Bring It Close (43 page)

Glossary

Aback
– a sail when its forward surface is pressed upon by the wind. Used to ‘stop’ a ship.

Account
– see On the Account.

Aloft
– up in the tops, at the masthead or any where about the yards or the rigging.

Articles
– Each man when coming aboard ‘agreed the Articles’. Some pirate ships were run on very democratic lines, the crew elected their captain, agreed where to sail, divided the ‘spoils’ fairly etc. Most rules were sensible things like no naked flame below deck; each man to keep his weapon clean and ready for use; and no fighting aboard ship.

Bar
– a shoal running across the mouth of a harbour or a river.

Bare poles
– having no sail up – the bare mast.

Belay
– to make fast or secure. Also: ‘Stop that’. ‘Belay that talk!’ would mean ‘Shut up!’

Belaying pin
– a short wooden rod to which a ship’s rigging is secured. A common improvised weapon aboard a sailing ship because they are everywhere, are easily picked up, and are the right size and weight to be used as a club.

Bell (Ship’s bell)
– used as a clock, essential for navigation as the

measurement of the angle of the sun had to be made at noon. The bell was struck each time the half-hour glass was turned.

Bilge
– the lowest part of the ship inside the hull along the keel. They fill with stinking bilge water or ‘bilge’. Can also mean nonsense or foolish talk. 

Binnacle
– the frame or box that houses the compass.

Bo’sun
– short for boatswain, usually a competent sailor who is in charge of all deck duties.

Bow
– the front or ‘pointed’ end of the ship.

Bowsprit
– the heavy slanted spar pointing forward from the ship’s bow.

Brace
– rope used to control the horizontal movement of a square-rigged yard.

Brig
– a two masted vessel square-rigged on both masts.

Brimstone
– formerly the common name for sulphur.

Broadside
– the simultaneous firing of all guns on one side of a ship.

Bulkheads
– vertical partitions in a ship.

Bulwark
– interior wall of ship.

Cable
– a long, thick and heavy rope by which a ship is secured to the anchor.

Cable’s length
– a measure of 120 fathoms or 240 yards.

Capstan
– drum-like winch turned by the crew to raise or lower the anchors.

Careen
– the process of beaching a ship, heeling her over to her side and cleaning the underside of weed, barnacles and worm; making essential repairs to the part of a ship which is usually below the water line. A careened ship will go faster and last longer than one that is not.

Cathead
– vertical beam of timber protruding near the bow, used for hoisting the anchor.

Cat o’nine tails, or ‘cat’
– a whip with many lashes, used for flogging.

Caulk
– to seal the gaps between planks of wood with caulking – see oakum.

Chain shot
– two balls of iron joined together by a length of chain, chiefly used to destroy, masts, rigging and sails.

Chandler
– a merchant selling the various things a ship needs for supplies and repairs.

Chanty/shanty
– a sailor’s work song. Often lewd and derogatory about the officers.

Chase
– or Prize. The ship being pursued.

Cleat
– wooden or metal fastening to which ropes can be secured. Can also be used as a ladder.

Clew
– the lower corners of a sail, therefore Clew up – to haul a square sail up to a yard.

Close-hauled
– sailing as close to the direction of the wind as possible with the sails turned almost 90°.

Cordage
– rope is called cordage on board a ship.

Colours
– the vessel’s identification flag, also called an ensign. For a pirate, the Jolly Roger!

Courses
– lowest sails on the mast.

Crosstrees
– wooden platform partway up a mast to keep the shrouds spread apart.

Dolphin Striker
– a short perpendicular gaff spar under the cap of the bowsprit for guying down the jib-boom. Also called a martingale.

Doubloon
– a Spanish gold coin.

Fathom
– a measure of six feet of water.

Fore or for’ard
– toward the front end of the ship, the bow.

Forecastle
– pronounced fo’c’sle; raised deck at the front of ship.

Fore-and-aft rig
– sails set length wise not at right angles (square-rigged) to the hull.

Flukes
– the broad parts or palms of the anchor.

For-and-aft
– the length of a ship.

Forestay
– the rope leading from the mast to the bow.

Fother
– to seal a leak by lowering a sail over the side of the ship and positioning it so that it seals the hole by the weight of the sea. The canvas can be.

Futtock
– ‘foot hooks’.

Futtock shroud
– short pieces of rope which secure lower dad-eyes and futtock plates to the top mast rigging.

Galleon
– a large three-masted square-rigged ship used chiefly by the Spanish.

Galley
– ship’s kitchen.

Gasket
– a piece of plait to fasten the sails to the yards.

Gaol / gaoler
– pronounced ‘jail’ and ‘jailer.

Grape-shot
– or grape, small cast iron balls bound together in a canvas bag that scatter like shotgun pellets when fired.

Grenados
– early form of hand grenade.

Gunwale
– pronounced gun’l; upper planking along the sides of a vessel. ‘Up to the gunwales’ – full up or overloaded.

Halliard or halyard
– pronounced haly’d. The rope used to hoist a sail.

Hard tack
– ship’s biscuit. Opposite is soft tack – bread. Hatch – an opening in the deck for entering below. Hawser – cable.

Heave to
– to check the forward motion of a vessel and bring her to a stand still by heading her into the wind and backing some of her sails.

Heel
– to lean over due to action of the wind, waves, or greater weight on one side. The angle at which the vessel tips when sailing.

Helm
– the tiller (a long steering arm) or a wheel which controls the rudder and enables the vessel to be steered.

Hold
– space below deck for cargo.

Hull
– the sides of a ship which sit in and above the water.

Hull down
– a vessel when it is so far away from the observer the hull is invisible owing to the shape of the earth’s surface. Opposite to hull up.

Jack Ketch
– the hangman. To dance with Jack Ketch is to hang.

Jollyboat
– a small boat, a dinghy.

Jolly Roger
– the pirates’ flag, called the jolie rouge – although its original meaning is unknown. The hoisted flag was an invitation to surrender, with the implication that those who did so would be treated well – and no quarter given to those who did not.

Keel
– the lowest part of the hull below the water.

Keelhaul
– an unpleasant punishment – the victim is dragged through the water passing under the keel, either from side to side or bow to stern.

Knot
– one nautical mile per hour.

Landlubber or lubber
– a non-sailor.

Langrage
– jagged pieces of sharp metal used as shot. Especially useful for damaging rigging and killing men.

Larboard
– pronounced larb’d; the left side of a ship when facing the bow (front). Changed in the 19th century to ‘port.’

Lee
– the side or direction away from the wind i.e, downwind.

Lee shore
– the shore on to which the wind is blowing, a hazardous shore for a sailing vessel particularly in strong winds –can easily be blown on to rocks etc.

Leeches
– the vertical edges of a square sail.

Letter of Marque
– Papers issued by a government during wartime entitling a privately owned ship to raid enemy commerce or attack enemy warships.

Lubberly
– in an amateur way, as a landlubber would do.

Luff
– the order to the helmsman to put the tiller towards the lee side of the ship in order to make it sail nearer to the direction of the wind.

Maroon
– a punishment for breaking a pirate ship’s articles or rules. The victim was left on a deserted coast (or an island) with little in the way of supplies. Therefore, no one could say the unlucky pirate had actually been killed by his former brethren.

Mast
– vertical spar supporting the sails.

Molly Boy
– a homosexual prostitute.

Oakum
– a material used to waterproof seams between planks on deck etc. Made of strong, pliable, tarred fibres obtained from scrap rope which swell when wet.

On the Account
– or the Sweet Trade; a man who went ‘on the account’ was turning pirate.

Piece of eight
– a Spanish silver coin worth one peso or eight reales. It was sometimes literally cut into eight pieces, each worth one real. In the 1700s a piece of eight was worth a little under five shillings sterling, or 25p – this would be about £15 today. One side usually had the Spanish coat of arms, the other two lines symbolising the limits of the old world at the Straits of Gibraltar, the exit into the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean. In later designs two hemispheres were added between the lines representing the Old and New Worlds. Pieces of eight were so widely used that eventually this sign was turned into the dollar sign – $.

Privateer
– an armed vessel bearing letters of marque, or one of her crew, or her captain. A privateer is theoretically a law-abiding combatant.

Quarterdeck
– the highest deck at the rear of a ship where the officers stood and where the helm is usually situated.

Quartermaster
– usually the second-in-command aboard on a pirate ship. In the Royal Navy, the man in charge of the provisions

Rail
– timber plank along the top of the gunwale above the sides of the vessel.

Rake
– when a ship sweeps another with a broadside of cannon.

Ratlines
– pronounced ratlins; ropes beneath the yards on which sailors would stand while adjusting the sails.

Reef
– (1) an underwater obstruction of rock or coral. (2) to reduce the size of the sails by tying them partially up, either to slow the ship or to keep a strong wind from putting too much strain on the masts.

Rigging
– the ropes which support the spars (standing rigging) and allow the sails to be controlled (running rigging).

Round shot
– iron cannon balls.

Rudder
– blade at the stern which is angled to steer the vessel.

Run
– sail directly away from the wind.

Sails
– in general each mast had three sails. See diagram at the front.

Sail ho!
– ‘I see a ship!’ The sail is the first part visible over the horizon.

Scuppers
– openings along the edges of a ship’s deck to allow water to drain back to the sea rather than collecting in the bilges.

Scuttle
: 1 – a porthole or small hatch in the deck for lighting and ventilation, covered by the ‘scuttle hatch’. Can be used as a narrow entrance to the deck below.

Scuttle:
2 – or scupper – to deliberately sink a ship.

Sheet
– a rope made fast to the lower corners of a sail to control its position.

Sheet home
– to haul on a sheet until the foot of the sail is as straight and taut as possible.

Ship’s Biscuit
– hard bread. Very dry, can be eaten a year after baked. Also called hard tack.

Ship of the Line
– a war ship carrying at least 50 guns.

Shrouds
– ropes forming part of the standing rigging and supporting the mast or topmast.

Sloop
– a small, single masted vessel, ideal for shallow water.

Spanker
– a square sail wide at bottom and narrow at top attached to a boom that projects straight back from the mizzenmast along the axis of the ship.

Spar
– a stout wooden pole used as a mast or yard of a sailing vessel.

Spritsail
– pronounced sprit’sl; a sail attached to a yard which hangs under the bowsprit.

Square-rigged
– the principal sails set at right angles to the length of a ship and extended by horizontal yards slung to the mast.

Starboard
– pronounced starb’d. The right side of a vessel when you are facing toward the bow.

Stay
– strong rope supporting the masts. Stem – timber at very front of bow.

Stern
– the back end of a ship.

Swab
– a disrespectful term for a seaman, or to clean the decks.

Sweet Trade
– see On the Account.

Sweeps
– long oars used by large vessels.

Tack / tacking
– to change the direction of a vessel’s course by turning her bows into the wind until the wind blows on her other side. When a ship is sailing into an oncoming wind she will have to tack, make a zigzag line, in order to make progress forward against the oncoming wind.

Tackle
– (pronounced ‘taykle’) An arrangement of one or more ropes and pulley-blocks used to increase the power for raising or lowering heavy objects.