On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 16:21:13 GMT, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
wrote:


"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote in message
m...

The stacks did become slack during extreme heat. The brass monkey became
looser. Only when it tightened excessively did the balls begin to roll
off.

Keep in mind that a triangular pyramid stack of spheres is stable to +-60
degrees of roll. That's a heavy sea.


From the rather small niche of black powder historians, the story comes this
way:

Anyone who physically handled cannon balls or powder was known as a "ball
monkey" or "powder monkey". The term "powder monkey" is still used today.
"Ball monkey" seems to have been lost.

On board most armed ships of the British fleet were triangular brass racks -
low bars of brass forged into an equilateral triangle - mounted to the
decks, into which to stack cannon balls in the familiar pyramid fashion.
This, to ready the balls for quick access.

Although the "brass monkeys" were only an inch or two high, the stacks made
within them were quite stable -- until the temperature dropped very, very
cold. At that point, due to different coefficients of expansion between
brass and iron, the balls came tumbling off their racks.

Thus, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". Of course, the
vulgar connotations came quite soon after. G

You may want to read any of the 20 Patrick O'Brian novels to learn
that shipboard artillery was not handled this way. Having done
extensive research, he knew a little of what he was talking about and
dealt with the subject fairly extensively in his books.

--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

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