Gee, I'm confused now - I'd heard a different etymology.....
I understand that attributing this phrase to old English seafarers is on the right track, but a simple twisting of the language has resulted in some deep and long held misinterpretations.
Rather than being a nautical term, the phrase originated in seminaries - and thus the common misconception that it came from seamen. (One must also be very careful not to introduce semen into the discussion either, though this word no doubt fertilised centuries of misunderstanding.)
Anyway, back on the job.......
Apparently with the Church's omnipotent role in society those days, long before banks, it became the task of the friars in the local monastery to provide a safe repository for valuable documents. The demand for this service was highest in the winter months because the houses and buildings back then were damp and draughty. Important documents (nearly always on linen or vellum) were prone to ruination by attack from water, fungus or mould.
Rather than store these items with the day to day items of church paraphenalia and monastic regalia, they were kept in a special room, the key of which was held by the Abbott. The lock on the door to the strongroom was, by necessity, a complicated device requiring a special key - replete with a series of levers and cams. The key was made of an alloy of copper and tin, offering considerable superiority to iron by virtue of its resistance to rusting.
Unfortunately however, right when the demand for the church's repository service was at its highest (ie during the cold winter months), the special key often failed to work correctly. In the worst weather, the complicated add ons were even known to cease functioning altogether.
Hence the phrase, "Cold enough to freeze the pawls of a brass monk's key".
P-)
stales
