Scottish law once required fishermen to wear a gold earring, which was used to pay for funeral expenses if they were drowned and washed ashore.

An old custom dictates that any sailor who sails around Cape Horn is entitled to a small blue tattoo in the shape of a five-pointed star on his left ear.   Five times around earns a star on the right ear as well, and two red stars on the forehead is the sign of a great voyager who has rounded the Cape ten times or more. According to one sailor, who himself sports a star on his left ear, there are only two red-star men in the world. Both live in Liverpool, where no pub would charge a red-star man for a drink.

Wine poured upon the deck before a long voyage represents a libation to the gods which will bring good luck.  "Christening" a ship by breaking a bottle of champagne across her bow at the time of launching arose from this practice.

Legend has it that an umbrella aboard ship is unlucky.

"What the sea wants, the sea will have," according to the traditional wisdom of the British Isles and many maritime cultures. Thus fatalistic sailors of the past--and some of the present--never learned to swim.

It was in the early days of the British Navy that guns were first fired in salute. Since they could not be reloaded quickly, the act of firing a gun in salute assured those receiving the salute that those who fired had disarmed themselves, and could do no harm. The more guns that were fired, the greater the assurance of disarmament, and the higher the respect offered to those being saluted. The largest ships of the fleet held twenty-one guns along one side, therefore the highest mark of respect was a twenty-one-gun salute.

The Bermuda Triangle is an area of the Atlantic Ocean that stretches between Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Florida where ships and planes have mysteriously disappeared without a trace.  Some people believe that they have been kidnapped by space aliens.

It is very unlikely that mermaids really exist.  The source of this legend may be a plant-eating marine mammal called the manatee.  The female manatee floats upright while  nursing her young, using her front feet to cradle it.  Possibly, from a distance, it might look like a human mother with her baby.

A large ship, the Marie Celeste, was found on December 3, 1872 drifting in the Atlantic Ocean.  It was very mysterious because all of the crew had disappeared leaving their breakfasts half-eaten on the table!  To this day, no clues as to the crew`s whereabouts have been found.

In the 1400`s, people believed that the Earth was flat and that if you sailed too far from land, you would FALL OFF the edge!

There have been many stories and legends about huge sea monsters attacking ships.  They are called krakens and are octopus-like creatures.  This legend is probably based on giant squid that, although not big enough to overturn a big ship, can grow up to 50 feet long and weigh 4000 pounds.

For thousands of years, people of many cultures have believed in sea gods and goddesses, hoping that their blessings would keep them safe on journeys across the sea.  The Sea God most widely known is Neptune.

The Flying Dutchman is a famous ghost ship.  The story is that the ship left Amsterdam in the 1600`s to sail for the East Indies.  It ran into a terrible storm.  Her captain, dared by a "ghostly devil" sailed right into the storm.  The ship was wrecked killing everyone on board.  The ship and her crew continue to haunt the seas, bringing bad luck to all that see her.

During World War II, the United States Navy instituted a system for naming various classes of ships, including the following: Ammunition ships: for volcanos or names suggesting fire and explosives; Battleships: after states of the union; Destroyers: in honor of dead persons associated with the Navy or Marines; Hospital ships: with "synonyms for kindness" or "other logical and euphonious words;" Ocean tugs: for Indian tribes; Provision storeships: for astronomical bodies; Submarines: after fish and other sea life.

The following are from Nova Scotia - a Canadian Province:   If someone didn`t want a ship to sail, they would put a black cat under a basket and keep it there. - Lunenburg   Years ago women were not allowed on board a fishing vessel as they were supposed to be bad luck. - Lunenburg   If you turn a loaf of bread upside down you upset a ship a sea. - Lunenburg   Don`t wear gray mittens or stag boots on board a fishing vessel (stag boots are long boots cut down). - Tanook   Turning a Dory against the sun or counter-clockwise is bad luck. - Tanook   Put a $5 gold piece below the mast and a horseshoe in the cabin for luck. - Rose Bay and Lunenburg   You must not whistle on a ship; it is a sign of wind.  (The belief is that it either brings too much wind or some other form of bad luck.) - Tanook   Vessels always docked on the eastern side of the wharf for luck.  - Lunenburg   It is bad luck to spit in the hold of a vessel. - Tanook   If a man mentioned the word pig on a vessel, the captain would turn around and bring him back.  It was called Dennis, or Mr. Dennis, or hog.  If the word pig was said, the vessel would have bad luck. - Whynacht`s Settlement, Blanford, Rose Bay, and Lunenburg.

No one except the Bosun or Bosun`s Mate was allowed to whistle while onboard the ship.  It was considered bad conduct to interfere with the Bosun`s orders, and it was said that bad luck would come to those who whistled.     One other superstition makes sailors refrain from talking about their next scheduled port.  It is said that a sailor will not reach his destination if he talks about it.  Bad luck is also believed to come to those who bring flowers aboard a sailing vessel.   There are some superstitions that focus on good luck.  The albatross, a nomadic bird that covers great distances over the ocean, is considered a sign of good luck to the sailor.  When a sailor dies, it is said that the albatross carries the soul of the sailor.  An albatross following a sailing vessel gives it protection, as if sailors from the past are watching over the ship and crew.  For this reason, it is considered bad luck to kill or injure an albatross.   Many other superstitions abound and affect daily life aboard ship.   It is bad luck to leave any port on a Friday.   It has long been a mariner`s superstition that clergy are bad luck aboard a ship.   Not only is the word pig taboo, but swine, rabbits/hares, and red-haired people (especially women) are considered to be such bad luck that the sailors and fishermen would go home rather that sail after meeting one.   Story:  As the traditional bottle of champagne was broken against the hull of the 40,000 dwt vessel, there was a gasp of horror.  The "SCOTSMAN" on the hull had been spelled with a double "N" by the German shipyard workers.  Jimmy (Freeland - representative of owners Naess Denholm, and whose wife was the ship's godmother) insisted it be changed.   The shipyard boss insisted it stay, as it was bad luck to change a name.  Jimmy got his way, but a few years later the vessel sank off Mauritius.   It is true that it was difficult, right through the 1800`s, to recruit crew on vessels that were known to have had a name change because of superstitious belief that mishap could occur.   On western rivers potential crew were wary of any steamboat with the name beginning with the letter "M", the 13th letter.  Changing the name was scary, too.   About the tradition of a coin under the mast of a ship: The tradition does live on.  Its origin is to provide coins to pay the fare of the crew`s spirits across the River Styx if the ship and it crew are lost at sea and the crew cannot be buried in a traditional  way.  The US Navy follows the tradition to the extent of casting special coins and having a formal ceremony when the mast is set on new commissioned ships.   Masts have been removed for repair or whatever and usually there has been something found there from when the ship was built.