Leeches get a bad rap — but they might not deserve it.
Yes, they’re creepy crawly blood-suckers. And they can instill an almost primal sense of disgust and revulsion. Humphrey Bogart’s character in the 1951 film The African Queen even went so far as to call them “filthy little devils.”
But the humble leech is making a comeback. This critter is increasingly playing a key role as a sidekick for scientists and doctors, simply by being its bloodthirsty self.
Again the topsails were hoisted and top-gallant sheets home. It was a strong breeze, although the water was smooth, and the Aurora dashed through at the rate of eight miles an hour, with her weather leeches lifting.
— Frederick Marryat, Mr. Midshipman Easy
“The quarter-master during ordinary watches conns the ship, and stands beside the wheel at the conn, unless close-hauled, when his station is at the weather side, where he can see the weather-leeches of the sails,” wrote Admiral William H. Smyth in his Sailor’s Word-Book.
Leeches are the borders or edges of sails, and those on the weather side are facing the wind (the opposite of lee).
The Blackwall Frigate ‘Yorkshire’, British School 19th century.
