We local Chantey singers often associated the "ropes" line to the residue of the sheets. When you have not secured your lines, they become ropes on the deck. They are unsecured sheets. "Coil them ropes -they're fore and aft" meant that the lines were still all over the deck and in need of tidying. A very dangerous situation on a deck in an active wind. Many a sailor has been tangled in the left over lines and launched to sea with a line around their ankle. ALways secure the deck. Heely