From time to time it is good to go out back and throw the pig skin around the back yard. Yeah, that’s what I mean, NOT! On a ship the yard is a spar mounted on a mast and is sued to control sails. On a square rigged ship the yards are the horizontal pieces mounted on the masts.

Using different connections the sails are connected to the yards and are therefore controlled in this fashion. The yard is even broken down into different sections. These are the bunt, quarters, and yardarm. The bunt is the central section of the yard. This is where the yard is connected to the mast. The quarters make up the bulk of the yards. The yardarm is the very tip if the yards.

Going aloft to work in the rigging is a dangerous job. Along the yards are footropes to help the sailor accomplish his task. At the yard arms is a special rope called the Flemish horse. I know your asking, why Flemish horse, but the origin is not clear. At one time all footropes were referred to as horses. Then on top of that animals from that region, Flanders to Belgium, are hard to work with. So since the yardarm required a special sailor to take care of it is thought the name stuck.

Manning the yards is similar to manning the rails on a warship. All crew members not required to maneuver the ship in the harbor will go aloft and stand on the yards. This was done to prove to the gun were not manned.

The phrase “Sun over the Yardarm” is used to tell the time for lunch or possibly time for a drink. The phrase is sued both at sea and ashore, but in reality I had never heard it. To us it was “5 o’clock somewhere.” This time would vary depending on the ships latitude, heading, and mast height. The origins of the phrase are said to come from sailing in the North Atlantic. The time was around 11:00 am when the first rum tot was issued to the crew and officers.