Posted by David Bamford on September 21, 2006 at 07:36:15 from 220.253.31.225 user David.
In Reply to: Re: Girls' Hairstyles posted by Elizabeth on September 21, 2006 at 06:21:30:
Sailor's 'pigtails' were [and still are among those men who wear them] known a queue. In the case of square-rigged sailors these were held in place by the application of Stockholm [or pine] Tar. I'm not at all sure that they were plaited, but more likely simply twisted together before the tar was added. The square collars on naval ratings' uniforms were initially to protect their shirts from the tar on their queues. A tarred queue was a dead give-away when the press-gangs came around looking for sailors.
David