The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN), a popular attraction at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, has launched a range of merchandise, including t-shirts, mugs, pens and magnets, which bear nautical words that have fallen out of use but have been given a modern twist.
‘Get off your futtocks and make me a cuppa’ and ‘Have you ever seen such a magnificent pair of futtocks’ are amongst the twists on the first word in a series of designs available for sale from the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
Giles Gould, Enterprise Manager, said “with the development of modern materials and technological advances many pieces of equipment, forms of construction and tools that were once used on ships have been replaced, their names forgotten. With the development of this line of merchandise we are hoping to bring some of these names back into fashion and give them a bit of a modern twist.”
The term ‘futtocks’ is used to describe the curved timbers used to form the interior ribs of a wooden ship. Other designs being considered include the terms ‘Loblolly’, ‘Trunnions’ and ‘Garfangle’ The merchandise is available in the gift shop at the Museum, online at www.rnmuseumshop.co.uk
Giles added “we are constantly striving to present the history and heritage of the Royal Navy in a way that will entertain and inform our visitors. We believe that this line of merchandise will appeal to people whilst reviving historical terms that have fallen out of use.”
