Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

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S H I — S H I
The timbers generally are about 1 inch by | inch, and are sawn
out of a clean piece of American elm, then planed and rounded.
After being steamed they are fitted into the boat, and as soon as
each is in position, and before it cools, it is nailed fast with copper
nails. The gunwale is next fitted, a piece of American elm about 2
inches square ; a breast-hook is fitted forward, binding the gunwale,
top strake, stern, and apron together ; and aft the gunwale and top
strake are secured to the transom by either a wooden or iron knee.
A waring or stringer, about 3 inches by f inch, of American elm’
is then fitted on both sides of the boat, about 8 to 9 inches below
the gunwale, on the top of which the thwarts or seats rest. The
thwarts are secured by knees, which are fastened with clench bolts
through the gunwale and top strake and also through the thwart
and knee. The boat generally receives three coats of paint and is
then ready for service.
The following are the dimensions of boats in the British merchant
service:—
Lifeboat.
Cutter....
Pinnace..
Gig
Dingy....
Length.
28 ft. 6 in.
26 ft.
24 ft.
18 ft.
16 ft.
Breadth.
8 ft. 6 in.
7 ft.
6 ft. 6 in.
5 ft. 6 in.
5 ft. 6 in.
Depth.
3 ft. 6 in.
3 ft.
2 ft. 8 in.
2 ft. 3 in.
2 ft. 3 in.
SHIPLEY, a town of England, in the West Eiding of
Yorkshire, is situated on the south bank of the Aire, in
the neighbourhood of a picturesque pastoral country, at
the junction of the Leeds and Bradford Eailway with the
Bradford, Skipton, and Colne line, 3 miles north of Brad¬
ford. The church of St Paul, an elegant structure in the
Gothic style erected in 1820, was altered and improved
in 1876. The manufacture of worsted is the principal
industry, and there are large stone quarries in the neigh¬
bourhood. A local board was established in 1853. The
population of the urban sanitary district (area 1406 acres)
in 1871 was 11,757 and in 1881 it was 15,093.
SHIPPING. The island of Britain (to the shipping of
which the present historical notice is mainly restricted) is
well fitted to serve as a commercial depot, both by the
number of its natural harbours and the variety of its pro¬
ducts. There is evidence that Phoenician traders visited
it for tin, and in after times it served as one of the
granaries of the Eoman empire. On the other hand raw
wool was the staple article of commerce in the Middle
Ages, while the supremacy of English manufactures in
modern days has contributed to the development of British
shipping till it has grown out of all comparison with any¬
thing in ancient or mediaeval times.
Britain must have been one of the most distant points
that was visited by Phoenician or Carthaginian ships.
Adventurous as their sailors were when compared with
those of other races, and ready as they were to carry on
trading on behalf of neighbouring states, it is not clear
that they ever sailed across the Indian Ocean or ven¬
tured beyond the Persian Gulf, even in the service of the
Egyptians (Brugsch). Their coasting habits led to the
settlement of a chain of colonies along the Mediterranean
shores, and that sea was wide enough to form a convenient
barrier between the Greek and the Carthaginian settle¬
ments. When their empire was at length destroyed the
Eomans became the heirs of their enterprise, but do not
appear to have pushed maritime adventure much further
or opened out many new commercial connexions.
Though the Angle and Saxon tribes were doubtless
skilled both in shipbuilding and in the management of
their vessels at the time when they conquered Britain,
these arts had greatly decayed during the four centuries
that elapsed before the time of Alfred, who endeavoured
to improve on existing models (Eng. Chron., 897). Hence
the necessity of resisting the Danes, with the subsequent
fusion of Danish and other elements in our nationality,
may be taken as marking the period when English shipping
had its rise. Apart from incidental notices of communi¬
cation with other lands, there is clear evidence, from the
early English laws, of efforts to encourage commerce, par¬
ticularly in the status which was accorded to traders and
the protection afforded to merchant ships. The whole of
these arrangements seem to imply that the merchant was
the owner of the vessel, who “adventured” with his cargo,
and sailed in his ship himself; but these voyages were
probably undertaken for the most part to ports on the
other side of the Channel, as it does not ajjpear that
English ships penetrated to the Mediterranean till the
time of the crusades.
The steady development of English shipping during the
Norman and early Plantagenet reigns may be inferred
from the more frequent intercommunication with the
Continent and the many evidences of the increasing
importance of the commercial classes and trading towns.
In the time of Edward III. the shipping interest suffered
a temporary check from the removal of the staple to
England, a step which was taken with the view of attract¬
ing foreign merchants to visit England (1353). This
policy, however, was soon reversed, and the reign of that
monarch was on the whole favourable to the development
of shipping. He was himself fond of the sea, and com¬
manded in person in naval engagements, and by taking
possession of Calais and enforcing his sovereignty over
the narrow seas he rendered the times more favourable
for the development of commerce. More than one of the
noble families of England have descended from the mer¬
chant princes of the 14th century. By this time also the
compass, which had been introduced in a rude form as
early as the 12th century, had been improved and had
come into common use. But many years were to elapse
before the enterprise of the 15th and 16th centuries made
the most of the new facilities for undertaking long voy¬
ages ; and the fortunes of English shipping, as depicted
by a contemporary (Libell of Englishe Policy, 1436), con¬
tinued to vary according to the state of political con¬
nexions with the Continent and the success of English
monarchs in “ keeping the narrow seas ” free from the
ravages of pirates. During this century, too, we hear far
more of organizations of merchants to foreign parts, and
of struggles between different bodies of traders. The
“ Merchants of the Staple ” dealt in raw wool and the
other staple commodities of the realm, which they exported
to Calais ; the “Merchant Adventurers,” a powerful asso¬
ciation which had developed out of a religious guild, dealt
chiefly in woollen cloths, but they traded with any port
where they could get a footing. This brought them into
frequent collision with the “Merchants of the House,”
who had had a footing in London since before the Con¬
quest. The chief attempt at accommodation took place in
the time of Edward IY. (1474), but the quarrels and re¬
prisals continued till the discovery of the New World had
revolutionized trade, and the Hanse League, expelled by
Elizabeth, were unable either to injure or to compete with
English shipping.
Considering the interest which all the Tudor monarchs
showed in developing shipping,1 and the proverbial bold¬
ness and enterprise of the Cabots, Ealeigh, Drake, and
other sailors, it is remarkable that England obtained so
little footing at first in the new lands which were dis¬
covered by Columbus (1492) or along the route that was
1 The establishment of Trinity House by Henry VIII. for looking
after pilots, buoys, &c., in 1512, is the most important result of his
care for shipping.