Mary Rose.

The Mary Rose.

On a visit to see the Mary Rose , Henrys V111 great ship, I discovered a couple of interesting facts, the cat of nine tails that unfortunate sailors would be punished with for all sorts of misdemeanours, would have to be made by the said victim the night before a flogging, and placed in a canvas bag.
What is interesting is where the sayings come from, letting the cat out of the bag, and “not enough room to swing a cat around.”

Simple explanation, letting the cat out of the bag, comes from on the morning of the punishment, the cat of nine tails would be removed from the bag it was kept it, therefore letting the cat out!.

Second saying “not enough room to swing a cat means that the area of punishment is too small to swing the cat of nine tails, therefore more space is needed to swing the cat, to administer the punishment.