I need to complete this phrase.  I don't know what it's from, whether
a movie, book, or song, but I need to figure it out ASAP.  "There's a
ship line rigged..."
Please finish it for me.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 14 Oct 2004 13:53 PDT

It might help to know where (and approximately when) you encountered this quote.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 14 Oct 2004 13:55 PDT

Could it be "there's a ship lies rigged" rather than "there's a ship line rigged"? 

If so, I can tell you the source of the line.

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Clarification of Question by diemfdie-ga on 14 Oct 2004 14:02 PDT

I don't think it's the ship lies rigged, as the exact beginning of the
line is "there's a ship line rigged..."
I just need to complete the sentence.

PLEASE help

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 14 Oct 2004 14:08 PDT

As I mentioned above, knowing where you encountered this phrase might
provide a clue.

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Clarification of Question by diemfdie-ga on 14 Oct 2004 14:25 PDT

nowhere that's going to help with the answer

As Pink says, she knows where ?There?s a ship lies rigged? but is
probably too embarrassed to admit she knew it from memory :-) It?s not
*that* bad.

Roger Whittaker

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/elvis-presley/48296.html

Dread to think what Elvis?s version sounded like though.

But if it is ?lines? -- stumped.

Best

Hi dienfdie,

it seems that if you're asking the researcher community for help
finding something, you should be willing to provide whatever
information they request in order to assist mwith that. Unless you're
making it a challenge to test the abilities of the researchers, in
which case you should probably up the value of the chalenge.

sparky4ca-ga

I suspect that 'line rigged' means rigged as a Ship of the Line
ie: tip top and Navy condition

That would be applied to a seriously well presented Merchant Vessel

If that is the case, and it is a song, then I would look around the Sea Shanty area

BTW, ?ship of the line? refers to British (ostensibly) naval ships
between the 1600s and 1800s. More fully ?ship of the battle line?.
Basically the battleships of the day, so named because of the attack
strategy in a line. So the quote may be ?there?s a ship, line rigged
etc etc.? Line rigged would mean sail configuration, or perhaps
replacing ropes with chains, or adding nets to the rigging.

America didn?t have ships of the line of course.

Best

Further to Guzzi's clarification of my obtuse comment :-

Much, but by no means all, of my knowledge of Naval history is from
that superb old fraud Patrick O'Brien whose books I thoroughly enjoyed
( I have no intention of seeing the Master and Commander film, for
fear of ruining them ).

I think that Guzzi's '(ostensibly) British' means that people would
nick ships from each other.

Because battle ships required large gun crews and marines, they were
effectively massively over staffed when not in action. As a job
creation scheme, and doubtless personal pride, the Navy ships were
kept in 'tip top' condition - painted, sanded, and with immaculate
rigging.

Merchant ships would, by comparison, look like dowdy dowagers.
A whaler with a perfectly adequate crew of seventeen would look a shambles.

Going through the quote: 'There's a ship line rigged'
'a ship' suggests a pretty large vessel
'line rigged' looks to me like an adjective
- if so, it implies to me that the ship is not a Naval vessel
- rather a superbly presented merchantman 

As an aside, I rather suspect that the North Americans had 'ships of the line'
From capture, as well as 'gifts' from mutineers.