Frequently
Asked Questions 
Frequently
Asked Questions The word "monkey" is of
uncertain origin; its first known usage was in 1498 when it was
used in the literary work Reynard the Fox as the name of
the son of Martin the Ape. "Monkey" has numerous nautical
meanings, such as a small coastal trading vessel, single masted
with a square sail of the 16th and 17th centuries; a small wooden
cask in which grog was carried after issue from a grog-tub to
the seamen's messes in the Royal Navy; a type of marine steam
reciprocating engine where two engines were used together in tandem
on the same propeller shaft; and a sailor whose job involved climbing
and moving swiftly (usage dating to 1858). A "monkey boat"
was a narrow vessel used on canals (usage dating to 1858); a "monkey
gaff" is a small gaff on large merchant vessels; a "monkey
jacket" is a close fitting jacket worn by sailors; "monkey
spars" are small masts and yards on vessels used for the
"instruction and exercise of boys;" and a "monkey
pump" is a straw used to suck the liquid from a small hole
in a cask; a "monkey block" was used in the rigging
of sailing ships; "monkey island" is a ship's upper
bridge; "monkey drill" was calisthenics by naval personnel
(usage dating to 1895); and "monkey march" is close
order march by US Marine Corps personnel (usage dating to 1952).
[Sources: Cassidy, Frederick G. and Joan Houston Hall eds. Dictionary
of American Regional English. vol.3 (Cambridge MA: Harvard
University Press, 1996): 642; Wilfred Granville. A Dictionary
of Sailors' Slang (London: Andre Deutch, 1962): 77; Peter
Kemp ed. Oxford Companion to Ships & the Sea. (New
York: Oxford University; Press, 1976): 556; The Oxford English
Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press, 1933; J.E.
Lighter ed. Random House Historical Dictionary of American
Slang. (New York: Random House, 1994): 580.; and Eric Partridge
A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. 8th ed.
(New York: Macmillan Publishing Company): 917.]
"Monkey" has also been used within an ordnance context.
A "monkey" was a kind of gun or cannon (usage dating
to 1650). "Monkey tail" was a short hand spike, a lever
for aiming a carronade [short-sight iron cannon]. A "powder
monkey" was a boy who carried gun powder from the magazine
to cannons and performed other ordnance duties on a warship (usage
dating to 1682). [Source: The Oxford English Dictionary.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1933.]
The first recorded use of the term "brass monkey" appears
to dates to 1857 when it was used in an apparently vulgar context
by C.A. Abbey in his book Before the Mast, where on page
108 it says "It would freeze the tail off a brass monkey."
[Source: Lighter, J.E. ed. Random House Historical Dictionary
of American Slang. (New York: Random House, 1994): 262.]
It has often been claimed that the "brass monkey" was
a holder or storage rack in which cannon balls (or shot) were
stacked on a ship. Supposedly when the "monkey" with
its stack of cannon ball became cold, the contraction of iron
cannon balls led to the balls falling through or off of the "monkey."
This explanation appears to be a legend of the sea without historical
justification. In actuality, ready service shot was kept on the
gun or spar decks in shot racks (also known as shot garlands in
the Royal Navy) which consisted of longitudinal wooden planks
with holes bored into them, into which round shot (cannon balls)
were inserted for ready use by the gun crew. These shot racks
or garlands are discussed in: Longridge, C. Nepean. The Anatomy
of Nelson's Ships. (Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, 1981):
64. A top view of shot garlands on the upper deck of a ship-of-the-line
is depicted in The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing.
New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1991): 17.
"Brass monkey" is also the nickname for the Cunard Line's
house flag which depicts a gold lion rampant on a red field. [Source:
Rogers, John. Origins of Sea Terms. (Mystic CT: Mystic
Seaport Museum, 1984): 23.]