By “doubling” the wall or crown, the knots are made far more ornamental. This is done by following the lay of the single knot, or in other words, after the single wall or crown is made the strands are carried around side by side of themselves. To make a double wall knot make the single knot and then, before drawing it tight, bring the strand A up through its own bight beside the end of C. Then bring B up through its own bight beside A and carry C up through its own bight beside B. When drawn tight it will be very neat. The ends may be trimmed off or tucked through the strands of the standing part as preferred. (Fig. 26.)
A still more ornamental knot may be formed by crowning a wall knot. This is done by first making a plain wall knot and then bringing A up over the top, laying B across A and bringing C over B and through the bight of A, or in other words, tying a crown knot on top of a wall knot, (Fig. 27).
This is the foundation for one of the most beautiful of rope-end knots which is known as the double wall and crown or manrope knot. (Fig. 28.) To make this, tie the single wall, crown it and leave the strands slack. Then pass the ends under and up through the bights of the single wall knot and then push the ends alongside of the strands which form the single crown knot, passing them through the bights in the crown and down through the walling.
If you have learned the single wall and single crown, you will find this very simple, for it consists in merely following the lay of the strands of the single wall and crown. When well done and worked up tight and snug with the ends trimmed off closely it makes a highly ornamental knot, (Fig. 28), and if the ends are tucked into the standing part, as directed for tying the single crown, there should be no sign of a beginning or ending to this knot, the finished result appearing like an ornamental knob of rope.
This is a useful as well as an ornamental knot and is handy in many places on a boat. It is often used in finishing the ends of rope railings, the ends of manropes (hence its name) for the ends of yoke lines for steering small boats, to form stoppers or toggles to bucket-handles, slings, etc., and in fact, wherever a large ornamental end to a rope is required or where a knot is desired to prevent a rope from slipping through any aperture.
Its use for such purposes is shown in Figs. 29, 30 and 31 which represent topsail halyard toggles, formed by turning an eye splice in a short length of rope with a double wall and crown at the end. Such toggles are useful for many purposes other than for topsail halyards. They may be used as stops for furling sails, for slings around gaffs or booms, for attaching blocks when hoisting and in many other places which will suggest themselves to the user of a small boat.
Another very beautiful end knot, and the most difficult of all to make is the Matthew Walker or stopper knot (Fig. 32). To tie this knot pass one strand around the standing part and through its own bight, then pass B underneath and through the bight of A and through its own bight as well. Then pass C underneath, around and through the bights of A, B and its own bight. The knot will not appear as at Fig. 32 A, but by carefully hauling the ends around and working the bights up tight—a little at a time, the knot will assume the shape shown in Fig. 32 B. This is a splendid knot for the ends of ropes to prevent them from slipping through holes, as it is hard, close and presents an almost flat shoulder on its lower side. It is because of its adaption to such purposes that the name “stopper knot” has been given to it.
All of the preceding are end knots, but a knot of a very different sort, which is widely used for ornamenting ropes, is the Turk’s head (Fig. 33). Turk’s heads are used in decorating lower standing rigging, for rings or shoulders on shrouds or ropes, to secure other rigging in position, to ornament yoke lines, for forming sliding collars on knife lanyards and for collars around stanchions, spars, oars, etc., and when placed around a rope close beneath a manrope or Matthew Walker knot it gives a very beautiful and elaborate finish to a rope.
Although so handsome and apparently intricate, the Turk’s head is a very simple and easy knot to make and while you may have some difficulty in mastering it at the first a little practice and perseverance will enable you to become proficient and you will be able to tie this beautiful knot at any time and in any position.
To learn to make this knot obtain a smooth, round stick and some closely twisted, or braided, small line. Pass two turns with the line around the rod, as at A, Fig. 33, pass the upper bight down through the lower bight and reeve the upper end down through it, as at B, Fig. 33. Then pass the bight up again and pass the end over the lower bight and up between it and the upper bight. Dip the upper bight again through the lower bight and pass the end over what is now the upper bight and between it and the lower one, as at C, Fig. 33. Continue to work around in this manner to the right until the other end is met when the other part should be followed around until a plait of two or more lays is complete as shown in the cut.