centurion Posted 27 May , 2014 Share Posted 27 May , 2014 A Donkeyman was in charge of the Donkey Boiler which supplied the steam to the ships utilities i.e. winches, galley, heating etc Thats where the term donkey work comes from I don't think so as some donkey engines had their own dedicated boiler Indeed I would suspect that the etymology is in the reverse direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank_East Posted 27 May , 2014 Share Posted 27 May , 2014 A Dockey Boiler was an auxiliary boiler, a small boiler which could be used when the main steam boilers were shutdown, usually when the ship was berthed.It was installed on economical grounds to minimise the higher operating costs that would be incurred if the main boilers had to be run...it also covered steam requirements when main boilers were taken out of service,say for overhaul periods. secondary prime movers controlling cranes,winches and the like are now usually powered via the ship's electrical system and not by steam. Diesel powered ships usually have a small auxiliary diesel electricity generator which is used in port when the large sea going diesel units are shutdown....also provides steam services from heat recovery from the diesel exhaust gases. A similar concept is used by aircraft where an auxially gas turbine is used to provide electrical and air conditioning services whlle the aircraft is parked meaning that the aircraft does not have to rely on a ground generator. Donkey boilers in the form of the modern package boiler are also neccesary to provide start up steam services for power plants on start up until steam can be adequately generated from the main steam raising plant...provides steam atomising services for oil burners and steam for gas turbine plants,...provide steam for Gas Turbine NOX emission abatement.These boilers are automated,remote alarmed and do not require a dedicated operator,ie,the formerly designated Donkeyman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 27 May , 2014 Share Posted 27 May , 2014 I'm sure they do what I question is that this is the origin of the donkey engine (an auxiliary power source) which appears to have preceded this (and not just on ships).and seems to have been the origin of the name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Wade Posted 27 May , 2014 Share Posted 27 May , 2014 Lots of small boats take to sea with a main engine and a donkey engine.I've always thought of this as 'Horse' for the main engine and 'Donkey' for the auxiliary engine, with the relative difference in size of the animals being analogous to the relative size of the engines. I take the meaning of 'Donkey Work' as being the long drawn out jobs that took ages and were tedious drudgery. That, or the main body of work that needed doing apart from the 'technical' bits. Like digging and filling in a big hole in the road by hand so that someone else could come in and repair a small leak in a pipe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill24chev Posted 28 May , 2014 Share Posted 28 May , 2014 I always though "Donkey work" was hard slow slogging as carried out by Donkeys and Mules as opposed to Lots of small boats take to sea with a main engine and a donkey engine.I've always thought of this as 'Horse' for the main engine and 'Donkey' for the auxiliary engine, with the relative difference in size of the animals being analogous to the relative size of the engines. I take the meaning of 'Donkey Work' as being the long drawn out jobs that took ages and were tedious drudgery. That, or the main body of work that needed doing apart from the 'technical' bits. Like digging and filling in a big hole in the road by hand so that someone else could come in and repair a small leak in a pipe. Yes hard slow slogging as carried out by Donkeys (and Mules) as opposed to the Dashing about with Horses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLR Posted 31 May , 2014 Share Posted 31 May , 2014 Some of these might be American: switchboard operator phonograph repairman wet nurse flower maker bird boy (living scarecrow) rope maker (natural fibers, see Mystic Seaport Museum: Plymouth Cordage Company Ropewalk) dripping man - (collects cooking drippings) laundress - (Maybe not gone, but uncommon. I don't count dry cleaners here.) faker - hand tinted photographs radium girl - painted watch dials with luminescent radium paint gun cotton maker celluloid workers bone, horn, ivory, tortoiseshell workers newsboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 15 June , 2014 Share Posted 15 June , 2014 I believe the bird boy (living scarecrow) was outstanding in his field khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 15 June , 2014 Share Posted 15 June , 2014 Given that the OP was talking about professions found on soldiers records in WW1 I doubt that there were many wet nurses amongst them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaforths Posted 15 June , 2014 Author Share Posted 15 June , 2014 That is very true Centurion. However, I was taken with 'bird boy' the living scarecrow (well done khaki ) I hadn't heard of it before, let alone it becoming obsolete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 15 June , 2014 Share Posted 15 June , 2014 That is very true Centurion. However, I was taken with 'bird boy' the living scarecrow (well done khaki ) I hadn't heard of it before, let alone it becoming obsolete. See the start of Mort by Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaforths Posted 15 June , 2014 Author Share Posted 15 June , 2014 See the start of Mort by Terry Pratchett It's been donkeys since I read Mort. Well, I still have it so I will refresh my memory. Thinking about it, I have his other book 'The Folklore of Discworld' I will look in that too. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaforths Posted 8 July , 2014 Author Share Posted 8 July , 2014 I watched The Machine Gun and Skye's Band of Brothers the other night and found it interesting that one of the men, at he age of 22, was a stable boy. My granddad was a stable boy when he did a runner and joined up at sixteen. I did wonder why it didn't set of alarm bells about his age with the recruiters when he gave his occupation as stable boy and now I know. However, I can't help thinking that surely they couldn't have been called that when they got much older? Did they have another name such as stable hand for older men? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 8 July , 2014 Share Posted 8 July , 2014 I watched The Machine Gun and Skye's Band of Brothers the other night and found it interesting that one of the men, at he age of 22, was a stable boy. My granddad was a stable boy when he did a runner and joined up at sixteen. I did wonder why it didn't set of alarm bells about his age with the recruiters when he gave his occupation as stable boy and now I know. However, I can't help thinking that surely they couldn't have been called that when they got much older? Did they have another name such as stable hand for older men? Stable hand = sailor who doesn't throw a right strop from time to time You could/still can have 60 year old stable boys (much the same as best boys in a movie studio) and you can have some quite ancient garçons in a French eatery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 8 July , 2014 Share Posted 8 July , 2014 You could/still can have 60 year old stable boys Most are now called Stable Lads. Even the females Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 8 July , 2014 Share Posted 8 July , 2014 You could/still can have 60 year old stable boys Most are now called Stable Lads. Even the females I suspect it's probably the older ones that have retained 'boy' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaforths Posted 8 July , 2014 Author Share Posted 8 July , 2014 Thanks both. Very clear why no raised eyebrows with the recruiters. It's strange to have held a view for so long and something pop up to blow it out of the water. He did get caught out after a few months in France when someone reported him. I won't even ask about the ages of bird boys after reading your posts - I did read Mort again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 9 July , 2014 Share Posted 9 July , 2014 It may be relevant that young men of 18, 19 and 20 were still under the age of majority and hence "boys" in legal terms. It was also possible to join the Army while under 18 to train as a bandsman or tailor, and these were still officially called Boys. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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