Excerpt from "Ship to Shore" by Peter D. Jeans


Nipper: Slang for a small boy, still in widespread use in England and
Australia. From the fact that when an anchor was heaved-in, the large hemp
anchor cable was frequently too heavy to be brought around the capstan
[manually, by the crew]. A smaller endless cable, called a "messenger" was
passed with a few turns around the capstan and led forward so that it would run
close alongside the anchor cable.........

As the capstan was turned, the anchor cable was quickly temporarily bound to
the messenger by short lengths of rope called "nippers". Several nippers were
required in this operation, and they were worked by young boys or men who had
to be nimble and alert as they bent to their tasks.

Colloquially, "nipper" still refers to a small boy who is generally always full
of energy and mischief: "He quickly bustled his wife and their two nippers into
the railway carriage."