Promotion
In days of yore, many small workboats, more or less worldwide, employed a spritsail as their means of propulsion, (think Thames Barge in miniature), the sprit would be tied to the lower part of the mast and then tightened to force the sprit upwards , thus raising the peak of the sail, using a line called a snotter. If this has anything to do with midshipmen, I don't know, and I'm sure it hasn't, but I throw it into the mix to try to add to the confusion.
Nerys
When the winds before the rain, soon you may make sail again, but when the rain's before the wind, tops'l sheets and halyards mind