Origin and etymology of marine superstitions

The two examples above were the examples of people bringing good luck, but the question is: why according to some believes different people brought different luck? There were people that definitely were not wanted on a ship. Clergyman on ship was said to bring bad weather. Mariners thought that if clergymen were playing games with the devil on land being hypocritical and sinful, they would behave the same way at sea, so gentlemen of that kind were considered very unlucky to be on board.

Another unlucky person to be found on board ship was a woman. Today it is difficult to imagine any ship without a woman. Women are studying in Maritime Academies all over the world and they successfully cope with the work of cooks, waitresses, maidens, passenger administrators, engineers, radio officers, electricians; they can even manage with navigation responsibilities and be captains! But that was not always so. Women were considered ill luck for the ship and the crew because they were thought of potential temptation to the sailors. The old sea superstition was that woman on board is unlucky sign. A woman on board was also considered to cause a storm.

2. Animals. We would like to start with birds that accompany the ships in the ocean and they are seagulls and albatrosses. Seagulls are considered to be, strange as it may seem, a bad luck because they are associated with the stormy petrel. These birds are regarded as objects of superstitious fear and are believed to possess the supernatural agency in creating danger for the mariner. Seagulls were reported to cry before any disaster. Many seamen also think of seagulls as souls of the dead/departed sailors and if three seagulls flow overhead that maybe the sign of the coming death on board. You should never shoot a seagull.

Albatrosses are also sea birds, and superstitions connected with them are completely different to those of the seagulls because since ancient times mariners always believed that they were birds of good luck. Once a crew complained about a couple of albatrosses were taken to the zoo (they are big and beautiful birds) they had had a series of misfortunes.

Goat used to be hanged on the mast by Scottish seamen to procure favorable wind, which is definitely for good luck during the voyage. On the other hand, such animal as dead hare or rabbit on board is said to bring bad weather. It would have been very unlucky to go to sea with even a fragment of rabbit's hair anywhere on the boat. Stories are told all along the coast of Scotland that mischievous boys got hold of rabbit skins, filled them with rubbish and placed them in the sterns of boats, in order to stop the men from going to sea [1, p. 192]. This is definitely for bad luck.

3. Objects. Needless to say that the objects that surround us usually are very important for people. In the house everybody has his favorite place or small pieces like statuettes, or some souvenirs that we love to look at, rub in our hands and feel the reminiscences about the day when we bought them. The same goes with things and objects that we'd like to get rid of because of bad memories. This typically human nature works with mariners, that's why some objects they treat like good signs, some like bad.

The first example will be figurehead, an omen of protection of the ship. They were the real carved figures, “usually human (but also very often animals), fixed on the stem high in the bow <...> written as two words, “figure head” [3, p. 49]. The prime function of such figures was a distinctive one: along with ship's tonnage, dimensions, port of registry, etc. the classification societies such as Lloyd' and Bureau Veritas used to also mention the type of ship's figurehead. Later their function tended to be more a decorative emblem. “Its origin is probably both religious and personal, in a milieu where a ship was treated as a living thing” [3, p. 50]. Gradually the female figure heads were predominant, especially naked or half naked, despite the fact that seamen considered women an unlucky sign. The point is that all sea gods were supposed to be males so the look of a beautiful woman would pacify them and avert the ship from storm.

Another object which is connected with marine superstitions is the knife. In the 19th century it was said that it was a common practice among fishermen to stick the blades of the knives into the mast to bring the luck up. They used to say that “when the wind fails, you should stick a knife in the mast and a breeze will come” [1, p. 218]. So this was considered to be good luck.

4. Traditions. Traditions usually are referred to as “customs and beliefs existing among a particular group of people for a long time” [2, p. 1569]. They may also refer to rituals, to the perception of what is a good sign or a bad sign on board ship, what may or may not bring protection to the ship. Beginning voyage on Friday is definitely a bad sign. “A voyage that began on Friday is sure to be an unfortunate one”. A Friday's sail, always fail [1, p. 168]. When Friday falls on the 13th of the month it's a double taboo to set on sail. On the contrary, going to sea on Sunday is absolutely safe and is considered to bring the ship and seamen good luck. For mariners Sunday was always the most fortunate day. “Whatever voyage is begun on that day is sure to be prosperous” [1, p. 382].

Another tradition is to keep brooms and buckets always on board because losing broom or bucket at sea is considered very unlucky. That's because a broom or a mop is a tool of sweeping away all the “evil” like dust and dirt from the ship and a bucket is a vessel for keeping “good luck” like water, etc. “When a sailor lets a pail fall overboard, he feels “uncomfortable” <.> because “a bucket lost overboard means ill luck” [1, p. 46].

Putting keys on the table. This is considered to be a bad luck because it means that the person who put keys on the table may lose all his money in one day. Compare with dropping keys meaning “a sign of a removal” [1, p. 216], some of the same idea traditions were mentioned above in this article, like tossing a coin overboardfor luck, touching a sailor, whistling for wind, etc.

Some of the traditions were originally connected not directly with the sea and sailors but with the mariners' family, their wives in particular. Seamen's wives used to practice some activities to avert the spell from their husbands when the latter were at sea. Later on these “safety keeping” traditions were transported on board ships by the seamen. For example, combing hair after sunset was considered to bring bad luck for those at sea, so fisherman's wife would never dear to brush her hair after midnight [1, p. 185].

Another tradition was: never wash clothes on the day of sailing. The seaman' wife would never wash on the day of the ship's set sail “because the rushing away of the washday water might wash his ship away” [1, p. 425].

Conclusions

The large domain of etymological bulk of the English language such as the origin of marine superstitions terms and phrases has been sparsely researched so far if at all. But this layer of lexicological material presents a great interest from historical and cultural viewpoint, although being vague and obscure. With this research we start lifting the veil off this mysterious but yet essential and live sector of the nautical language.

In the article marine superstitions were systematized according to:

a) having positive (e.g. horseshoe; tossing a coin overboard) and negative (e.g. woman on board; keys on the desk) connotation;

b) groups of notions they refer to: people, animals, objects, traditions.

The article may be of interest not only to students learning English etymology, but also for all the seafarers and people who deal with maritime business.

Bibliography

1. Opie I. & Tatem M. Dictionary of Superstitions. Oxford, New York : Oxford University Press, 1996.

2. Hornby A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English. Oxford University Press, 2005.

3. Jeans P.D. An Ocean of Words. A Dictionary of Nautical Words and Phrases. Carol Publishing Group, Toronto, Ontario, 1998. 180 p.

4. Beavis B. & McGloskey R.G. Salty Dog Talk. The Nautical Origin of Everyday Expressions. Sheridan House, London: New York : Granada, 1983.96 p.

1. Opie I.& Tatem M. (199). Dictionary of Superstitions. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.

2. Hornby A.S. (2005). Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English. Oxford University Press.

3. Jeans P.D. (1998). An Ocean of Words. A Dictionary of Nautical Words and Phrases. Carol Publishing Group, Toronto, Ontario. 180 p.

4. Beavis B. & McGloskey R.G. (1983). Salty Dog Talk. The Nautical Origin of Everyday Expressions. Sheridan House, London: New York : Granada, 96 p.

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