Foyboatmen is the term used to describe the men who tie the
mooring ropes of larger ships at their
berths when they come into port and untie them when the ship is ready to leave. The foyboatmen use small rowing boats to get around the busy port and are paid a small fee by the
port authority for their services. They are all extremely talented at manoeuvring around boats many times their size and are jolly important in the port system.
Despite their apparent necessity, the only foyboatmen I could find are in the North East of England, perhaps they trade under a different name elsewhere. As far as the name goes, "foy" meaning "faith" or "allegiance" doesn’t seem to fit, a corruption of "fee" was suggested by my local Foyboatmans Association, which seems slightly more probable, men who charge a fee to use their boats seems about right.
Coincidentally the only reason I stumbled upon the existence of Foyboatmen is their fondness for karaoke parties in my local.
Any information on foyboatmen elsewhere would be more than welcome, it seems they keep themselves to themselves though :)