To be packed together so tightly that there is very limited movement. This phrase is thought to originate from the use of the block and tackle system on a sailing ship, referring to when rigging blocks are so tight against one another that they can’t be tightened any further. The word ‘chock’, possibly derived from the Old French word for block – ‘choque’, was a wedge or block of wood used to prevent movement, and ‘block’ refers to the pulleys used in the ship’s rigging, that have one or more grooves over which a line is roved, being used to change the direction of a line or, in pairs, to form a tackle. When a ship’s rigging was pulled as tight as possible and there was no more free rope, the blocks would be tightly compacted and said to be ‘chock-a-block.’
The Great Storm, a force two hurricane with wind speeds of up to 95 miles per hour, hit the south of England and Wales on 26th November 1703, the strong winds finally abating on 28th November. The Church of England declared that the storm was God’s retribution for the sins of the nation and it couldn’t have hit at a worse time. That year saw the greatest concentration of both naval and merchant shipping on the British coast to that date. Due to 
William Kidd, better known as Captain Kidd, had a very unfortunate career. He is believed to have been born into a poor seaman’s family in Dundee, Scotland in around 1654, later settling in New York. Not much else is known about his early life except that he took to the seas like his father before him. Although active in the grey area of privateering, it is likely that he never intended to adopt a life of piracy and was simply a victim of circumstances.