COLD ENOUGH TO FREEZE THE BALLS OF A BRASS MONKEY
This is an update to my reply of last summer.
I was chatting to a retired sub mariner after a funeral on Wednesday and mentioned this saying.
He said that the brass cannon (2 of them) were right at the rear of the ship on the highest deck (so they covered all of the decks) and the cabin boys had the responsibility of firing them because they were only small. To be exact, they were "9 pounders". The big cannon below deck could only be handled by the men.
They are known as Brass Monkeys because the cabin boys were called monkeys - compare this to the "powder monkeys" who were always children and some women as well.
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Middle-aged and seeking the middle-ages!
