Spot The Frippet: wash.

 There are a lot of different types of wash: the sort that's a layer of thin paint that sometimes goes down at the beginning of a painting or drawing and often forms the sky:

feudal remains by Victor Hugo

Then there's The Wash that's a shallow area of sea off the East Coast of England (and if you've ever been told that King John lost the crown jewels in the wash, then that's The Wash they're talking about. It only took me a couple of decades to realise that). 

And there's the wash that's the action of the sea on the shore:

photo by Uwe Jelthing

 and there are car washes, and of course the wash you probably had this morning.

But it's nearly Christmas, and I'm particularly interested in the wash that's also a crown.

Where's that?

At the top of a chimney. The wash/crown is the rim that goes around the top of the chimney stack.

photo by Jon Sullivan

They're important because they make a ledge for Father Christmas to sit on before he slithers down the chimney.

Well, I can't think what else they're for, anyway.

Spot the Frippet: wash. The Old English form of this word is wæscan. It's related to the word water.