Folklore: What is a killick?

Subject: RE: Folklore: What is a killick?
From: Phot
Date: 11 Aug 04 - 03:38 AM

A Killick is a small anchor, and is also a term still used in the Royal Navy as a slang description for a Leading Rating, ie, a Leading Hand, or in Fleet Air Arm parlance, a Leading Airman. This term comes from the rank badge of a Leading Rating, which is a single fouled anchor. Hope you find this useful.

Wassail!

Chris

Subject: RE: Folklore: What is a killick?
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 11 Aug 04 - 03:35 AM

Quite right, Turlough: it's a stone weight used as an anchor, sometimes held in a wooden framework, or simply tied on the end of a rope. I've always assumed that in Amphiteite's case, they would have used a proper anchor of wood and iron, and "killick" is used either ironically or informally.

BTW, the World Wide Words site is an excellent place ti look for things of that sort. There's a weekly newsletter too, if you like that kind of thing.

Steve

Subject: RE: Folklore: What is a killick?
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 11 Aug 04 - 03:35 AM

From my days as a sea cadet at school in the Jurassic period I can confirm it is naval slang for an anchor, and so Leading Seamen were known as Killick from the single anchor sleeve badge. Petty Officers had crossed anchors.

RtS
(former Cadet Petty Officer, Handsworth Grammar School CCF!)

Subject: RE: Folklore: What is a killick?
From: Turlough
Date: 11 Aug 04 - 03:18 AM

Well, I found this

T.

Subject: Folklore: What is a killick?
From: GUEST,Ooh-Aah
Date: 11 Aug 04 - 03:10 AM

Killick has long been a favourite character of mine in Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey/Maturin" series - I was pleasantly surprised to find that a word I could never catch in Peter Bellamy's singing of 'The Gallant Frigate Amphitrite" (aka 'Rounding the Horn') is 'killick':

    When we got round the horn my boys, we had some glorious days
    And very soon our killick dropped in Valparaiso bay

Previously I had heard this as 'keel it did drop', etc. Does anyone know what a killick is?