View source for Granny knot

{{Short description|Type of knot}}
{{ about|a rope knot|the mathematical version|Granny knot (mathematics) }}
{{Infobox knot
| name=Granny knot
| image=Granny_knot.svg
| caption=
| names= false knot, lubber's knot, calf knot, booby knot
| type= binding
| strength= 
| origin= ancient
| related= [[Reef knot]], [[thief knot]], [[grief knot]]
| releasing= often jams
| uses= 
| caveat= Should not be used as a bend.  Inferior to reef knot for binding purposes, it can release suddenly and unpredictably.  
| abok_number = #3, #80, #186, #464, '''#1206''', #1405, #2553
}}
The '''granny knot''' is a [[binding knot]], used to secure a [[rope]] or line around an object.  It is considered inferior to the [[reef knot]] (square knot), which it superficially resembles.  Neither of these knots should be used as a [[bend knot]] for attaching two ropes together.

{{Quote|multiline=y|The granny knot is also called the false, lubber's, calf, and booby knot. Patterson's ''Nautical Encyclopedia'' calls it "old granny knot" and Sir Edwin Arnold calls it the "common or garden knot." The name granny is given in ''Vocabulary of Sea Phrases'' (Anonymous, 1799) and Roding pictures the knot in 1795.
The granny consists of two identical [[overhand knot|half knots]], one tied on top of the other. It has but one practical purpose that I know of and that is to serve as a [[surgeon's knot]]. Formerly it was employed for tying up parcels in five-and-ten-cent stores, but the practice was given up and paper bags substituted as they were found to be simpler.|''[[The Ashley Book of Knots]]''<ref>Ashley, Clifford W. (1944). ''The Ashley Book of Knots'', p.220-21. Doubleday. {{ISBN|0-385-04025-3}}.</ref>}}

== Etymology ==
Called the "granny's knot" with references going back to at least 1849, the knot was so-called because it is "the natural knot tied by women or landsmen".<ref name="smyth">{{citation|last=Smyth|first=William Henry|title=The Sailor's Word-Book|orig-year=1867|year=2008|editor=Sir Edward Belcher|publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]]|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26000/26000-h/26000-h.htm#Page_346|page=346}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Melville|first1=Herman|title=Redburn|date=1849|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Byc5AQAAMAAJ&q=granny-knot&pg=PA297}}</ref>

==Tying==
When attempting to tie a [[reef knot]] (square knot), it is easy to produce a granny knot accidentally.  This is dangerous because the granny knot can slip when heavily loaded.  A tightened granny knot can also jam and is often more difficult to untie than the reef knot.  It is better to tie a reef knot in nearly all circumstances.  One way to distinguish them is that in the reef knot each loop passes completely over, or completely under (not through) the neck of the other.

The reef knot is commonly taught as ''left over right, tuck under'' then ''right over left, tuck under''. The granny knot is the first step repeated twice, ''left over right, tuck under''. This is a very common mistake made by people learning to tie a reef knot.

[[File:Complete Guide to Heraldry Fig686.png|thumb|[[Bourchier knot]] of heraldry]]

==Heraldry==
In heraldry, the granny knot is known as the [[Bourchier knot]], due to being a [[heraldic badge]] of the [[Robert Bourchier, 1st Baron Bourchier|Bourchier family]].<ref>[[Arthur Charles Fox-Davies]], ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (1909), pp.&nbsp;[[wikisource:A Complete Guide to Heraldry/Chapter 24|390]], [[wikisource:A Complete Guide to Heraldry/Chapter 29|469]].</ref>

==Related knots==
{{Reef knot family}}

==See also==
{{Commons|Granny knots}}
*[[List of binding knots]]
*[[List of knots]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|granny knot}}
* "[http://notableknotindex.webs.com/reefknot.html The Reef Knot Family] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203191734/http://notableknotindex.webs.com/reefknot.html |date=2013-12-03 }}", ''NotableKnotIndex.webs.com''.

{{Knots}}