# Mouse and mousing



## JLNorthGA (Jan 14, 2015)

I am familiar with the term and I know what it is. I have "moused" many a turnbuckle and shackle.

But there is a puzzling question.

Where the heck does the term come from?


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## derekleffew (Jan 14, 2015)

As with many/most rigging terms, to mouse (verb) comes from sailors:
From http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Etymology/English/Steel(1794)_p161.html :

> MOUSE. A large knob, in the shape of a pear, formed on stays; also a smaller one round messengers, by intertwisting a small rope round the strands.
> 
> MOUSING A HOOK. Taking several rounds of spunyarn round the back and point of a hook, and fastening it, to prevent its unhooking.


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## What Rigger? (Jan 16, 2015)

What Derek said!


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## StradivariusBone (Jan 16, 2015)

I got curious on this one and dug a little deeper since I was wondering why they'd call it a mouse- rope strands on a hook doesn't look like any mouse I've ever seen. But, as described in the first definition, it was a bulge made on a line by weaving spunyarn or some smaller diameter line around the larger rope. I've found that it was used as a stop, to keep a spliced loop from cinching down when it was attached to a mast and tensioned. I guess it saved time (once attached to the stay, I'm guessing it took a while to build into the stay itself) in rigging a mast. 


The bump near the splice is the mouse, and that looks more mouse-like to me!

My guess is that the practice of calling it "mousing" a hook would be since the cordage used to create a mouse on a stay would have been the same or similar spunyarn stuff. It's interesting because both activities seem to serve very different purposes. It would be interesting to find out how that transition came to be. Perhaps as metal became more prevalent in ship rigging?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_mouse

Here's a machine for creating model versions- http://www.shipworkshop.com/pages/tools/stay_mouse.html


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## rsmentele (Jan 19, 2015)

I think a 'moused' shackle kinda looks like Mickey!....


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## JLNorthGA (Jan 19, 2015)

rsmentele said:


> I think a 'moused' shackle kinda looks like Mickey!....


LOL - but I don't think Mickey was around when the term was invented.


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## epimetheus (Jan 19, 2015)

Looks like a mouse that was swallowed by a snake...


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