One for the G&S afficionados

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

In the Cat Like Tread song from Pirates of Penzance there is a line ‘here’s your crowbar, here’s your centre bit’. As it is about taking time off from piracy and doing a bit of burglary I don’t see what use what we would call a centre drill (bit) would be. Anyone got any ideas?

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

A centre bit in Victorian times (and for some woodworkers today) meant a type of spade bit for boring large holes. It was probably used by housebreakers for boring through wooden doors and windows to gain entry.

EtA: Here’s some background.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

..and there’s a modern twist; I can remember sitting in the pub 6 or 7 years ago and one of our neighbours pondering why someone would have “drilled a little hole in the wall of my shed” – it subsequently turned out that several buildings around the village had been ‘inspected’ by thieves with an ‘endoscope’ type camera.. ..in a couple of cases they’d used a drill to relieve an existing crack by a door, leaving sawdust on the threshold..

..so the sudden appearance of unexpected holes, and / or sawdust is a warning to be heeded..

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Thanks Bill, that is most enlightening.

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