[Loch-Ruadh] RE: [Loch-Ruadh] Why did sailors wear earrings? (Alaric? Can you answer?)

[E. Hawkwood]

Jane Sitton <jane.sitton at radioshack.com> wrote:
>Greetings.
>
>Another email list I read has come up with a question:
>>Why did sailors wear earrings?  Here are some of the theories:
>
>#1.  To pay for a Christian burial, should the body wash up on shore (though
>I would think the ears would be among the first parts to be nibbled off by
>fish, sorry for the visual)
>
>#2.  To indicate the sailor was married, and worn on the left ear (closer to
>the heart), as a ring on one's hand could get caught in the rigging
>
>#3.  To indicate the sailor had been past Cape Horn (left ear) or the Cape
>of Good Hope (right ear)
>
#4. A similar form of acupuncture/acupressure. When they got seasick,
a quick pull or rubbing of the earring (and that certain spot on the
ear) abated the nausea.

--
Lady Elizabeth Hawkwood


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