On Sunday, March 25, 2007 9:48 AM [GMT+1=CET],
S J Hambleton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> <De-lurk>
>
> This may seem a little superstitious but I was always of the
> understanding that to re-name a boat was considered bad luck?
>
> I was talking to a colleague t'other day and they said that there was
> an old ritual that involved burning a paper boat as part of a renaming
> ceremony to appease the "God of boat renaming badluckness".Apparently
> the ceremony was used by canal folk many decades ago if a commercial
> boat was renamed, i.e. if it changed owners and they needed to make
> the alteration for business reasons.
>
> Is this correct or just another waterborne myth?

I suspect the latter.  Canal boats in the working years were regularly 
re-named when they changed owners.

Mike Stevens
narrowboat Felis Catus III
web-site www.mike-stevens.co.uk

Defend the waterways.
Visit the web site www.saveourwaterways.org.uk 


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