A Cannon in the Garage

[linus6948]

I`ve been lucky and able to still get the coupe out for a daily cruise every afternoon lately as the weather is still being fairly cooperative. We are literally hours to maybe a day or two away from rocksalt and brine being applied so everyday is a gift.Yesterday was overcast but fairly dry and I took a ride to Freeland which is at 1900ft elevation and I drove into a fog that London would be proud to have. I was bringing an old friend I had not seen for a while a bottle of homemade brandy.

After we tested it for purity he asked me if I wanted to see the homemade cannon, I said sure expecting to see some table top noisemaker and we went to his shop building/garage. He opened garage door number three and there was a full sized reproduction civil war era cannon that my friend built with his father. It was quite a piece of work and fully functional, they fire it at reenactments and it goes to parades, it was very cool.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2014 by linus6948

[RobertKB]

Thanks for sharing. Day sounds most enjoyable. The cannon looks and I'm sure sounds most impressive. Nice to see you driving the old car while you still can. We reached the point of snow, chemicals, and grit three days ago.

[Don Coatney]

Thanks for sharing. Just this week I was searching for a Big Bang Cannon for my grandkids. I have always wanted one but never bought one.

 

http://www.bigbangcannons.com/

 

I have always been a Civil War buff and I have a huge collection of Civil war letters written by my family members. Many of the letters can be seen at the link below.

 

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inscott/Coatney.html

 

I recall one letter written by my G Grandfather William Curtis Morgan (Indiana 53 infantry) telling the story of a cannon they captured from the Rebels. He said they drove a rat tail file down the inch hole rendering the cannon useless so they could no longer fire it.

[BigDaddyO]

I've always wanted a cannon.

[Don Coatney]

BigDaddyO, on 12 Nov 2014 - 11:35 AM, said:

I've always wanted a cannon.

Is that a brass monkey? I want one of these.

 

http://www.b17.com/brass/

[mrwrstory]

Is that a brass monkey? I want one of these.

 

http://www.b17.com/brass/

How cold is it back there?

[Don Coatney]

In the 30's today. Supposed to drop to the 20's by Friday

[BigDaddyO]

www.brassmonkeynyc.com

 

 

brass monkey

a 40 of Olde English 800 mixed with some OJ.

Typically one drinks the 40 down until the beer is level with the top of the cylinder of the bottle, then fill the bottle back up to the top with orange juice.

[BigDaddyO]

Here's yer Brass Monkey;

[BigDaddyO]

How cold is it back there?

It's 54 here. Short sleeve weather.

[Don Coatney]

This is the brass monkey I am referring to.

 

[BigDaddyO]

Yeah, I know.

Sure was a jump.

That's 15 monkey's worth...

 

We call them there things Cannon Balls where I come from.

[RobertKB]

This is the brass monkey I am referring to.

 

brassmonkey.jpg

 

Yup, a brass monkey was used to hold cannonballs in place. Not sure where the name came from but perhaps because small boys called powder monkeys were used in the British Navy to bring powder and shot to the cannons in the days of sail. Where I am right now (Alberta, Canada), it is "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!" I understand this expression comes from the fact that as the cannonballs and brass monkey got colder and contracted, the iron cannon balls would literally fall of the monkey. Lots of expressions come to us from the time of the Royal Navy in the days of sail. OH OH, "who let the cat out of the bag?"

Edited November 12, 2014 by RobertKB

[mrwrstory]

This is the brass monkey I am referring to.

 

brassmonkey.jpg

So,.....since the balls are still on the monkey, can't be too cold.

[Don Coatney]

RobertKB, on 12 Nov 2014 - 4:27 PM, said:

 "who let the cat out of the bag?"

So you whipped me. Time to go back to the sack

[RobertKB]

So you whipped me. Time to go back to the sack

 

Son of a gun! Sun is over the yardarm so time for some grog.

[Don Coatney]

Mythbusters busted that son of a gun. Guess I need to find a copy of  "The Sailor's Word-Book".  Eleven O'clock AM is way too early for me. 

[BigDaddyO]

Well I'll be keel hauled. I learnt something new today.

 

Learnt quite a few things;

 

www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq107.htm

Edited November 13, 2014 by BigDaddyO

[LAKOTA169]

My grandfather was a whaler on a sailing ship from England when he was younger. He mentioned on saying they had. "Goldfish on the starboard". I'll just say it had something to do with not having a bathroom on the ship.

 

My grandfather on left.

 

This was at a cannon shoot I went to a couple of years ago. They were shooting at 5 gallon pails a 100 yards away.

 

 

Firing a siege mortar at a post 100 yards away. Trying to see who can come the closest. The ball weighs 46 pounds (about the size of a bowling ball. 

 

[Dan Hiebert]

My grandfather was a whaler on a sailing ship from England when he was younger. He mentioned on saying they had. "Goldfish on the starboard". I'll just say it had something to do with not having a bathroom on the ship.

 

My grandfather on left.

 

This was at a cannon shoot I went to a couple of years ago. They were shooting at 5 gallon pails a 100 yards away.

 

 

Firing a siege mortar at a post 100 yards away. Trying to see who can come the closest. The ball weighs 46 pounds (about the size of a bowling ball. 

 

Is that at the Blue Water Sportsmans Club by Port Huron?  I didn't live very far away, I'd heard (both word of mouth and literally) that they fired them old cannons off over there. 

[Don Coatney]

Dan Hiebert, on 13 Nov 2014 - 08:30 AM, said:

Is that at the Blue Water Sportsmans Club by Port Huron?  I didn't live very far away, I'd heard (both word of mouth and literally) that they fired them old cannons off over there. 

That would have been a good event to see last summer when we were there.

[ggdad1951]

My uncle, who in his older age has turned out to be quite the a-hole to my family, is/was a member of the New Ulm Battery.  Amazing what they can hit with those cannon!

 

http://www.newulmtel.net/~municipal/battery/

 

and the myth about balls and brass monkeys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_monkey_(colloquialism)

[Plymouthy Adams]

last time I was in New Ulm (Neu Ulm) mid 70's...US Army

[ggdad1951]

last time I was in New Ulm (Neu Ulm) mid 70's...US Army

 

In Deutschland?  Or Minnesota?  I visisted Ulm & Nue Ulm DE in 2013.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Neu Ulm in Germany...was not that far from my assigned duty station in Augsburg..we provided technical supported for a communicatins detacthment there...service call required driving the distance in the shop truck..I think I got my picture taken one night going through a small burg in Germany...I was gone and out of the service 7 days from that date..not a related incident....just my good luck my enlistment was up...