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The Boatswain was in charge of the sails, rigging, anchors, cables ( the large ropes from the ship to the anchor), the ships boats and everything which pertained to the working of the ship.
His mates
were hand picked from the best seamen onboard. Together they ensured that commands
were properly obeyed, if necessary with the aid of a ropes end called a starter!
The
Boatswains call and its use
Using a "boatswains call" was a way of passing orders instead of shouting and it could be heard above another noise. The use of the call was known as piping and orders passed are "pipes".
The use of boatswains call can be traced back to the days of the Crusades, A.D. 1248. As far back as 1485 the "Call" was worn as a badge of office by the Lord high Admiral of England, and by his successors in that office until 1562.
After that it was used in the English fleets for passing all orders, since 1671 it has been known as the boatswains call.
The expression "to pipe" means, generally, to make the sound of the boatswain's call and give the spoken order which may qualify it. Many pipes, however, are orders in themselves and do not require any verbal addition afterwards.
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