Greetings, fellow dialists, Just a further very brief word on dog watches. On British ships, and I'm sure everywhere else, dog watches were two half watches, each of two hours. They were from four till six and six till eight in the evening. Their purpose was to change the daily watch order aboard watch and watch ships, once universal. On British merchant ships they were called first and second dog watch while in the Royal Navy they were called first and last dog watch. I think Thibaud Taudin-Chabot and Slawek Grzechnik are both mistaken in thinking these watches occurred in the night. The watch from midnight to four in the morning is called the middle watch, a watch I once knew well.
Interesting that the Dutch have a 'hondewacht'. This must be the same word as dog watch. Is 'honde' just a modifier? We had another example a moment ago with 'dutchman's log' (also 'dutch log'), which is not a real log but a bit of wood chucked over the side and timed past two points on the ship's length. It is very accurate at low speed. Message to sundialists. Please be patient and stop pushing. Sundials will return to these pages soon. Watch this space. Frank -- Frank Evans
