Naval Trivia is back.

If you are new to MSW or need a refresher, here are the rules:
1. I ask the first question.
2. The first correct answer gets to ask the next question.
3. Repeat Rule #2.
Simple.

Ok, here we go.

What is the origin of the phrase "The devil to pay."?

Gator

The full saying is The Devil to Pay, and no Pitch Hot. The outermost seam on sailing ships was for some reason called the Devil. To "pay" was to seal with pitch. So to pay the devil was to seal it with hot pitch. If you don't have any picth hot that's pretty hard to do. The seam called the Devil is also the origin of Between the Devil and he Deep Blue Sea.

Next question, where does "Son of a Gun" come from?

Found this:

Originally, this expression described one of the more unpleasant tasks aboard a wooden ship.

The "devil" is the place where the deck joins the hull, inside the ship. It's a very awkward place to reach!

Caulking of seams between boards of the hull was done with "pay" or pitch (a kind of tar). The task of "paying the devil" (caulking the longest seam of the hull) was despeized by every seaman.

Roger Rodger.

Sorry Joe. Rodg was first.

Great question Rodger

In British naval slang this term refers to children of questionable parentage conceived on Gun Deck. Hence 'son of a gun'.

However, children born on board British Naval Vessels to enlisted men were referred to as 'true son of a gun'.

Admiral William Henry Smyth wrote in his 1867 book, the Sailor's Word-book:

"Son of a gun, an epithet conveying contempt in a slight degree, and originally applied to boys born afloat, when women were permitted to accompany their husbands to sea; one admiral declared he literally was thus cradled, under the breast of a gun-carriage."

When a Royal Navy vessel entered a port it was common for local prostitutes to visit the ship and elicit custom from the sailors. The sailors and prostitues then had sexual relations, usually on one of the gun decks beside the many guns carried, one of the few places Able and Ordinary Seaman could obtain some sort of privacy.

Should the prostitute subsequently fall pregnant by the sailor, she would then attempt to obtain compensation from the father or the navy for the upkeep of the child.

This was usually not forthcoming and the father's name would be withheld. When it was fairly certain that the child had been conceived upon board one of His Majesty's vessesls, the infant would be entered into the ship's records as 'child born to gun number X', the X denoting the gun position the sailor responsible for the errant behaviour was allocated-to, his name being omitted to maintain probity.

These children born in this manner had no father's name on any official records and the male ones were referred to by knowing sailors as being 'sons of guns', a term denoting illegitimacy and contempt.

Regards


Sean