Bull's Eye

Description
3 inch bull's eye (rope eye). Turned wooden object. Circular with 12mm groove around circumference. Two flattened sides with 30mm hole drilled through. Medium to dark brown in colour. Natural material. Graining visible as are tool marks from manufacture, Centrally drilled hole especially rough from that process.

This is a Thimble or Bullseye. It is a disk of wood with a hole through the centre and a groove around the circumference where it would be lashed into position. These were used on sails and running rigging to prevent chafing. They were made from a solid block of wood turned on a lathe with one or more holes drilled through the middle and a groove around the circumference. When used as a part of the ‘block and tackle’ in the ships rigging, thimbles or bullseyes were placed on the forepart of the sail and set evenly spaced about a quarter to one third of the way down the sail from the top. They held in place the buntlines, which ran through the hole in the middle in their run from being fixed to cringles (spliced ropes) at the lower edge (or bunt) of the sail up to the yardarm. At the yardarm the buntlines passed through a block which directed the line on and through to a second block fixed at the mast junction, and from there vertically down to deck level. At this point it could be reached and pulled by the hands on deck to raise the bunt of the sail. The buntlines were pulled when the sails had to be taken in or furled to the yardarms.
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