Superstion at sea in Nelson's days

[Redfish]

I have some questions on the following three superstitions:

- Having a woman on board the ship makes the seas angry and is an omen of bad luck for everyone aboard, unless she is naked (hence the bare-breasted figureheads).
- Avoid people with red hair when going to the ship to begin a journey. Red-heads bring bad luck to a ship, which can be averted if you speak to the red-head before they speak to you.
- Priests are not lucky to have on a ship. They dress in black and perform funeral services. They are a symbol of possible death and anything that makes you think of death or dying is a bad omen.

Are they all general seamen's superstitions or are some only fishermen's superstitions? How old are they? Were all three superstitions supported by (superstitious) jack-tars in the days of Nelson? Does the red-head-superstition imply that jack-tar did not like to have a red-head on board either (as a shipmate and/or Captain etc), or was that one only about going to a ship to begin a journey?

[PMarione]

Difficult question.
Most superstitions come from the night of time, from oral tradition. Many are what is left of pagan culture and religions like the number 13.
Putting a coin under the mainsmast bottom for luck can be traced to Roman times.
Sailors didn't leave many accounts of their lives so it's very difficult to know what they really believed.
There is the story of the bird entering the cabin of HN before the Nile that he considered as a good omen.

Superstitions make good stuff in novels like POB's ones or in movies but it's impossible to know their extent in real life.

There certainly were a lot of women on board RN ships and not all of them naked.
Chaplains were included in the complement of the rated RN ships even if they were difficult to find due to the low rate of their pay.
Redheaded women are prone to write very bad biographies so maybe it's why they are not welcome aboard

There are hundreds of other superstitions like

whistling onboard will attract a storm,
albatross is good omen except if you shot it:


Quote:

At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the fog it came ; As if it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in God's name.


Start a cruise on Friday, the first Monday of April, the second Monday of August, the 31st of December brings bad luck whilst it's a good idea to sail on a sunday.
having a banana on board was bad omen (maybe linked to all these naked women onboard)