Waist clothes

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Waist clothes, also called armings or fights, were colored clothes or sheets, usually red, that were hung around the outside of a ship's upper works, fore and aft, and before the cubbridge heads. They were used as an adornment during ceremonious occasions, and served as a visual screen during times of action, to protect the men aboard. They were sometimes also hung around the tops, in which case they were called top armings.

[edit] References

  • This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain. [1]
  • Webster's 1828 Dictionary
  • Mainwaring. The Seaman's Dictionary. (c. 1644)