A Sea of Words Read online

  Earnshaws A chronometer made by the English watchmaker Thomas Earnshaws (1749-1829), who was the first to simplify and lower the cost of manufacturing chronometers, making them more affordable to the general public.

  earwig Any of various insects, all of the order Dermaptera, with pincerlike appendages protruding from the abdomen. So called from the notion that it penetrates into the head through the ear.

  EAST INDIA COMPANY (ENGLISH)

  Also known as the Honourable East India Company, H.E.I.C., The Honourable Company, or “John Company.” Like its counterparts in other European nations (e.g., the Dutch East India Company), the English East India Company set up to trade in India, the East Indies, and the Far East. It was incorporated by Elizabeth I in 1600; along with a monopoly on trade in the region, it was eventually given the right to acquire territory, make treaties, and wage war. By 1757, the company controlled India, acting as the governmental authority for British possessions in the Far East. Following the 1774 Regulating Act and the 1784 India Act, it was a Board of Control responsible to Parliament. Its monopoly over British trade in the East was broken in 1813.

  The Dutch East India Company, the H.E.I.C.’s chief rival for hegemony in the East, was successful during the 17th century and at one time controlled Batavia, Ceylon, Java, Malacca, AMBOYNA, and the Cape of Good Hope, among other places. It officially closed in 1799 after France invaded Holland.

  East Indiaman A large and heavily armed merchant ship built by the various East India companies and, in England, often commanded by a former Royal Navy officer. Considered the ultimate sea vessels of the age, the ships offered relatively luxurious quarters and were often adorned with gilding and ornamental carvings.

  East Indies Collective term for the islands off Southeast Asia, including Borneo, Celebes, Java, and Sumatra, along with India, at one point, and the MALAY Peninsula. The sources of much-valued spices and other products, they were subject to various colonial influences beginning with the Portuguese in 1511. In 1811, Java fell to Lord Minto and a British EAST INDIA COMPANY force, and Thomas Raffles was appointed lieutenant-governor.

  easting The distance gained to the eastward; a sloping or veering eastwards. Of a wind or ocean current, a shifting eastward of the point of origin.

  Eccles cake A pastry with a filling of dried fruit. Eccles is a town in Northwest England, in Greater Manchester.

  Echidna A genus of Australian toothless insectivorous mammals resembling hedgehogs, including the porcupine anteater.

  echinoderm A member of a phylum of animals (Echinodermata) that includes sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Most echinoderms have pointed spines that stud the skin.

  Eclipse Foaled in 1764, he was one of the three stallions (the others were Herod and Matchem) from which all true thoroughbred horses are descended, as registered in the English General Stud Book, first published in 1791. He was, in turn, descended from the DARLEY ARABIAN.

  Eddystone A dangerous reef 14 miles southwest of PLYMOUTH in southwest England that has been marked by a succession of lighthouses since 1696.

  edema Swelling, usually in the lower legs, abdomen, or chest, caused by abnormal accumulation of fluid, as in DROPSY.

  edge away To gradually change the course of a ship by sailing larger (more away) from BEFORE THE WIND.

  egard Regard, consideration, deference (French).

  egret Any of several white wading birds of related genera.

  Egyptian pox Probably syphilis; it was customary for its name in one country to include a pejorative attribution to another nation.

  eider Any one of several sea ducks of various genera abundant in northern regions that line their nests with their own down. The males have distinctive black and white plumage.

  elbow When a ship moored in a tideway crosses its HAWSER twice, entangling it.

  electuary A medicinal paste made with a powder or other ingredient mixed with honey, preserves, or syrup.

  Eleonora’s falcon A falcon of the Aegean that winters around Madagascar and the South African coast and returns to Greece in April to forage for large insects. In August, colonies of Eleonora’s falcon breed on remote rocky Aegean islands. This late breeding time enables them to hatch their young at the peak of the fall migration, when an abundancy of songbirds moving south provide food for the young.

  elephantiasis Various kinds of diseases caused by parasites indigenous to the tropics that cause the affected part, usually the legs and scrotum, to swell to enormous size.

  elevenses or elevens Light refreshment eaten at about eleven A.M.

  Elphinstone, George Keith, Viscount Keith (1746-1823) Keith participated in the capture of Charleston, South Carolina, during the American Revolutionary War, and was made Rear Admiral at the beginning of the French Revolutionary War (1793-1801). As Admiral, he was primarily a gifted administrator. He helped resolve the naval mutinies of 1797 and in 1815 commanded the ship to which Napoleon surrendered, the BELLEROPHON. During Elphinstone’s career, he commanded the India Squadron, the Mediterranean Fleet (conducting with General Sir Ralph Abercromby a successful amphibious action in Egypt against the reduced French forces in 1801), the North Sea Station, and the Channel Fleet. His second wife, Hester Thrale, was DR. JOHNSON’S “Queeney” (see KEITH, LADY); in the Aubrey-Maturin novels she is Aubrey’s dear friend and best influence with the ADMIRALTY.

  Admiral Lord Keith (reproduced from Alfred Mohan’s Life of Nelson, 1897, courtesy of the Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, Virginia)

  embarras de choix An overabundance of choices (French).

  embay To lay a vessel within a bay. Also, of wind or tide, to force a vessel into or trap it within a bay.

  embrasure In a fortress or parapet, an opening that is narrower outside than inside to allow a gun to be fired from a protected enclosure.

  emu A flightless Australian bird discovered soon after the colonization of NEW SOUTH WALES in 1788 that was originally regarded as a species of CASSOWARY. The emu and cassowary are closely related, but the former is distinguished by the absence of the cassowary’s horny “helmet” and the caruncles on the neck, and by the presence of a singular opening in the front of the windpipe.

  en clair In ordinary language, as opposed to being in code or cipher (French).

  enclosure The act of enclosing water or common land, involving the loss of common rights; the land thus enclosed.

  Endeavour, H.M.S. Captain James COOK’S BARQUE, originally a COLLIER built in 1764 and called Earl of Pembroke. She is famous for her part in Cook’s great discovery voyage from 1768 to 1771. She was purchased by the Navy in 1768 and sold in 1775.

  Endymion, H.M.S. Modeled after the captured French frigate La Pomme, she was built in 1797 and became one of the Royal Navy’s swiftest ships.

  engouement Infatuation (French).

  Ennius, Quintus (239-269 B.C.) Born in Calabria and made a Roman citizen in 184 B.C., Ennius hoped to become the Latin Homer and is indeed regarded as the father of Latin poetry. He translated Greek plays, especially those of Euripides, wrote comedies, satires, tragedies, and most notably his masterpiece epic poem, Annales, a literary history of Rome, which served as the national epic until superseded by Virgil’s Aeneid. Only fragments survive from his work, including about 600 lines from Annales. Virgil, Lucretius, and Ovid borrowed freely from his work.

  ensign The flag carried by a ship to indicate her nationality. In some navies, the lowest rank of commissioned officer.

  eparterial On or over any artery.

  epicene In Latin and Greek grammar, nouns having one form to denote both sexes. Also, partaking of the characteristics of both sexes.

  epiphytic Disease caused by vegetable parasites.

  episcopacy Government of the church by bishops; the system of church government with three distinct orders: bishops, presbyters or priests, and deacons. In the United States, the Church of England (Anglican Church) became the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1784.

  Episcopal ring The ring worn by a bishop as an insign
ia of office.

  epocha Something epochal or very significant.

  equilibro Balanced.

  equinoctial Happening at or near the time of the fall or spring equinox, when the length of night and day are equal. Said especially of the GALES prevailing about the time of the fall equinox.

  Erastianism The theory of the Swiss theologian Thomas Erastus (1524-1583), who believed in the complete subordination of ecclesiastical powers to secular ones.

  Erse The Gaelic dialect of the Scottish Highlands, which is in fact of Irish origin. Occasionally used to designate Irish Gaelic as well.

  Erythroxylon coca Scientific name of COCA.

  escheat In feudal law, when a fief reverted to the lord when the tenant died without leaving a successor qualified to inherit under the original grant. The lapsing of land to the Crown (in the U.S., to the state) or to the lord of the manor on the death of the owner.

  escota See SHEET.

  esculent Suitable as food, edible, used especially for vegetables.

  espalier A latticework or frame of stakes upon which fruit trees or ornamental shrubs are trained against a wall. Also one such stake.

  esquire A title originally applied to men who belonged to the higher order of English gentry, ranking immediately below a knight.

  estovers The rights to wood for fuel, repairs, and other uses from land that one does not own, especially from land on which one is a tenant.

  état d’ame State of the soul (French).

  Euphorbia A genus of plants that secrete a viscid milky juice that may be astringent, sometimes poisonous, but always bitter.

  Euphorbia praestans A gum resin used chiefly to stimulate sneezing in order to remove unbalanced humors via the phlegm; in large doses it caused vomiting and catharsis.

  euphory Euphoria, good feeling.

  euphroe A long cylindrical BLOCK with a number of holes for receiving the legs, or lines, composing the CROWFOOT.

  Euryalus, H.M.S. The fifth-rate 36-gun FRIGATE nicknamed “Nelson’s Watch Dog.” Commanded by Captain Hon. Henry Blackwood, she provided advance notice to Nelson of the massing of French and Spanish ships that led to the Battle of TRAFALGAR. Built in 1803, she became a prison ship in 1826.

  Eusebius of Caesarea (c.260-c.339) A Palestinian theologian, church historian, and scholar who wrote Life of Constantine (c.338) and many other works.

  evening gun The warning gun that is fired to mark the time of day after which the sentries challenge.

  evert To turn the inner surface outward, for instance, to evert the eyelid.

  ewer A pitcher or jug with a wide spout used to carry water for washing the hands.

  Ex Africa surgit semper aliquid novo,—novi Something new is always rising up out of Africa (Aubrey’s second guess—novi—is the correct one; Latin, from Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis 5).

  Excellent, H.M.S. A third rate of 74 guns built in 1787, she was commanded by Lord COLLINGWOOD at the GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE in 1794. She also fought at CAPE ST. VTNCENT in 1797. She was later used as the Royal Navy gunnery training ship at PORTSMOUTH.

  Exchequer bill A bill of credit issued by authority of Parliament bearing interest at the current rate.

  execrate To pronounce a curse upon; to declare accursed.

  Execution Dock The dock at Wapping where criminal sailors were executed by being confined in a cage just over the low-tide mark so that they slowly drowned at high tide.

  ex gratia As a favor or gift; without compulsion (Latin).

  exiguity Scantiness, smallness in size or quantity.

  extravasation The escape of blood into surrounding tissues.

  exulans The great albatross, Diomedea exulans. See ALBATROSS.

  eye A loop of cord or rope, especially the circular loop of a SHROUD or STAY, where it goes over the MAST. Also, the loop at one end of a bowstring.

  F

  facies febris Literally, the face of fever, traditionally known as the “Hippocratic facies” seen in patients with advanced fevers and characterized by sunken eyes, hollow cheeks and temples, leaden complexion, and pinched expression of the entire face.

  fadge To piece together, usually used with “up.”

  fag-end The last part or remnant; the end of a rope, especially a frayed end.

  fairlead A strip of board or plank with holes for running RIGGING through. Also, a BLOCK or THIMBLE used for the same purpose.

  fairway A navigable channel in a river or harbor.

  fake One of the circles or windings of a CABLE or HAWSER in a coil. To fake is to lay a rope in fakes or coils; to coil.

  Falconer, William (1744-1824) British physician who wrote on many medical subjects, including fevers. He should not be confused with the author of the same name who is famous for his Falconer’s Dictionary of the Marine.

  Falconer’s Dictionary of the Marine A highly regarded lexicon of sea terms by William Falconer (1732-1769), a Scottish poet and sailor who drowned when the FRIGATE Aurora went down off Cape Town with all hands.

  faldetta A cape with a hood worn by women in MALTA.

  Falkland Islands A group of British islands 200 miles east of Patagonia in South America, named in 1693 for Lord Falkland, First Lord of the Admiralty (1693-1694). Spain claimed the islands in 1770 and gave them the name Malvinas Islands. This action caused a major international crisis that threatened to lead Britain to war against France and Spain.

  fall The entire length of the rope in a TACKLE, of which the part of the rope attached to the BLOCK is called the standing part and the opposite end is called the hauling part. Thus, the part of a tackle to which power is applied.

  falling damps Poisonous gases that are heavier than air, such as carbon dioxide. Humidity, condensed fog. Depression, unconsciousness.

  falling-sickness Epilepsy, a disease of the nervous system characterized in its severer forms by convulsions.

  Falmouth A port on the English Channel in southwestern Cornwall, England.

  falsum in uno, falsum in omnibus False in one thing, false in all things (Latin).

  fancy-line A rope used to overhaul the brails (see BRAIL UP) of some FORE-AND-AFT sails; a line threaded through a BLOCK at the jaws of a GAFF and used to lower the sail.

  fanfaronade Boisterous, arrogant language; bragging.

  fanlight A fan-shaped window over a door. Loosely, any window over a door.

  “Farewell and Adieu” A traditional English sailors’ drinking song that goes as follows:

  Farewell and Adieu to you, gay Spanish ladies! Farewell and Adieu to you, ladies of Spain!

  For we’ve received orders for to sail for old England,

  But we hope in a short time to see you again.

  We’ll rant and we’ll roar like true British sailors, We’ll rant and we’ll roar across the salt seas,

  Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England;

  From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues.

  Then we hove our ship to, with the wind at sou’west, boys,

  We hove our ship to, for to strike soundings clear; Then we filled the main topsail and bore right away, boys,

  Up the channel of old England our course we did steer.

  The first land we made it was called the Deadman, Next, Ramshead off Plymouth, Start, Portland, and Wight;

  We sailed by Beachy, by Fairleigh, and Dungeness, And hove our ship to, off the South Foreland light.

  Then a signal was made for the grand fleet to anchor,

  All in the downs, that night for to meet;

  Then stand by your stoppers, let go your shank-painters,

  Haul all your clew-garnets, stick out tacks and sheets.

  Now let every man toss off his full bumper,

  And let every man toss off his full bowl;

  We’ll drink and be jolly, and drown melancholy:

  So here’s a good health to all true-hearted souls.

  farinaceous Made of flour or meal or having a mealy texture.

  farrier A blacksmith. Also, some
one who treats the diseases of horses.

  farrow A litter of pigs.

  farthing A quarter of a particular denomination of money or measure. Specifically, a coin worth a quarter of a penny, at one time of silver, later of copper or bronze.

  fascine A bundle of brush or sticks tightly bound at close intervals and used for such purposes as filling ditches or constructing batteries.

  fashion-pieces On a ship, the underwater timbers forming the shape of the STERN.

  fatherlasher The name used to refer to two species of sea fish, Cottus bubalis and C. scorpius.

  Father Smith An organ built by the German-born Bernhard Schmidt (c. 1630-1708), who moved to England in 1666 after the Restoration when organs were again in use in churches. Among the churches that he and his two nephews built organs for were St. Margaret’s, Westminster (1675), St. Paul’s Cathedral (1697), and Temple Church (1684).

  fathom Originally the length of the outstretched arms to the tips of the longest fingers but later standardized as six feet, the measure used in taking SOUNDINGS of the depth of water. Also, a measure of cord and anchor chain.

  fatigue-party A group of soldiers on fatigue-duty, which is extra work often assigned as punishment.

  faute de mieux For lack of a better alternative (French).

  fearnought A stout woolen cloth used as clothing in cold weather. Also, a thick felt used to cover the outside door of a powder MAGAZINE, portholes, and HATCHWAYS during battle. Also called “dreadnought screen.”

  febrifuge Any drug that removes fever.

  febrile Affected by or suffering from fever; pertaining to fever.

  fedai One of the fidayoun, literally “men of self-sacrifice,” a member of the ASSASSINS.

  Feeling blue Melancholy, from the Naval tradition, when a ship’s captain dies at sea, of flying a blue flag and painting a blue stripe on the ship’s hull.

  felucca Italian word for a small Mediterranean vessel with LATEEN sails on two MASTS, sometimes also equipped with oars, used chiefly for coastal trading voyages. Similar to the felouque in France, falua in Spain, and fallua in Portugal. See illustration, page 63.