A fine oil painting by J.C.Ibbotson, painted in 1790, of a collier brig deliberately beached in shallow water, so that at low tide, coal can be unloaded into carts waiting in the water below. These so-called "cat-bark" collier brigs used along the east coast of England, were capacious, flat-bottomed and solidly built precisely for the purpose of 'taking the ground' for loading and unloading. (Copyright: National Maritime Museum)
They were mentioned in yesterday's - The MARDLINGHAM Saga - but today's is more about a deserted vicar and Ginny's tuppence.
It was in this sort of sailing vessel that Captain Cook learned his seamanship and The Endeavour itself was a bark built in Whitby, Yorkshire.
They had something, those ships.