Chapter 7 (headpiece)

Drop cap, S

Shipbuilding in Europe developed around two centres which came into contact in the neighborhood of 1300. The fusion of the two zones took place only between 1450 and 1500.

The Northern centre, that of the Baltic Sea, which had its origin in Sweden and Norway, only reached its full expansion in the time of the Vikings. The types of boats of the various nations along the shores of the seas of the North of Europe show undeniable analogies both in form and in mode of construction.

Going further into the continent, the same striking analogies still appear, so that the likeness of forms is further strengthened along the East-West line.

Map No 1 herewith shows in green the sphere of the Northern centre; the probable direction of the movement of the rounded Frisian types being given by a full line, the direction of the finer types by a dotted line and that of the types of the Lower Rhine by a broken and dotted line.

The Southern centre, situated in the Mediterranean, and originally from Phœnicia, is marked in red. There too, shipbuilding developed along an East-West line. Although it may not be certified, from the nautical standpoint or with the data at hand, that the Southern centre was under the influence of Asia, it can be observed, however, that many forms and processes of construction noted in old engravings are still found in the Arab, Indian and Chinese vessels.

Hence it follows that it is all the more necessary to carry on our investigations in that direction because the old methods of propulsion and of steering have been relatively well preserved in Asia rather than in Europe.

There is no doubt that relations in connection with this subject will be found between the Southern centre and a part of Asia.

Shipbuilding, which came to us from the Baltic Sea, was first put to use for fishing, that undoubted cradle of every great maritime race. The gradual growth of this industry widened the field of action and favored trade as it did in the Flanders. Hence, there will be no cause for astonishment in finding that the oldest memories of Holland in reference to shipbuilding are those of the herring fishery.

The birth of the cog, for example, is due to the rise of this kind of fishing; then this type of vessel led to that of the “Egmonderpink”, and afterward to that of the “Bom”, which will very soon have disappeared and of which it may be said that it will have formed the last vestige of the “Cog”.

The whole evolution of the ship is founded, furthermore, ontradition. This, however, did not lie alone in servile imitation of all that our ancestors had turned out, but in yielding to new demands which the special conditions of the period brought with them.

The evolution of the ship, like that of its size, has been gradual. So the ships of antiquity were smaller than those of the Middle Ages, and these in their turn were smaller than the vessels of modern times.

Neither the compass, the adoption of the rudder nor even the invention of gunpowder were able to bring about sudden changes in naval architecture. It was only gradually, and through improvements in artillery, that ships became heavier; so that at the beginning of our war for independence the distinction had begun to be made between war vessels and merchantmen, which until then had both been equally used for military purposes.

It was after the discovery of America and of the route to the East Indies, two events of the greatest importance for the evolution of the peoples of Europe, that the commerce of the world left the Mediterranean and moved toward the North Sea. Then it was that our country woke up and soon surpassed all others in shipbuilding. The Netherlands then carried naval construction back toward the Baltic.

France also borrowed from us the elements of shipbuilding. The province of Holland was at the head of this branch of construction from 1500 to 1700; France then took Holland’s place and, from the middle of the XVIIIth century, had its own separate construction. It was the keen French mind which guided all countries in the systematic construction of ships.

England, always practical, has ever done her best to keep up with the country which turned out the largest ships. HOLMES’s work shows this tendency clearly. After 1800, England outstripped her rivals and set the pace for naval architecture. Numerous improvements were carried out under the influence of that country.

The continental blockade dealt our shipbuilding a mortal blow. It was only through the initiative and the energetic backing of King William I that the industry revived in the first half of the XIXth century and reached, in the second half, a new period of prosperity. Japan’s first modern war vessels were built in Holland.

The coming of steel opened a new era for our naval architecture and our worthy shipbuilders have been able to do honor to the traditions of our race by proving themselves now, as formerly, economical architects with the ability to give a pleasing appearance and an irreproachable finish to a solid construction.

The distribution of the groups of the various types of boats is shown on map 3, while map 4 gives the subdivision of these groups in the Netherlands.

The Frisian types appear on both these maps in blue; the types of the Lower Rhine, which penetrated into the North-West of Brabant and into the heart of South Holland, are given in brown; the types of the Upper Rhine are in violet, those of the Lower Meuse in red and those of the Upper Meuse in green. The types with finer lines of Overijssel, surrounded by those from Friesland and the Lower Rhine, and which are also met with on the Ems, the Weser, the Elbe, the Havel and the Spree are shown with a paler shade.

Chart No. 4 shows the zone of the fishing boats which frequent the North Sea. These last, except the “Lugger” and the “Sloop”, belong to the Friesland type. It is curious to bring the boundaries of charts 5, 6 and 7 together, containing, as they do, the results of the patient researches of the late Professor Dr. Gallée, so well known and esteemed for his vast learning as well as for his great kindness, when, some time ago, he was so good as to place copies of these charts at the author’s disposal.

A mere glance is sufficient to show that the limits of costumes have been most changed; but, on the contrary, there is a striking resemblance from the point of view of the distribution of languages and, especially, from that of the kind of dwellings.

The Frisian and Saxon influences agree on the different charts, while the types of the Upper Meuse are found everywhere that the architecture of the Roman villas has been preserved. Hence it is not astonishing that these types of the Meuse resemble those found in the valley of the Po and on the Adriatic Sea.

These observations agree with the historical researches which, have established the fact that the countries bordering on the North Sea were inhabited by the Celts who came from the East to Central and Western Europe several centuries before our era. The Celts drove out the Mongols, who were already settled there; but they, in their turn, were driven from the West by the Germans. This is what caused the Romans to say that, north of the Rhine, the Celts had already been driven out everywhere by the Germans. The Rhine was at that time the general boundary line between the two peoples. South of this river there only a few German out-lying positions, like those of the Eburones at Maestricht and Roermond, and of the Condrosii near Liége. The Germans and Celts are confounded along the Meuse. The Celts in North Brabant had already become very much germanized, while the Menapii, the Morini and the Nervii of Flanders and Zeeland also felt this influence. All these germanized Celts were called Gauls by the Romans. The Germans penetrated several times into Gaul, they even came as far as the Menapian country in the valley of the Scheldt; but Cæsar succeeded in driving them back, in the year 55 B. C. After the latter’s conquests, the Rhine became the frontier of Roman domination and so remained until about the IXth century. The Gauls quickly became latinized. North of the Rhine, the Roman influence made itself felt on the Batavi, the Chamavi and the Frisians. Still, this influence was not very strong, especially on the last-named tribe. From the moment that the Roman powerbegan to weaken, the Germans reappeared, and it was especially the Franks who proved to be the stronger. These latter, who inhabited the region of the Lippe, the Ruhr and the Upper Ems, were probably being pushed out already at this time by the Saxons. The Franks were again driven beyond the Rhine by the Emperor Probus, in 280, but they advanced again toward the South after the death of Constantine the Great (337). Cologne fell into their hands and they appeared in front of Treves. Julian prevented, however, their entering Taxandria, the present North Brabant.

The Salians, the strongest of the Franks, remained in the country of the Batavi while the Chamavi, another of their tribes, settled on the North of the Rhine. The Salians and Batavi soon consolidated into a single tribe. Then when the Romans retired in 402, during the reign of the Emperor Honorius, the Francs started again on their route toward the South and invaded North Brabant.

The Saxons who, as already mentioned, had probably started the Franks, inhabited the country lying between the Ems and the Elbe, consequently the North of Germany. They settled in the East of our country and, later, extended their influence northwardly.

The Frisians, who are generally spoken of in connection with the Saxons, were able to hold their ground between the Weser and the Zwin (Zeelandisch Flanders). Their King, Radbout, carried their domination to the South of the Rhine and pushed on even so far as Cologne where he was defeated by Charles Martel.

If Holland was called Frisia (or Friesland) in the Middle Ages, only as far as the mouth of the Meuse, it is related, on the other hand, that Saint Amand preached the Gospel to the Frisians of Zeeland. This tradition is confirmed by Prof. FOCKEMAANDREA, who has shown that the Frisian law of 800 was applied from the Weser to the Zwin and the Frank law as far as the Ems, that is to say: the Chamavi inhabited the Veluwe to the East of this river; consequently Utrecht belonged to Frisia.

It is also said, in connection with the struggle of the Frisians against the Franks, that Utrecht was situated on the frontier of Frisia.

In a word, the Netherlands were inhabited originally by Celts whom the Germans drove toward the South. Later, they were able, with the assistance of the Romans, to hold their ground to the South of the big rivers of the country. The first Germans in Holland were the Frisians. They occupied the coast from the Weser to the Zwin and, at a few points, established themselves among the Celts.

Thus it is that Frisian types of vessels are found from Denmark to Flanders and that they penetrated as far as Utrecht and along the tidal rivers.

The Chamavi, the first Franks, very probably occupied the Veluwe and the Betuwe as for as the Singe and the Ems.

Later, the Franks, settled North Brabant and penetrated into Zeeland, Utrecht and South Holland. As a matter of fact, we have already been impressed at meeting, in our country, with types of boats of the Lower Rhine not only along the Rhine and its tributaries, but even in the heart of South Holland and in the North-West of North-Brabant.

The Saxons, who were the last to arrive, settled in the East of the country and spread gradually into Groningen and Friesland. It is there that the slender Overijssel or Saxon types are met with.

Types of vessels, just like the styles of dwellings, languages and costumes, have certain relationships with the first inhabitants of countries.

This explains why types of different boats are found along the same river and the same country.

So, old forms and old customs last through the ages and our country can pride itself not only on a glorious past but also on its ability to maintain so enviable a place in the domain of naval architecture, for the words that WITSENwrote in 1671:

“In ’t overleg van een zuinig meesterbestaet al ’t geheim vangoedkoop bouwen.”[27]

“In ’t overleg van een zuinig meester

bestaet al ’t geheim van

goedkoop bouwen.”[27]

can always be applied to our able builders of ships.

[27]The entire secret of economical construction lies in the reasoning of a careful builder.

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