The Elusive Hulc by woodrat - FINISHED - 1:32 - plank-on-frame - a speculative reconstruction of a mediaeval merchantman

[Louie da fly]

Nice work, Dick. Sensible idea fixing the forestay to the "keel plank".

 

Just a question - is there any particular reason for the facets on the windlass? The only ones from this period that I know of all seem to have been simple cylinders.

 

Steven

[woodrat]

2 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

is there any particular reason for the facets on the windlass?

no particular reason, Steven. Should I change it?

Dick

[Louie da fly]

Up to you, mate - it's your model.

 

The only near-contemporary windlasses I know of are from the Bremen cog (c. 1380),

 

 

the Ijssel cog (mid 15th century)

 

 

and the Kalmar ship (Swedish, mid 13th century).

 

 

All have simple cylindrical windlasses. I'm not including any of the modern reconstructions, as I don't know what they based their windlasses on.

 

I have a picture of the supposed windlass from the Mary Rose, (which is what I used on the dromon) but I'm not sure whether that's based on archaeology or speculation.

 

Steven

[woodrat]

According to Wolfram zu Mondfeld (Historic Ship Models): from the 13th century onward the windlass drums were usually octagonal or hexagonal in cross section. As the speculative hulc predates this by at least a century, it would seem sensible to have a cylindrical drum. But of course local variation must have been endless.

Dick

[Louie da fly]

Yes, there's so little reliable information from this period. I certainly wasn't trying to criticise your choices - I've been on my own voyage of discovery regarding windlasses. I've got zu Mondfeld's book - unfortunately he doesn't say what he bases this statement on, but assuming he's got the right information, there's every reason to make a polygonal windlass for a ship of this period.

 

And these hulcs were in use for quite a long time, as well. apparently - I'm sure you've already seen this -  https://nautarch.tamu.edu/class/316/hulk/ which states that the Hulkesmouth/New Shoreham seal, which sparked off the whole "hulcs had upside-down clinker" theory, dates to about 1295.

 

 

 

 

Steven

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by Louie da fly

[woodrat]

Thanks, Steven. The tamu file agrees with my impression of hulcs.

 

Here is the maintop with the  forestay and shrouds rigged. The yard is crossed. I was not convinced that parrels were appropriate so I opted for leather wrapped rope. There is a rope for tightening the leather strop.

 

 

 

 

Cheerio

Dick

 

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by woodrat

[Louie da fly]

Very nice work as usual, Dick. Your builds are a pleasure to follow.

 

6 hours ago, woodrat said:

I was not convinced that parrels were appropriate so I opted for leather wrapped rope.

 

I'd agree with that. The earliest representations I've seen of parrel trucks is early 15th century. Admittedly, artistic licence has to be taken into account (the artist just might not have included them in his picture) but the available evidence points to them coming in around about that time.

 

Steven

 

 

 

[Louie da fly]

On 6/25/2021 at 9:51 PM, woodrat said:

It is held against a wooden dome by the withy and the upper shaft is held against the hull by a strop of leather.

 

Dick, what did you use to simulate leather for the rudder-shaft strop?

 

Steven

[woodrat]

On 11/26/2021 at 8:40 AM, Louie da fly said:

Dick, what did you use to simulate leather for the rudder-shaft strop?

I used a strip of Silkspan doubled lengthwise glued and dyed brown. Seems strong. But, in order to be able to raise the rudder, this has to be released quickly. I fixed one end to the wood block against which the rudder moves and led the other end through a slot where it is held with a wooden dowel which can be pulled out quickly by the steersman. I have no evidence for this but they must have done something like this or lost a lot of rudders. Dick

Edited November 29, 2021 by woodrat

[Louie da fly]

Thanks very much. I'm just trying to work out how to do my own rudder for the nef and yours seems to be very good.

 

Steven

[woodrat]

Some pics of the quarter rudder

 

The arrow points to the wooden rod holding the leather strop inside the bulwark. Removal of this by the steersman allows rapid raising of the rudder.

 

Cheers Dick

[Louie da fly]

Thank you.

 

Steven

[woodrat]

Just a question about mediaeval robands. My impression is that the robands of this period in the north were a simple rope passed through a grommet in the sail and tied above the yard with a reef knot. My books give no evidence for this. Certainly the complicated double robands of the 17th to 19th century would not be appropriate. However, looking at some contemporary ilustrations, some seem to show ribbon-like robands, a little tapered at the ends. What was the scandinavian practice or dont we know. Sails dont preserve well.

Dick

[Louie da fly]

Unfortunately I haven't found any evidence of what was used, and I think the main culprit is simply the fact that masts, spars, sails and rigging are among the first things to go when a ship is wrecked, so not available to archaeology. As far as I know, none of the Viking burial ships have more than morsels of ropes and rigging.

 

In Backer's "Pelican" build he's just been putting his robands on and he includes a photo of a page from a book that states that early robands were just a single rope wound round in a spiral

  But I don't know where the author got this information, so I don't know how reliable it is.

 

Steven 

[woodrat]

And now to the knotty problem of how the mediaeval tar shortened sail. There is no doubt that in the 13th century, bonnets had not yet been introduced but there is ample evidence of reef points in contemporary illustrations. The patterns of reefpoints seen are legion, varying from a single band to multiple bands of reef ponts to seemingly random scatterings of points. It is my contention that reefing was not done using the techniques of later centuries. For one thing I believe sailcloth was somewhat stiffer and hence difficult to hand. Something more mechanical is needed. There were no footropes so it is unlikely that reefing by hardy matelots at the yard occurred during a blow although furling was done in harbour by sailors astraddle the yard. It is possible that the yard was lowered somewhat to allow the sail to be shortened from the deck, much as was the case with the later bonnets.

The contemporary illustrations once again come to our assistance and, in this regard, I acknowledge the research and lateral thinking done by the early contributors to The Mariner's Mirror Robert Morton Nance and  Harold Brindley. To these I owe the concept which , I believe, likely explains the the strange appearance of reef points in this age. I have elected to use their concept in my model.

Many illustrations are seen where reef points are double and with a loop as seen in this woodcut fromthe Compost et kalendriers des bergiers 1493

These strange points were on the forward

 

and after side of the sail.

 

There are often three rows of reefpoints

Mr Nance contends that the double points and loops were used to enable one or two sailors to sequentially reef the sail by passing the double points of the upper reef point "over and through the loop on the the lower band " then a reef knot is tied on the standing part. This is repeated on the other side. This concertinas the sail. (Mariners Mirror Notes, Vol VI, No 3, pp 85-86, March 1920)

I have decided to use these reef points in my model although I baulked at showing the sail reefed.

 

 

Cheers

Dick

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by woodrat

[woodrat]

To show the sail bellying to a moderate quartering wind, I used a cushion inside a plastic bag secured to a firm surface and coated with silicon lubricant.

Strips of Silkspan were held together with watered down wood glue.

 

Cross bands applied. Sail coloured with diluted wood dye. Silkspan is too white. I doubt mediaeval sails were ever white.

A Templar cross was made of Silkspan and applied.

 

Bolt ropes and cringles applied, robands inserted. I have avoided stitching as the Silkspan crinkles and tears easily.

 

 

I realise that this sail not accurately depicting a real sail but this is a decorative model and I wanted to give an overall impression of a sail bellyingrather than just hanging limp.

Double reef points and loops applied to both sides of the sail.

 

 

Dick Woodrat

[woodrat]

Some views of the vessel with sail deployed. Almost finished

 

 

 

 

I saw a ship a-sailing,
A-sailing on the sea,
And it was full of pretty things
For baby and for me.

There were sweetmeats in the cabin,
And apples in the hold,
The sails were made of silk,
And the masts were made of gold.

The four-and-twenty sailors
That stood between the decks,
Were four-and-twenty white mice,
With chains about their necks.

The captain was a duck,
With a packet on his back,
And when the ship began to move,
The captain cried, "Alas, alack!"

I saw a ship a-sailing,
A-sailing on the sea,
And it was full of pretty things
For baby and for me.

 

Merry Xmas

Dick

 

[mtaylor]

Beautiful work, Dick.  And I loved the poem.

[Roger Pellett]

Nice job, and until one that can be identified as a hulc is found, probably as close as we will come to understanding the real thing.  Everything about your model looks plausible.

 

Roger

[woodrat]

On 12/20/2021 at 9:48 AM, mtaylor said:

And I loved the poem

Thanks, Mark. The poem is an old Mother Goose nursery rhyme.

 

On 12/22/2021 at 1:16 AM, Roger Pellett said:

until one that can be identified as a hulc is found, probably as close as we will come to understanding the real thing

Ta, Roger. The likely thing is that we already have found remains of hulcs but have labelled them as clinker built nefs. It is my view that the term hulc encompassed a range of mostly clinker built broad beamed and bluff bowed cargo nefs. Maybe there was a cohort of reverse-clinker hulcs but no evidence of them yet that is convincing.

Dick

[druxey]

Lovely photos of your work! A very happy holiday season to you, Dick.

[GrandpaPhil]

Looking good!

[Louie da fly]

Nice work, Dick. Regarding the tiller, have you tried shaking the vessel to see if it rattles?

 

BTW, I like the fact that the Incredible Hulc is green! Just don't make him angry . . .

 

Steven

[Roger Pellett]

I’d like to suggest a new name. 😆.   My son was 5 or so years old, the Incredible Hulk was a popular TV show.  He had a plastic green Hulk that he ran around the house with.  Somehow he didn’t quite get the name right and called it the “Credible Hulk.”  Now that it’s finished I would call it the Credible Hulc too.

 

Roger

[Louie da fly]

Interesting. That's what my kids called him, too.

 

Steven

[woodrat]

Thanks Roger . I have taken the hint and renamed the blog as you will have noticed.

Dick

[Louie da fly]

As we're getting close to the end of this build, perhaps a celebration is in order? (Hope this doesn't derail the thread too much).

 

 

Steven

Edited February 3, 2022 by Louie da fly

[druxey]

That was an hour's celebration and fun. Thank you, Steven!

[hollowneck]

No wireless ear monitors. No guitar transmitter rigs. Full-throated singing. The LSO. John Hurt narration. And more!

 

A 1987 video production of a musical, inspired by the Lewis Carroll (Alice Through The Looking Glass) book of 1896. And 35 years after this London musical, a wholly new definition of "Snark" has emerged.

 

The book, available on Amazon...

 

...If—and the thing is wildly possible—the charge of writing nonsense were ever brought against the author of this brief but instructive poem, it would be based, I feel convinced, on the line: “Then the bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes.”

 

Watch this video comrades. You know, in your spare time. An hour well-spent on YouTube.
Ron

[Louie da fly]

5 hours ago, hollowneck said:

“Then the bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes.”

 

Yes, Carroll (Dodgson) effectively demolishes the argument that this is evidence that he wrote nonsense, by explaining how it happened in an even sillier set of circumstances than the original statement.

 

Steven