Belfast Cord

Belfast Cord (see this link for some sample pictures) (REVISED 20060525)

Belfast Cord was a term applied to any hard-laid three-stranded cotton line used for doing fancy-work about the ship. It
could range from #9 (for very small and fancy presentation lanyards and the like, fine paunch mat or miniature bell-
ropes) up to 1/16” (hard trot or seine twine type). The most common was a #8 or #9 line produced in the second and
third quarters of the 20th century by a company in New York, P. C. Herwig, of Brooklyn, NY.

What made Belfast different from regular twines or strings was the fact that it was a ‘hard-laid’ product; that is, the lay of
the cordage was akin to the tightness one would expect of a good manila line, not the sloppily laid product one can buy in
your local hardware store, as well as the fact that it was ‘sized’ or starched during the manufacturing process. This
produced a hard-surfaced, easily handled line which resisted un-laying (especially when doing square-knot and half-
hitch work [a.k.a. macramé] and which also resisted hand-soil to some extent.

ANY good hard-laid twines are suitable as a substitute for true Belfast but the sizing really helped in getting some of the
more intricate knotwork to snug up uniformly as well as producing an almost "beaded" appearance in half-hitching.
Some of the old half-hitch belts could easily be mistaken for fine beadwork.

I had thought that the manufacturer of Belfast Cord in the US was Plymouth Rope, which was sold in the (1950’s?) to
Columbian Cordage of NY. Columbian is still in business but now makes specialized climbing and safety ropes and some
specialized marine products. Plymouth Rope’s old ropewalks and other building have been moved to the Mystic Seaport
Museum grounds where they are a non-working exhibit for the punters to marvel upon. However, the more "modern"
granite buildings of the Plymouth Rope Co. still exist in Plymouth. It is now called Cordage Park and has been turned into
a business park of sorts. There are some small shops and businesses there. Although not a museum, it's still kind of
neat to see the old rope walk and machinery they have on display. As of this writing (October 2006) I have contacted
some two hundred fifty cordage manufacturers and found exactly one who knew what I was talking about. Of course,
they don’t make it, nor are they interested in developing such a product line: not enough return on investment, I suppose.
To datemost of the others haven't even replied to my queries.

THEN, to my chagrin, I found that Plymouth Cordage had naught to do with it (although they did make some finely-laid cod
and small netting lines), but that the actual manufacturer was the P. C. Herwig Co. (successors of F. A Toombs) in
Brooklyn NY. They originally were on Sand St. and then on Clinton St (which went right into Gate 9 of the Brooklyn Navy
Yard!) in Brooklyn and for some fifty years they produced and sold Dreadnaught Cord under their own name as well as
'jobbing' it to GEMSCO, who sold it as "Belfast Cord" in Navy Exchange facilities all over the world.

Those of us who used and remember Belfast Cord from GEMSCO (about whom more later) would be delighted to find a
manufacturer who still either makes it or would be interested in doing so, so any of you gentle readers who may know
of a source for this or of a cordage manufacturer who might produce something similar are encouraged to contact me
with the information. I assure you, there is a small but consistant and loyal customer-base out there, and we use a LOT
of cordage!

Why is hard laid an important attribute? Simple. Take any garden-variety three-stranded twine and tie four pieces so as
to be able to form a wall and crown knot. When pulling the strands tight, the lay will usually disintegrate into component
strands, reducing the strength of the knot and also creating a problem with having the knot remain intact over time and
use. I used the wall and crown to end off lanyards and (later on) instrument straps and I can tell you that with ordinary
medium-laid twines normal handling will cause the crown to come out on these in nothing flat. Due in part to the sizing
and in part to the hardness of the lay, Belfast Cord’s crowns always stayed tied unless heavily abraded for some reason.

Another reason for using a hard-laid line is square-knotting work. When doing a square knot, the line coming from your
left side is usually working WITH the lay, while the line coming from the right side is working AGAINST the lay. Again, the
lay opens into it’s component strands and produces an extremely “lubberly” appearance to the work. This is especially
apparent when doing clove-hitching in echelons across the piece where a soft-lay will produce differing sizes depending
on which side you are working from. Most annoying.

Harder lays are also much easier to use when forming miniature grommets and cringles, and especially in model
shipbuilding. I once had a CPO who was a ship modeler and I helped him build a rigging set for a model clipper, with
“Frenched” shrouds all around and eye-spliced deadeyes using a #8 Belfast for the standing rigging. It took a while to do
with needle and a magnifying setup, but the end result was very Bristol (and I didn’t have to paint out the sides while
doing it!) Using a regular twine, the job would have been much more difficult if not near impossible.

I have run across a couple of descriptions of “Belfast Cord” which reference the waxed “Irish Linen” thread carried by
(among others) Royalwood, Ltd. of Ohio: that ain’t it. Despite it’s being made by a company IN Belfast, N. Ireland, waxed
linen thread is waxed linen thread, not Belfast Cord. This is a multi-stranded ( 2 thru 12 strand) linen thread which is
waxed and twisted into a larger diameter. It is hideously expensive when contrasted to cordage and the waxing of the
material really works against it’s use for fancy knotwork. It IS superb for seizings and servage of knotworked items, but
as the main component of a belt or lanyard it would be totally unsuitable. To use it as a material for rail or gripe
coverings would equal the cost of the vessel!

Belfast-type Cord was also made by any number of pre-WWII (and more especially pre-depression) cordage makers who
did custom cordage work for sail and pleasure shipping. Eagle, Lord Nelson, Tannheuser... there were many
manufacturers in many countries who made a similar product, but Herwig's Dreadnaught was the standard of
excellence. (I have a picture of a box of Dreadnaught Cord in the pictures section!) As in today’s world, I suspect that
many of the brands were actually made by three or four of the largest cordage firms and then jobbed out under “private-
label” agreements.

There was MUCH more demand for this product in those days ( and prior to WW-I as well) when there were still
commercial sailing ships and things of this sort helped to while away some off-watch sea-time. Also, it was much more
common to find sailors who would keep up the fancy knotwork on companionway, quarterdeck and in-port rails as a way
of “dressing up” the ship. All that seems to have gone by the boards in this modern day, which saddens me. A handrail
in a companionway which had a nice coxcomb with two turks-heads to finish it was always a delight to find, as was a
"dressed" ships wheel.

There are enough of us who still do this stuff who make small bell-ropes and monkey’s-fists as keychains/fobs for
friends (and a few who do so commercially, as well, such as Martin Combs for books, information and cordage
supplies, and Dan Callahan in Alaska for items and information) to show that the art hasn’t completely died out and there
are enough real and ‘wannabe’ sailor-types with Nantucket bracelets to show that there is still some interest in knotting
to give me hope for the future. Also, (if you managed to miss it on the way in) there's the Internationl Guild Of Knot Tyers
which is primarily concerned with practical and decorative knotting in rope (anything larger than 1/4" dia equals rope in
my book).

Practical knotwork will always be with us as a matter of necessity - as long as there are craft on the water, we’ll need
fenders and people who know how to make ‘em, rigging and riggers and sails and sail-makers, and that’s probably
where this knowledge will best reside: with those who make their livings from or whose lives depend on knowledge of
rope and it’s intricacies.

For the present, I am concerned only with finding a source for an old and trusted friend: Belfast Cord.