A Sea of Words Page 10

  Articles Thirty-four and Thirty-five state that anyone “being in actual service and full pay, and part of the crew in or belonging to any of his Majesty’s ships or vessels of war” is liable to trial by court-martial for offenses and to the corresponding punishment as if committed on board ship at sea.

  Article Thirty-six states, “All other crimes not capital, committed by any person or persons in the fleet, which are not mentioned in this act, or for which no punishment is hereby directed to be inflicted, shall be punished according to the laws and customs in such cases used at sea.”

  Additional paragraphs address such issues as the pay and wages of British seamen captured by the enemy, the conduct and procedures of courts-martial, and command following shipwreck.

  Artemisia In The Surgeon’s Mate (p. 247), Maturin makes reference to two Artemisias. One is the Queen of Caria (d. c. 350 B.C.) who married her brother Mausolus and succeeded him to the throne upon his death; the mausoleum she built in his memory at Halicarnassus was one of the Seven Wonders of the (ancient) World. The second is the fifth-century Queen of Halicarnassus and Cos, who joined the Persian fleet of King Xerxes and fought bravely against the Greeks at the Battle of Salamis.

  artificer A mechanic in the Royal Navy.

  asafoetida or asafetida A bitter, strong-smelling hardened resin of the Ferula asafoetida, a plant of the carrot family from North Africa and Central Asia, having many uses in medicine, including as an antispasmodic and general prophylactic against disease.

  Ascension Island In the Atlantic about 280 miles northwest of St. Helena, a triangular-shaped volcanic island of about 35 square miles. Turtle and birds’ eggs were its chief export.

  Ascitans A heretical sect of the second century that danced around an inflated wineskin, inspired perhaps by Matthew 9:17.

  ascites Abnormal accumulation of fluid within the abdominal cavity; DROPSY of the abdomen, caused most often by heart or liver failure.

  Ascot In England, a village near Windsor in Berkshire and the site of fashionable horseraces held each June; also applied to hats, dresses, and other items suitable for wearing in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot or associated with the event.

  Ashgrove Cottage The Aubrey home in Hampshire. Ashgrove faces north, on poor soil, and is frequently deep in mud. Still, on a good day the grounds are picturesque, and from his observatory Aubrey can peer down at the shipping around Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. Ashgrove has convenient access to the main Portsmouth-to-London road at the nearby towns of Petersfield, BURITON, and Cosham.

  asp A small venomous hooded serpent, found in Egypt and Libya. Also a species of viper found in parts of Europe.

  Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo ... et super nivem dealbabor Sprinkle me, Lord, with hyssop (an aromatic plant used in biblical Hebrew purification rites) … and I shall be whiter than snow (Latin, Psalms 51:7).

  asphyxia Suffocation.

  Assassins A band of Ismaili Muslim fanatics living in Syria at the time of the Crusades whose goal was the creation of a new Fatimid caliphate. From a string of mountain fortresses, they were sent to terrorize orthodox Muslims and Christian Crusaders alike by SHEIKH-AL-JABAL, the Old Man of the Mountain, and subsequent leaders. The Assassins’ campaign included the murder of politically important people, thus in English the term came to mean a politically motivated murderer.

  Ast illi solvuntur frigore membra/vitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras But as for him, his limbs lay limp and cold, and indignant life fled into the shadows with a groan (Latin, the ending of Virgil’s Aeneid).

  Astley’s Royal Amphitheatre A popular house of entertainment, featuring at times clowns (among them Grimaldi), acrobats, conjurors, and equestrians. A favorite of Londoners, it burned in 1803 and was rebuilt.

  ataraxy Peace of mind; stoical indifference.

  Athenry One of the oldest towns of County Connaught, Ireland, 13 miles east of Galway.

  athesphatos oinos Marvelous quantities of wine (Greek).

  athwart Across from side to side, transversely; usually, but not necessarily, in an oblique direction. From side to side of a ship.

  a-trip Said of YARDS when they are raised up to the MASTS and ready for crossing, of TOPSAILS when hoisted and ready for trimming, and of an anchor when it is just clear of the ground in WEIGHing.

  a-try See LIE A-TRY.

  attar A very fragrant essential oil obtained from the petals of flowers, especially roses; fragrance.

  auctor Originator, author, leader (Latin).

  audit ale A special ale brewed at some of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge and served on audit day, when students had to pay their bills.

  auger A carpenter’s tool for boring holes in wood, with a long pointed shank having a cutting edge and a tapered screw point.

  auk A diving bird of the family Alcidae, which includes the guillemot, puffin, razor-bill, little auk, and the extinct great auk. Inhabiting mainly the colder parts of the northern oceans, auks are predominantly black, white, or gray with short wings and legs and webbed feet. The great auk, a flightless bird about 30 inches long, nested in great concentrations on North Atlantic islands. Unafraid of humans, it was easily clubbed to death and was often corralled on board for slaughter by sailors, fishermen, and sealers. Auk feathers were used for bedding, the carcasses for oil, and the eggs for food. Each nesting pair produced only one egg per season, and the colonies dwindled rapidly before 1800. The last two known specimens were captured on an island near Iceland in 1844.

  The razorbill, a type of auk (from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1771)

  aurora The rising light of dawn. Also, a luminous atmospheric phenomenon, consisting of arches of light and occurring near or radiating from the earth’s northern or southern magnetic poles, caused by the emission of light from atoms excited by electrons accelerated along the earth’s magnetic field lines. Popularly called the Northern or Southern Lights or merry-dancers or streamers. The Southern Lights are also called aurora australis, and the Northern Lights, aurora borealis.

  auscultate To listen, especially when physicians, on rare occasions, examined the chest by applying an ear directly to it; this was called “immediate auscultation.” After the stethoscope was invented (see LAENNEC), the use of that instrument as an intermediary tool caused its use to be referred to as “mediate ausculation.” Although listening is essential to the earlier technique of PERCUSSION, the word “ausculation” is not ordinarily used in conjunction with it.

  austral Belonging to the south, southern; also, influenced by the south wind, warm and moist. Of or pertaining to Australia or Australasia.

  Autre pays, autre merde Different country, different “shit,” Aubrey’s bungled version of the French saying autres temps, autres moeurs (manners change with the times).

  avifauna Collective term for the various kinds of birds found in any district or country.

  aviso A dispatch boat. Also, a notification, dispatch, or formal advice.

  avoirdupois The standard system of weights used in Great Britain for all goods except precious metals, precious stones, and medicines. The avoirdupois pound contains 7,000 grains. The avoirdupois weight of the U.S. agrees with that of Great Britain in the pound, ounce, and dram, but the U.S. hundredweight contains 100 pounds and the British hundredweight 112 pounds; the ton, 20 hundredweights, differs accordingly in the U.S. and Britain.

  awning A canvas rooflike covering providing shelter from the weather on deck. Also the part of the POOP deck that is forward of the BULKHEAD of the cabin.

  azimuth compass A compass for taking bearings of both heavenly and terrestrial bodies.

  Azores Volcanic islands in the North Atlantic about 800 miles off the coast of Portugal and settled by the Portuguese beginning in the 15th century.

  B

  Bab el Mandeb THE 20-mile-wide strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

  babirussa Found in the East Indies, a species of wild hog (also known as hog-deer, Indian hog, and horned hog), whose upper canine teeth
, in the male, pierce the lip and grow up and back like horns.

  back To turn a sail or a YARD so that the wind blows directly on the front of the sail, retarding the ship’s forward movement.

  back and fill To go backward and forward.

  backing Motion in a backward direction. Said of the wind, shifting in a counterclockwise direction in relation to a vessel’s course. When the wind shifts in a clockwise direction, it is called veering.

  backstay A long rope, part of the standing RIGGING, that supports a MAST and counters forward pull. Attached to the upper MASTHEADS, backstays slant a little toward the STERN, extending to both sides or to the CHANNELS of the ship, where they are fastened to backstay-plates.

  bagnio A brothel.

  bahadur An Anglo-Indian term meaning a great man or distinguished person; often used as a title before an officer’s name. From the Hindi word meaning “hero” or the Persian word for “brave.”

  bailey The external wall enclosing the outer court and forming the first line of defense of a castle. In a wider sense, any of the circuits of walls or defenses that surround the keep. Also, either of the two-or three-walled courts within the innermost wall surrounding the walled courts.

  Bailiff An officer of justice who is subordinate to a sheriff and who executes writs and arrests. A warrant officer, especially one who arrests debtors.

  bairn Scottish word for a son or daughter.

  bait Of travelers, to stop at an inn to feed the horses, but also to rest and refresh themselves; to make a brief stay or sojourn; to feed, take nourishment.

  baize A coarse woolen cloth used for linings, coverings, curtains, and clothing.

  Bakewell tart A baked sweet consisting of a pastry shell lined with a layer of jam and filled with a rich almond-flavored sponge cake. Named for the town in Derbyshire where it originated.

  ballast Gravel, sand, stones, iron, lead, or any heavy material placed in the hold of a ship to improve her stability. “In ballast” means laden with ballast only.

  ball-scoop A surgical instrument for removing small shot from superficial wounds.

  balsa A very buoyant raft or fishing float made from the wood of the balsa tree and used chiefly on the Pacific coast of South America.

  balsam An aromatic oily or resinous medicinal preparation, usually for external application, for healing wounds or soothing pain.

  Baltimore Clipper Name given in the United States to a fast SCHOONER or BRIG-RIGGED vessel, with raked MASTS and a sharp BOW, of about 90 to 200 tons and 35 to 120 feet on deck.

  band A slip of canvas stitched across a sail to strengthen the parts most liable to pressure.

  Banda Isles A group of 12 small volcanic islands in the Molucca Archipelago.

  bandicoot A large Indian rat as big as a cat and very destructive.

  banker A ship employed in cod fishing on the Bank of Newfoundland.

  Banks, Sir Joseph (1743-1820) Botanist who accompanied Captain James COOK on his voyage (1768-1771) to the Pacific in H.M.S. Endeavour. The Endeavour landed in New South Wales at Sting-Ray Harbour in 1770, and Cook claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain. Cook later renamed the harbor BOTANY BAY in honor of Banks’s many discoveries there. Banks was president of the ROYAL SOCIETY from 1778 to 1820.

  Banksia A genus of Australian evergreen trees and shrubs. Also, common name of a species of climbing rose, originating in China, that bears small white or yellow flowers in clusters. It was named after Lady Banks, the wife of Sir Joseph BANKS. The labrador, gray, or jack pine, Pinus banksiana, named after Sir Joseph Banks, is also called banksia.

  banns Public announcement in church of an intended marriage so that those who know of any impediment can voice their objection.

  Bantu Of or pertaining to an extensive group of peoples inhabiting the equatorial and southern regions of Africa and the languages spoken by them.

  banyan or banian In the English Navy, a day on which salt meat was replaced by fish or cheese, a practice begun during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) to reduce costs. The term derives from the Banians, Hindu traders who abstained from eating meat because they held animals to be sacred. Also, the banyan is an East Indian tree of the mulberry family with branches that send out shoots down to the soil, where they root and grow into secondary trunks.

  Banyuls A sweetish red or tawny dessert wine made in the communes of Banyuls-sur-Mer in southern France.

  baobab A broad-trunked tropical tree (ADANSONIA digitata), also called monkey-bread and Ethiopian sour gourd, found in Africa and long naturalized in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, and some parts of India. Very slow-growing, the baobab reaches up to 60 feet in height and 30 feet in diameter, and some grow to be several thousand years old. Its trunk and lower branches are soft and spongy and can store a great deal of water, inuring them to long dry seasons. The flowers are pollinated by bats. Many animals use the baobab for food and shelter. Its acid fruit looks like a gourd and is edible, and its bark is used to make paper, rope, and cloth.

  Barbary The Islamic countries along the north coast of Africa, from the western border of Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean. The Barbary States included Algeria, Tunisia, Tripoli, and sometimes Morocco. See also ALGIERS and TANGIERS.

  Barbados leg A form of ELEPHANTIASIS that occurs in hot climates, caused by Wuchereria bancrofti, minute parasitic worms that are transmitted by mosquitoes.

  barca-longa A large Spanish fishing boat, common in the Mediterranean, rigged with single LUGSAILS on each of two or three MASTS, and reaching up to 70 feet in length.

  Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail, Prince (1761-1818) A Russian field marshal of Scottish descent, he became minister of war in 1810 and commanded the Russian forces against NAPOLEON in 1812. His policy of continuous retreat deep into Russia and his defeat at Smolensk resulted in his being replaced by Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Prince of Smolensk. After Kutuzov’s death in 1813, he was again placed in command of the Russian forces, distinguishing himself at Leipzig and in the capture of Paris.

  bare poles With no sail set, with furled sails, as in “with or under (bare) poles.” Said of a ship in a storm that has taken in all of her sails because of the violent winds.

  barge In naval usage, a FLAG OFFICER’S boat or one fitted for ceremonial purposes. Also, a long, narrow boat, generally with no fewer than ten oars, carried on a MAN-OF-WAR. See illustrations, pages 70 and 71.

  barge-pole A long pole used to propel a barge.

  bark also Jesuits’ or Peruvian bark The bark of various species of the cinchona tree, which contains quinine. Ground into a powder, it was highly effective in the treatment of malaria and became a main-stay in the treatment of almost all other fevers, although not truly curative for them. For nautical meaning, see BARQUE.

  barky A sailor’s term for a vessel well liked by her crew.

  barley water A drink made by boiling down pearl barley. It is used to soothe or protect irritated mucous membranes.

  Barmecide One who offers imaginary food or illusory benefits. Barmecide was the family name of the princes ruling at Baghdad in the 8th century. In The Arabian Nights a story is told of a prince who put a succession of empty dishes before a beggar, pretending they contained a delicious meal—a fiction the beggar humorously accepted.

  barometer An instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure. The marine barometer had a column of mercury in a glass tube that was suspended in gimbals to prevent the ship’s motion from affecting it. In general, when the mercury rose in the glass column—a “rising glass”—it signified high pressure or improving weather; a “falling glass” meant falling pressure and bad weather. See also GLASS.

  baronet The holder of a title of honor that is the lowest that is hereditary, below a baron and above a knight, carrying the title “Sir,” and, to differentiate from knights, the abbreviation “Bart.” after the surname, as in Sir John Spencer, Bart. A baronet is a commoner, the intention being “to give rank, precedence, and title without privilege.”

  baronetcy A baronet�
�s position or rank; a baronet’s patent.

  barouche A four-wheeled carriage having a seat in front for the driver and facing seats for two couples.

  barque or bark A three-MASTed vessel with the FOREMAST and MAINMAST SQUARE-RIGGED and the MIZZENMAST FORE-AND-AFT rigged. Also sometimes used for the BARCA-LONGA of the Mediterranean and other small sailing vessels.

  barrel A revolving cylinder or drum around which a chain or rope is wound in various machines and appliances.

  bar-shot or bar A shot consisting of two half cannonballs joined by an iron bar, used at sea to damage MASTS and RIGGING.

  Bartholomew Fair This festival, named after one of the 12 apostles, was held on the 24th of August, from 1133 to 1855, at West Smithfield (Bartholomew Fair) in London. Known for quality presentations and theater but also its rowdiness, it was closed by the city in 1855.

  Bartolo (1314-2357) Bartolo of Saxoferrato was an Italian jurist, legal commentator, and professor at Perugia. He wrote a famous commentary on Justinian’s Corpus Juris Civilis.

  bas bleu French for bluestocking, a woman with intellectual or literary interests. The term comes from the Blue Stocking Society, an 18th-century English club whose members—mostly female—met to discuss literature, art, and other intellectual matters. One of the club’s popular speakers was Benjamin Stillingfleet, whose habit of wearing unconventional blue stockings gave the club its name.

  bashaw A grandee, a haughty, imperious man. From the title of rulers of BARBARY Coast countries.

  bashi-bazouk also bashi-bazo A mercenary soldier belonging to the skirmishing, or irregular, troops of the Turkish army, notorious for lawlessness, plundering, and savage brutality.

  basilisk A fantastic reptile, also called a cockatrice, alleged to be hatched by a serpent from a cock’s egg. Ancient authors stated that the basilisk’s hissing drove away all other serpents and that its breath, and even its look, was fatal.

  Basque Roads Roadstead off the French coast near Rochefort on the Bay of Biscay where the Battle of Basque Roads (or Battle of Aix Roads) took place in 1809. Although an English victory, Captain COCHRANE contended that had Admiral GAMBIER been more enterprising, the victory could have been much more devastating.