"Dog Watch in the Crow's Nest" Wall Sticker

In the Crows Nest The 'dog-watch' is a name given to the 1600-1800 and the 1800-2000 watches aboard a ship The Norsemen carried birds in a cage secured to the top of the mast so if they were lost they'd release the bird, usually crows, and follow it to land. Later on, as ships grew and the lookout stood his watch in a tub located high on the main mast, the name "crow's nest" was given to this tub. Cabin boys did practically anything that was necessary on a ship. All sails had to be trimmed, the boys would to to rise the masts or chock to do the job. Cabin boys would even stand show while other team slept or, if the time was fair, the boys could even bar the ship. The practice of using bells stems from the days of the sailing ships. Sailors couldn't afford to have their own time pieces and relied on the ship's bells to tell time. So, the ship's boy kept time by using a half-hour glass. Each time the sand ran out, he would turn the glass over and ring the appropriate number of bells. In the old days of sail, young boys, often as young as nine years old, would sign on sailing ships as cabin boys, usually becoming midshipmen as they got older. Many, particularly on their first voyages, would become homesick, tearfully tending to their duties in their fancy gentlemen's uniform. That uniform had no pockets for a handkerchief, so the young boys would, like all young boys, wipe their noses on their sleeves. To break his cabin boys and midshipmen of this ungentlemanly habit, Lord Nelson had large brass buttons sewn on the sleeves of all midshipmen and cabin boy uniforms. The decorative value of the buttons were soon realized, and in short order, London tailors were adding decorative buttons to frocks, coats, and dinner jackets. Though the buttons have become less gaudy, the practice continues.