The following was found in Bakers history of Scarborough: Whilst a ship was being caulked (made watertight) any passing woman had to be kissed: The custom didn't last for long!
Caulking kiss - for several years before and some years after 1787, the carpenters employed in the shipyards at Scarborough had a custom as follows - when the seams of a new ship were being first caulked, each man had his portion of the work marked off, where he was stationed until the caulking was completed. The man who worked nearest to the stern was, by indispensible custom, obliged to demand a kiss of every female who might happen to pass by during the caulking. If a lady refused the favour, she had to compound by giving something to purchase oil to rub the "riming iron", that it might more easily enter the seams. If the lady did not comply with either of the requests, the carpenter was compelled by his companions to take the kiss or be "cobbed" by them. Neither inhabitants nor visitors were exempt from this tax, and those females who chose to pay seldom estimated the value of a kiss at less than a shilling. Shipbuilding is no more at Scarborough, and with its departure has gone this free and somewhat intrusive saluation.
