Historically, the phrase started out as "cold enough to freeze the tail/nose/paw/etc off a monkey". Balls is a much later addition, as is brass. During the time of origin of this phrase, the use of lawn ornaments, like iron monkeys, was much in vogue. That's the first clue.
If a "monkey" were so delicate and unstable a storage device that faint expansion or contraction could cause it to fail to hold the cannon balls, the rocking and pounding motion of the ship would ensure the cannon balls would continuously break free. That's the second clue. Having cannon balls rolling freely about the decks of a wooden war ship wreaks havoc on the ship and the crew. Ships regularly sink from having cargo lose and rolling about, particularly the rather fragile wooden hulled ones. No one would tolerate this as an intentional practice. That's the third clue. You will find many differing descriptions of these "monkeys". Some sources claiming they are bands surrounding stacked cannon balls, others claiming they are trays cannon balls are laid in, yet more claiming they are rails mounted to bulkheads, and many more. This dramatic difference of description of the "monkey" is a fourth clue. Antique dictionaries and historical navy records covering the entire span of human history fail to show a single entry referring to cannon ball storage devices as monkeys. And that's the nail in the coffin. It makes a great story, but like I said, it's not true. >>> "Craig Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 03/14/03 08:02AM >>> Nolan your wrong. In the days when gulf wars had more to do with sailing ships than TV coverage, cannon balls were stacked on the decks in pyramids. The pyramids were held in place by a brass frame around the base, called a "monkey". When it got cold, the brass monkey contracted, and the cannon balls rolled off around the ship's deck. /// [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list /// Send admin requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool /// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive /// Send list postings to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// Edit your replies! If they include this trailer, they will NOT be sent.
