Thread: Fyfe/Fife

Taffrail ,

Cannot help you with belaying pin Fyfe rail.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiferail

It has holes in it to take belaying pins which are a simple removable cleat.


Some belaying pins in a fiferail (assuming it is close to the mast

MIK

On square rigged ships, a fiferail (or fife pinrail) was placed fore and aft on each side of the masts with a crossrail tying them together. Often these were curved (the crossrail). They served two main purposes, one to belay lines, typically halyards, jeers and lifts and the other to provide a place where the crew could handle these lines with the safety of a stout railing around them on a pitching deck.

They were also found along the bulwarks, usually abreast of the masts. These carried the tacks, braces, the sheets and a few halyards.

Many of the rail arrangements also included a set of fair leads built into the legs, so the crew could haul lines through them, then belay the line to the closest vacant pin. The interior area of U shaped rails commonly had several blocks tied to eye bolts or rings, set into the deck, again to permit hauling a loaded line, then fixing it to the nearest free pin.

A belaying pin makes a fine head knocker in a bar fight too . . .