This blog started as a year long project to post a photo taken in the Aberdeenshire village of Johnshaven every day for a year.
Having completed all 366 postings, I'm going to keep adding the occasional photo. All comments are very welcome. If you see anything on here that is factually inaccurate, please feel free to put me right!
Saturday, 26 March 2011
9. Ropes
This bollard at the end of the pier is in regular use for tying up fishing boats.
Is 'bollard' the right word? If there's a special nautical term for these things, please feel free to put me right!
Geek Factoid- Yep Bollard certainly is the right word. The word bollard originated from the mooring bollards found along quaysides.
The name is probably inherited from the Norman-French name Boulard still often found in Normandy. It is a short wooden, iron or stone post used on a quayside for mooring ships. Mooring bollards are seldom exactly cylindrical, but typically have a larger diameter near the top to discourage mooring warps (docklines) from coming loose. Single bollards sometimes include a cross rod to allow the mooring to be bent into a figure eight.
In turn, Boulard and Bollard probably originate from the word Bole which has it's etymological roots in early 14c., from O.N. bolr "tree trunk," from P.Gmc. *bulas (cf. M.Du. bolle "trunk of a tree"), from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (cf. Gk. phyllon "leaf," phallos "swollen penis;" L. flos "flower," florere "to blossom, flourish," folium "leaf;" O.Prus. balsinis "cushion;" O.N. belgr "bag, bellows;" O.E. bolla "pot, cup, bowl;" O.Ir. bolgaim "I swell," blath "blossom, flower," bolach "pimple," bolg "bag;" Bret. bolc'h "flax pod;" Serb. buljiti "to stare, be bug-eyed;" Serbo-Cr. blazina "pillow").
If you bothered to read this far you will realise that I am bored, have time on my hands and have spent far too long at sea :-)
I should probably stop here, I'd hate to be accused of talking bollards.....
Geek Factoid- Yep Bollard certainly is the right word. The word bollard originated from the mooring bollards found along quaysides.
ReplyDeleteThe name is probably inherited from the Norman-French name Boulard still often found in Normandy. It is a short wooden, iron or stone post used on a quayside for mooring ships. Mooring bollards are seldom exactly cylindrical, but typically have a larger diameter near the top to discourage mooring warps (docklines) from coming loose. Single bollards sometimes include a cross rod to allow the mooring to be bent into a figure eight.
In turn, Boulard and Bollard probably originate from the word Bole which has it's etymological roots in early 14c., from O.N. bolr "tree trunk," from P.Gmc. *bulas (cf. M.Du. bolle "trunk of a tree"), from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (cf. Gk. phyllon "leaf," phallos "swollen penis;" L. flos "flower," florere "to blossom, flourish," folium "leaf;" O.Prus. balsinis "cushion;" O.N. belgr "bag, bellows;" O.E. bolla "pot, cup, bowl;" O.Ir. bolgaim "I swell," blath "blossom, flower," bolach "pimple," bolg "bag;" Bret. bolc'h "flax pod;" Serb. buljiti "to stare, be bug-eyed;" Serbo-Cr. blazina "pillow").
If you bothered to read this far you will realise that I am bored, have time on my hands and have spent far too long at sea :-)
I should probably stop here, I'd hate to be accused of talking bollards.....