Photos from museum of artillery

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Marc

Well, the word "verga" (eng. "yard", not the unit of length but the spar on a mast from which sails are set) has also a naval origin...



Hmm... there's that distinct feeling of a Ban Hammer looming in the horizon...

Vergas could be huge ... i mean, ship's vergas (spars) .
I don't know whether French adventurer Pyrard de Laval (1575-1652) was exagerating when, at describing the Portuguese naus of the India route as being the largest ships afloat, quoted their spars as measuring twenty four fathoms, needing two hundred men to lift them ... and with the support of two powerfull capstans.
How's that?