than the rest to allow a deeper score. Splice a thimble into each end, and into each thimble a fathom of eighteen-yarn stuff for lashings. This is a good ladder to hang down clear, and is used over ships’ sterns and from lower booms, the lower thimble being convenient for boats’ “painters.”

To hang against a ship’s side, where room for the toe projecting over the rung is needed, a pilot ladder (Fig. 156) is more comfortable, but more difficult to make. The steps are usually of teak, mortised into diamond-shaped side pieces (see Fig. 157) about 8 in. deep by 5 in., with a score rasped out all round the edges. About twenty-three or twenty-four of these steps will be required for a 25-ft. ladder, and eighteen fathoms of 2½-in. three-stranded rope. Prepare by stretching well as before; cut in two equal parts and mark the middle of each length. Place one of the steps immediately over the marks and seize it tight in place by bringing the parts of rope round the score on each side to meet above. If the next step is placed on this seizing and so on, the completed ladder is too stiff to roll up; it is therefore necessary to put two seizings between each step, leaving about 2½ in. of free rope between them. When the steps are thus seized in place, the ends on each side are made even, spliced together, and fitted with thimbles for the lashings.

Mats are used on board ship to prevent chafing. In making wrought mats a piece of small cord is stretched tight horizontally at about the height of a man, and fastened at each end. Across this, hanging by their middles, nettles are placed. These are often made of “foxes”—that is, three or more rope-yarns twisted together by hand, and each rubbed down with tarred canvas or a handful of rope-yarn. Beginning with the nettle nearest the left hand, it is crossed as A (Fig. 158). Another nettle is then brought up close to the first, and crossed in the same way. The end B is then passed over the strand C, and pushed to the back; another nettle is then brought forward, crossed as before, and one part of it put over the part D, and pressed back. The work is continued this way, working diagonally until a sufficient width is obtained (Fig. 159); then, as no more nettles are added, and the outside nettle on the right is brought over from time to time, a selvage is formed as on the left side. Take care not to twist each of the nettles together at the bottom, so that they may retain their twist until the next in succession is brought down to interweave with them. There is a little difficulty at starting, but afterwards everything goes on easily. Each nettle from the right passes over the next one to it on the left, and is pushed back, the one that has been passed over being taken up first over the next and pushed back as before. Each twist should be pressed tight as it is made. When the mat is deep enough, a selvage is made by straining another piece of cord along the bottom, securing both ends. As each nettle comes down it is half-hitched to this, and the next nettle is laid up at the back of it, and so on alternately.

Mats are frequently thrummed; this is done by raising the nettles lying on the top of the mat with a marlinespike or pricker after the mat is finished, and putting short pieces of the nettle stuff underneath. The thrums are then cut off to the same length, and opened out. Of course, wrought mats may be made of any material and used for a variety of purposes. They make most excellent door-mats, and are of everlasting wear. For this purpose they should not be made of tarred stuff. Very pretty mats may be constructed of twine for the foundation and various coloured pieces of worsted for the thrums.

A kind of mat used aboard ship is called a sword mat. It is woven, but a loom is not used. Two small cords, or, better still, two small rods, are secured horizontally and the nettle stuff wound round them, the coils being laid close together. A piece of wood called a “fiddle,” as long as the width of the mat and about 2 in. wide and ⅜ in. thick, has half as many holes bored near the lower edge as these nettles in the mat. Every alternate nettle is secured to this by some twine laced through the holes. Another fiddle is fastened in like manner to the remaining nettles. The work can now be begun. The first fiddle is raised, and the first set of nettles consequently raised with it. What weavers call a “shed” is thus formed—that is, an opening between the two sets of nettles—and along it the weft or filling is passed by means of a netting needle (see p. 125). The filling is driven well home with a flat piece of wood, tapered towards the edge, called a “sword.” The first set of nettles is now allowed to drop, and the second set drawn up with the other fiddle. The filling is passed again and driven home as before. The work is thus continued until there is no longer room to use the sword, when the filling must be worked home with a pricker. When the mat is long enough, the filling is fastened off, and the mat is complete. These mats may be thrummed in the same manner as the wrought mats.

A softer kind of mat is made on a foundation of canvas or duck, which is very suitable for the stern-sheets of a boat or any other similar purpose. The material is cut to the right size and folded a short distance from the edge. A hole is made near the selvage with a pricker and a thrum inserted; another hole is then made a short distance from the first and another thrum put in, and so on until the row is completed. Row after row is thus worked until the mat is finished. Of course the holes, and consequently the thrums, go through both parts of the material. When the canvas is pulled straight after each row is finished, the thrums are held securely without any other fastening.

When a pattern is to be worked on the mat, the design must first be drawn on the material in pencil and the canvas folded accordingly; every fold produces two rows of thrums. White duck thrummed with pieces of cotton rope makes very nice, clean-looking mats for boat use, and as they wash well they can always be kept in good order. These mats, with a stout canvas or sacking foundation, thrummed with pieces of untarred hemp rope, serve very well for door-mats, though, of course, they will not last as long as wrought mats.

Very ornamental mats are made somewhat after the same manner as those just described. Any suitable material, of any colour, can be used for the foundation, on which the pattern must be drawn. The mat is folded along the line intended to be worked, and a common pencil laid along the ridge of the fold. The worsted or other material used is threaded in a large needle, and worked over and over the pencil, thus forming, when the pencil is withdrawn, a series of loops on the foundation. Any pattern can thus be worked, provided always that it consists of straight lines. It might be possible to form curved lines by working the loops over the first finger of the left hand, moving the finger after each loop.