FamilyWiggs
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- Flintshire, N Wales.
Oh dear I was just about to post about cannon balls when I thought I'd just check on wikipedia.
Its another CANOE!
"It is often stated that the phrase originated from the use of a brass tray, called a "monkey", to hold cannonballs on warships in the 16th to 18th centuries. Supposedly, in very cold temperatures the "monkey" would contract, causing the balls to fall off.[4] However, nearly all historians and etymologists consider this story to be an example of folk etymology. This story has been discredited by the U.S. Department of the Navy,[5] etymologist Michael Quinion, and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).[6]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_monkey_%28colloquial_expression%29
Its another CANOE!
"It is often stated that the phrase originated from the use of a brass tray, called a "monkey", to hold cannonballs on warships in the 16th to 18th centuries. Supposedly, in very cold temperatures the "monkey" would contract, causing the balls to fall off.[4] However, nearly all historians and etymologists consider this story to be an example of folk etymology. This story has been discredited by the U.S. Department of the Navy,[5] etymologist Michael Quinion, and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).[6]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_monkey_%28colloquial_expression%29