Sailors' superstitions: Difference between revisions

'''Sailors' superstitions''' are [[superstition]]s particular to [[sailor]]ssailors or mariners, and which traditionally have been common around the world. Some of these beliefs are popular superstitions, while others are better described as traditions, stories, [[folklore]], [[trope (literature)|tropes]], myths, or [[legend]]s.

The origins of many of these superstitions are based in the inherent risks of [[sailing]], and [[luck]], either good or bad, as well as [[portents]] and [[omensomen]]s that would be given associative meaning in relation to the life of a mariner, sailor, fisherman, or a crew in general. Even in the 21st century, "fishers and related fishing workers" in the U.S. have the second -most dangerous occupation, trailing only [[lumberjack|loggers]].<ref name=Dangerous>{{cite newsmagazine |url=httphttps://time.com/4326676/dangerous-jobs-america/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |title=The Most Dangerous Jobs in America |first=David|last=Johnson |date=May 13, 2016|access-date=May 23, 2016|archive-date=May 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519135125/http://time.com/4326676/dangerous-jobs-america/ |url-status=live |archive-date=May 19, 2016 |access-date=2016-05-23}}</ref>

This saying actually has some scientific validity, although it assumes storms systems will approach from the west, and is therefore generally correct only at mid-latitudes where, due to the rotation of the Earth, prevailing winds travel west to east. If the morning skies are red, it is because clear skies over the horizon to the east permit the sun to light the undersides of moisture-bearing clouds. Conversely, in order to see red clouds in the evening, sunlight must have a clear path from the west, so therefore the prevailing westerly wind must be bringing clear skies. Basically, this means if there is a red sky, Sun, or clouds at morning, it might mean there will be a storm, or severe winds will come. Although, if there is a red sky, Sun, or clouds at night, there will be clear skies, soft or no winds, and you have a good day ahead of you.

A "Jonah" is a long-established expression among sailors, meaning a person (either a sailor or a passenger) who is bad luck, which is based on the Biblical prophet [[Jonah]]. [[Clergymen]] are considered bad luck, as they are all of Jonah's ilk. Redheads and women are also to be avoided as passengers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.formulaboats.com/blog/boating-myths-and-superstitions/#/Dont-Travel-With-a-Jonah |title=Boating myths and superstitions |date=16 February 2019 |access-date=2019-11-02 |archive-date=2020-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618043607/https://www.formulaboats.com/blog/boating-myths-and-superstitions/#/Dont-Travel-With-a-Jonah |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Friday]] is considered to be an unlucky day in some cultures, and perhaps the most enduring sailing superstition is that it is unlucky to begin a voyage or 'set sail' on a Friday.<ref>{{Citation

The [[albatross]] as a superstitious relic is referenced in [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]]'s well-known 1798 poem ''[[The Rime of the Ancient Mariner]]''. It is considered very unlucky to kill an albatross; in Coleridge's poem, the narrator killed the bird and his fellow sailors eventually force him to wear the dead bird around his neck.

Having [[banana]]sbananas on a ship, especially on a private boat or fishing yacht, is considered bad luck. The origin of the superstition is unknown.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/luck/superstition/bananas.asp|title=Banana Ban|work=Snopes.com|last=Mikkelson|first=Barbara|date=November 13, 2012|access-date=November 15, 2012|archive-date=July 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704231101/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/banana-ban/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===[[Ceremonial ship launching]]===

During the [[Baptism#Boats and ships|christening]] ceremony for a ship, it is considered bad luck if the bottle swung against the side of the ship fails to break. <ref>{{cite news |last=Levy |first=Megan |title=Cursed Concordia 'born bad, ended up worse' |url=http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/cursed-concordia-born-bad-ended-up-worse-20120116-1q1w2.html |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=16 January 2012 |access-date=23 April 2020 |archive-date=6 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606180357/http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/cursed-concordia-born-bad-ended-up-worse-20120116-1q1w2.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

While [[Cultural depictions of cats|in many cultures]], a [[black cat]] is considered unlucky, British and Irish sailors considered adopting a black "[[ship's cat]]" because it would bring good luck.<ref>{{cite book |title=Don't Shoot the Albatross!: Nautical Myths and Superstitions |last=Eyers |first=Jonathan |year=2011 |publisher=[[A & C Black]] |location=London|isbn=978-1-4081-3131-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery|last=de Vries|first=Ad|year=1976|publisher=North-Holland Publishing Company|location=Amsterdam|isbn=0-7204-8021-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/85 85–86]|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/85}}</ref> A high level of care was directed toward them to keep them happy. There is some logic to this belief: cats hunt rodents, which can damage ropes and stores of grain on board, as well as spread disease among passengers and crew. Research has backed up this superstition. Evidence published in 2017 by a [[geneticist]] the [[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven|University of Leuven]] shows that Egyptian cats spread their [[mitochondrial DNA]] through shipping lanes to medieval northern Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/cats-are-an-extreme-outlier-among-domestic-animals/|work=[[ArsTechnica]]|date=19 June 2017|title=Cats are an extreme outlier among domestic animals|last=Newitz|first=Annalee|access-date=24 June 2017|archive-date=22 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622193459/https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/cats-are-an-extreme-outlier-among-domestic-animals/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Briggs|first1=Helen|title=How cats conquered the ancient world|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40306897|access-date=19 June 2017|work=BBC News|date=19 June 2017|archive-date=19 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619160810/http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40306897|url-status=live}}</ref> Preliminary results of that genetic study concluded that cats were also carried on trading ships to control rodents, and that practice was adopted by traders from other nations, including [[Vikings]] in northern Germany around the 8th to 11th centuries.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cats sailed with Vikings to conquer the world, genetic study reveals|url=http://www.sciencealert.com/cats-sailed-with-vikings-to-conquer-the-world-genetic-study-reveals|website=www.sciencealert.com|date=23 September 2016|publisher=Science Alert|access-date=3 October 2016|archive-date=3 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003035925/http://www.sciencealert.com/cats-sailed-with-vikings-to-conquer-the-world-genetic-study-reveals|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some sailors believed that [[polydactyl cats]] were better at catching pests, possibly connected with the suggestion that extra digits give a polydactyl cat better balance, important when at sea. Cats were believed to have [[miracle|miraculous]] powers that could protect ships from dangerous [[weather]]. Another popular belief was that cats could start storms through magic stored in their tails. If a ship's cat fell or was thrown overboard, it was thought that it would summon a terrible storm to sink the ship and that if the ship was able to survive, it would be cursed with nine years of bad luck. Other beliefs included: if a cat licked its fur against the grain, it meant a [[hail]]storm was coming; if it sneezed it meant rain; and if it was frisky it meant wind.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dunwoody|first1=H. H. C.|title=Signal Service Notes: Weather Proverbs|date=1883|publisher=Office of the Chief Signal Office|location=Washington|pages=29–30|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ucolAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA29|language=en|chapter=Proverbs relating to animals|access-date=2018-06-01|archive-date=2021-07-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704231055/https://books.google.com/books?id=ucolAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA29|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Cormorant]]s, in some Scandinavian areas, are considered a good omen; in particular, in Norwegian tradition spirits of those lost at sea come to visit their loved ones disguised as cormorants.<ref name="Murphy-Hiscock2012">{{cite book|author=Arin Murphy-Hiscock|title=Birds -– A Spiritual Field Guide: Explore the Symbology and Significance of These Divine Winged Messengers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zYLYIJtWr-MC&pg=PA48|date=18 January 2012|publisher=Adams Media|isbn=978-1-4405-2688-6|pages=48–49}}</ref>

Traditionally, a type of [[kobold]] or mythical sprite, called a [[Klabautermann]], lives aboard ships and helps sailors and [[fishermen]] on the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] and [[North Sea]] in their duties. He is a merry and diligent creature, with an expert understanding of most watercraft, and an irrepressible musical talent. He also rescues sailors washed overboard. The name comes from the [[Low German]] verb ''klabastern'' meaning "rumble" or "make a noise". An [[etymology]] deriving the name from the verb ''kalfatern'' ("to caulk") has also been suggested.<ref>Leander Petzoldt, ''Kleines Lexikon der Dämonen und Elementargeister'', Becksche Reihe, 1990, p. 109.</ref> A carved klabautermann image, of a small sailor dressed in [[yellow]] with a [[tobacco pipe]] and woollen sailor's cap, often carrying a caulking hammer, is attached to the mast as a symbol of good luck. However, despite the positive attributes, there is one [[omen]] associated with his presence: no member of a ship blessed by his presence shall ever set eyes on him; he only ever becomes visible to the crew of a doomed ship.<ref>Melville, F., ''The Book of Faeries'' (2002 Quarto Publishing).</ref> The belief in Klabautermänner dates to at least the 1770s.<ref>Ellett, Mrs. (Jan. 1846). "Traditions and Superstitions", ''The American Whig Review: A Whig Journal'', Vol. III. New York: George H. Colton. pp. 107-108107–108.</ref><ref>Rose, Carol (1996). ''Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia''. New York City: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|0-393-31792-7}}. p. 181.</ref>

|alt3=[[St. Brendan’sBrendan's Island]]

|[[St. Brendan’sBrendan's Island]]

Sailors have had several [[patron saint]]s. According to his [[hagiography]], [[Saint Nicholas]] calmed a storm by prayer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.episcopalrelief.org/church-in-action/75/75th-celebration-stories/the-story-of-st-nicholas|work=Episcopal Relief|title=The Story of St. Nicholas|date=3 December 2015|access-date=December 9, 2015|archive-date=December 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151206234112/http://www.episcopalrelief.org/church-in-action/75/75th-celebration-stories/the-story-of-st-nicholas|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Brendan the Navigator]] is also considered a patron saint of sailors and navigators, due to his mythical voyage to [[St. Brendan’sBrendan's Island]]. [[Erasmus of Formiae]], also known as Saint Elmo, may have become the patron of sailors because he is said to have continued preaching even after a thunderbolt struck the ground beside him. This prompted sailors, who were in danger from sudden storms and lightning, to claim his prayers. The electrical discharges at the mastheads of ships were read as a sign of his protection and came to be called "[[St. Elmo's Fire|Saint Elmo's Fire]]".<ref name="Eyers, Jonathan 2011">Eyers, Jonathan (2011). ''Don't Shoot the Albatross!: Nautical Myths and Superstitions''. A&C Black, London, UK. {{ISBN|978-1-4081-3131-2}}.</ref><ref>[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=182 St. Erasmus (St. Elmo)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524042742/http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=182 |date=2012-05-24 }} ''Catholic Online''. Retrieved 2012-03-07.</ref> Thus, Saint Elmo's Fire was usually good luck in traditional sailor's lore, but because it is a sign of electricity in the air and interferes with [[compass]] readings, sailors sometimes regarded it as an omen of bad luck and stormy weather.<ref>Beliefs often can be contradictory. For example, [[St. Elmo's fire]] is reported to have been seen during the [[Siege of Constantinople]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453. It reportedly was seen emitting from the top of the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople|Hippodrome]]. The [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] attributed it to a sign that the Christian God would soon come and destroy the conquering [[Muslim]] army. According to [[George Sphrantzes]], it disappeared just days before Constantinople fell, ending the Byzantine Empire.</ref> The [[Anchored Cross|mariner's cross]], also referred to as ''St. Clement's Cross'', is worn by many sailors to bring blessings.<ref name="Stracke">{{cite web |last1=Stracke |first1=Richard |title=Saint Clement: he Iconography |url=http://www.christianiconography.info/clement.html |website=Christian Iconography |date=2015-10-20 |access-date=2019-01-15 |archive-date=2019-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128010834/http://www.christianiconography.info/clement.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[English folklore]] includes many [[superstitions]] surrounding hot cross buns. If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against [[shipwreck]]. If hung in the [[Galley (kitchen)|galley]], they are said to protect against fire and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. The hanging bun is replaced each year.<ref name="practically">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/hotcrossbuns |title=Hot Cross Buns |access-date=9 March 2009 |encyclopedia=Practically Edible: The Web's Biggest Food Encyclopedia |publisher=Practically Edible |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403185509/http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/hotcrossbuns |archive-date=3 April 2009 |access-date=8 April 2024|df=dmy-all }}</ref>

[[File:20000 squid holding sailor.jpg|thumb|right|132px|An illustration from the original 1870 edition of ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeaSeas]]'' by author [[Jules Verne]].]]

[[Davy Jones' Locker|Davy Jones]] is a popular character in sailor's lore, especially of the gothic fictional variety. [[Davy Jones' Locker]] is an [[idiom]] for the bottom of the sea: the state of death among drowned sailors. It is used as a [[euphemism]] for death or burial at sea (to be ''sent to Davy Jones' Locker'').<ref>{{cite web|title=Davy Jones's Locker |work=Bartleby.com |publisher=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. |date=2000-01-01 |url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/29/D0042900.html |access-date=2006-07-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506031727/http://www.bartleby.com/61/29/D0042900.html |archive-date=May 6, 2006 }}</ref> The origins of the name are unclear, and many theories have been put forth, including an actual David Jones, who was a [[pirate]] on the [[Indian Ocean]] in the 1630s;<ref>{{cite book| last = Rogoziński| first = Jan| location = Hertfordshire |publisher=Wordsworth Reference| title = The Wordsworth Dictionary of Pirates| isbn = 1-85326-384-2| date = 1997-01-01| url = https://archive.org/details/wordsworthdictio00rogo}}</ref> a pub owner who kidnapped sailors and then dumped them onto any passing ship;<ref name="courant">{{cite web | last = Dunne | first = Susan | title = Davy Jones Legacy | work = The Hartford Courant | date = 2006-07-07 | url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/1073312401.html?dids=1073312401:1073312401&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+7%2C+2006&author=SUSAN+DUNNE%3BCourant+Staff+Writer&pub=Hartford+Courant&edition=&startpage=D.1&desc=DAVY+JONES%27+LEGACY+%3B+FROM+DEFOE+TO+DEPP%2C+NAUTICAL+LEGEND+STILL+SCARY+AFTER+280+YEARS%3B+PIRATES+OF+THE+CARIBBEAN | accessarchive-dateurl = https://archive.today/20130131145852/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/1073312401.html?dids=1073312401:1073312401&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+7,+2006&author=SUSAN+DUNNE;Courant+Staff+Writer&pub=Hartford+Courant&edition=&startpage=D.1&desc=DAVY+JONES'+LEGACY+;+FROM+DEFOE+TO+DEPP,+NAUTICAL+LEGEND+STILL+SCARY+AFTER+280+YEARS;+PIRATES+OF+THE+CARIBBEAN | url-09-30status }}{{Dead= dead link| archive-date =November 2023January |bot=InternetArchiveBot31, 2013 |fix access-attempteddate =yes 2006-09-30 }}</ref> the incompetent [[Duffer Jones]], a notoriously [[myopic]] sailor who often found himself over-board;<ref name="jones">{{cite book | last = Shay | first =Frank | title = A Sailor's Treasury |publisher= Norton |id = ASIN B0007DNHZ0}}</ref> or that Davy Jones is another name for [[Satan]];<ref name="courant"/> or "Devil Jonah", the biblical [[Jonah]] who became the "evil angel" of all sailors, who would identify more with the beset-upon ship-mates of Jonah than with the unfortunate man himself. Upon death, a wicked sailor's body supposedly went to Davy Jones' locker (a chest, as lockers were back then), but a pious sailor's soul went to [[Fiddler's Green]].<ref name="courant"/> This nautical superstition was popularized in the 19th century.<ref name="fable">{{cite web| last = Brewer| first = E. Cobham| title = Davy Jones's Locker.| work = Dictionary of Phrase and Fable| date = 1898-01-01| url = http://www.bartleby.com/81/4705.html| access-date = 2006-04-30| archive-date = 2006-05-06| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060506132744/http://www.bartleby.com/81/4705.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

{{quote|Sailors, at the constant mercy of the elements, often feel the need for religious images on their bodies to appease the angry powers that caused storms and drowning far from home.|Tattoo Archives <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tattooarchive.com/tattoo_history/religious_designs.html|title=Religious Designs|publisher=Tattoo Archives|year=2000|access-date=July 24, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813194053/http://www.tattooarchive.com/tattoo_history/religious_designs.html|archive-date=August 13, 2012}}</ref>}}

The [[Line-crossing ceremony]] commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the [[Equator]]. Its practices invoke good luck on the new sailor. The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an [[initiation]] [[Ritual|rite]] in the [[Royal Navy]], [[Royal Canadian Navy]], [[U.S. Navy]], [[U.S. Coast Guard]], [[U.S. Marine Corps]], and other navies that commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator.<ref name="Eyers, Jonathan 2011"/> The tradition may have originated with ceremonies when passing [[headland]]s, and become a "folly" sanctioned as a boost to [[morale]],<ref name="FitzRoy">[[Robert FitzRoy]] (1839) ''Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836'', London: Henry Colburn. pp. [http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.2&pageseq=84 57–58] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227083142/http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.2&pageseq=84 |date=2012-02-27 }}.</ref> or have been created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the Equator are nicknamed (Trusty) ''Shellbacks'', often referred to as ''Sons of [[Poseidon|Neptune]]''; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) ''Pollywogs'' (in 1832 the nickname ''griffins'' was noted <ref name="Darwin">Keynes, R. D. ed. (2001) ''Charles Darwin's Beagle diary'', Cambridge University Press, pp. [http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F1925&pageseq=68 36–38] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227091206/http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F1925&pageseq=68 |date=2012-02-27 }}.</ref>).

After crossing the line, Pollywogs receive [[subpoena]]s <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usni.org/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1239 |title=Ceremonial Certificates -– Neptune Subpoena |access-date=2012-07-24 |archive-date=2010-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614005456/http://www.usni.org/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1239 |url-status=live }}</ref> to appear before ''King Neptune and his court'' (usually including his first assistant [[Davy Jones' Locker|Davy Jones]] and her Highness [[Amphitrite]] and often various dignitaries, who are all represented by the highest ranking seamen), who officiate at the ceremony, which is often preceded by a beauty contest of [[cross-dressing|men dressing up as women]]. Afterwards, some ''wogs'' may be "interrogated" by King Neptune and his entourage. During the ceremony, the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly embarrassing ordeals (such as wearing clothing inside out and backwardsbackward; crawling on hands and knees; being swatted with short lengths of firehose; kissing the Royal Baby's belly coated with axle grease, etc.), largely for the entertainment of the Shellbacks. Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usni.org/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1449 |title=Ceremonial Certificates -– Golden Shellback Certificate -– Personalized |access-date=2012-07-24 |archive-date=2010-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614005752/http://www.usni.org/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1449 |url-status=live }}</ref> declaring his new status.

{{quote| Marvelous costumes in which King Neptune and Queen Aphrodite [sic.] and their court appeared. The Pollywogs were given an intensive initiation lasting two days, but we have all survived and are now full-fledged Shellbacks"|FDR <ref>{{cite book|last=Cook|author-link=Blanche Weisen Cook|first=Blanche|title=Eleanor Roosevelt, vol. 2 (1933-19381933–1938)|publisher=Penguin|location=New York|year=1999|isbn=978-0140178944|page=[https://archive.org/details/eleanorroosevelt00blan_0/page/398 398]|url=https://archive.org/details/eleanorroosevelt00blan_0/page/398}}</ref>}}

The phrase ''[[wikt:over a barrel|over a barrel]]'', meaning to be in a [[dilemma]] or "a weak or difficult position", may refer to the [[first aid]] practice amongstamong sailors of placing a [[drowning]] victim's head over a barrel, and rolling his body over it, in an attempt to remove aspirated water from the person's lungs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/over+a+barrel|title=Over a barrel|access-date=April 13, 2017|work=The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=2003|archive-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414082549/http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/over+a+barrel|url-status=live}}</ref> However, this etymology is challenged, and may come instead from the custom of punishing a prisoner by [[flogging]] or [[paddling]] him while he is strapped to a barrel; there is no documentary evidence it was actually used specifically as a nautical phrase.<ref name=Wilton>{{cite web|url=http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/over_a_barrel/|title=Over a barrel|access-date=April 13, 2017|work=Wordorigins.org|first=David|last=Wilton|date=December 26, 2006|archive-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414081218/http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/over_a_barrel/|url-status=live}}</ref> Either way, the image created in the mind is that of total helplessness and loss of control,<ref name=Wilton /> which is a common anxiety of sailors in fear of corporal punishment.<ref name=Martin>{{cite web|url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/over-a-barrel.html|title=Over a barrel|access-date=April 13, 2017|work=The Phrases Finder (UK)|first=Gary|last=Martin|date=December 26, 2006|archive-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414162523/http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/over-a-barrel.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Bairbre Ní Fhloinn critiques this line of thought concluding it to be reductionist and insulting to the intelligence of fishermen; however, she does admit it may be a factor.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ní Fhloinn|first=Bairbre|title=Cold Iron aspects of the Occupational Lore of Irish Fishermen|publisher=UCD|year=2018|isbn=978-0-9565628-7-6|pages=237–238}}</ref> Sailors are well aware of the inherent risks of [[sailing]], and even in the 21st Century, "fishers and related fishing workers" in the U.S. have the second most dangerous occupation.<ref name=Dangerous />