Talk:Two six heave

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The story regarding the British Royal Navy as the point of origin for "Two, six, heave" is not supported by evidence, and current scholarship is casting doubt on the veracity of the story as phrase origin. The earliest reference in print to "Two, six, heave" as yet known in maritime history and folklore scholarship is 1961. There is some anecdotal mention of it as early as the 1940s, but no earlier - and that is indeed unusual in the closely studied and avidly collected field of maritime folklore, the subject of fieldwork scouring since at least the 1880s. Some problems with the tale: The British Navy's six-man gun positions did not give the gun crews numbers, but named them "1st" and "2nd" after the jobs they were to do: 1st loader, 2nd loader, etc. See -- [1] This origin may be an apocryphal story. Its history is obscured by the fact that since it appeared, the story has been avidly replicated in sail training books, on web sites, on working boats,and even in museums. But there is no evidence that it's at all 'traditional.' A citation contemporaneous with the supposed Royal Navy usage would be needed to support this story as the derivation of "two,six." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.63.122.237 (talk • contribs)

While the statement you make may be correct I think it warrants substantially more than that to put the "disputed" tag in the article. Your statement itself requires citations in order to make it a substantial dispute.

I support your right to dispute the factual accuracy, but do not support that tag. Thus I am removing the tag and suggesting more evidence is brought for each side of the discussion. Fiddle Faddle 22:55, 29 June 2007 (UTC)