Sailor’s Lives Depended on Mare’s Tails
'MARE’S TAILS and MACKEREL SCALES make tall ships carry low sails' Ancient travelers new this phrase well, it was a warning heeded by sailors throughout the ages. But the mackerel scales referred to are not fishy ones, and nor do the mare's tails anything to do with horses. Both, in fact, are nicknames for clouds. Mare's [...]