BOWSPRIT-BITTS. Are strong upright timbers secured to the beams below
the deck; they have a cross-piece bolted to them, the inner end of the
bowsprit steps between them, and is thus prevented from slipping in. The
cross-piece prevents it from canting up.
BOWSPRIT-CAP. The crance or cap on the outer end of the bowsprit,
through which the jib-boom traverses.
BOWSPRIT-GEAR. A term denoting the ropes, blocks, &c., belonging to the
bowsprit.
BOWSPRIT-HEART. The heart or block of wood used to secure the lower end
of the fore-stay, through which the inner end of the jib-boom is
inserted. It is seldom, if ever, used now, an iron band round the
bowsprit, with an eye on each side for the fore-stays, being preferred.
BOWSPRIT-HORSES. The ridge-ropes which extend from the bowsprit-cap to
the knight-heads.
BOWSPRIT-LADDER. Skids over the bowsprit from the beak-head in some
ships, to enable men to run out upon the bowsprit.
BOWSPRIT-NETTING. The netting placed just above a vessel's bowsprit, for
stowing away the fore-topmast staysail; it is usually lashed between the
ridge-ropes.
BOWSPRIT-SHROUDS. Strong ropes or chains leading from nearly the outer
end of the bowsprit to the luff of the bow, giving lateral support to
that spar.
BOW-STAVES. Early supplied to our men-of-war.
BOW-TIMBERS. Those which form the bow of the ship.
BOX. The space between the back-board and the stern-post of a boat,
where the coxswain sits.
BOXES OF THE PUMPS. Each ordinary pump has an upper and lower box, the
one a fixture in the lower part of its chamber, the other attached to
the end of the spear or piston-rod; in the centre of each box is a valve
opening upwards.
BOXHAULING. Is an evolution by which a ship is veered sharp round on her
heel, when the object is to avoid making a great sweep. The helm is put
a-lee, the head-yards braced flat aback, the after-yards squared, the
driver taken in, and the head-sheets hauled to windward; when she begins
to gather stern-way the helm is shifted and sails trimmed. It is only
resorted to in emergencies, as a seaman never likes to see his ship have
stern-way. With much wind and sea this evolution would be dangerous.
BOXING. A square piece of dry hard wood, used in connecting the frame
timbers. Also, the projection formerly left at the hawse-pieces, in the
wake of the hawse-holes, where the planks do not run through; now
disused. The stem is said to be boxed when it is joined to the fore end
of the keel by a side scarph. (_See_ BOXING OF RUDDER.)
BOXING OFF. Is performed by hauling the head-sheets to windward, and
laying the head-yards flat aback, to pay the ship's head out of the
wind, when the action of the helm alone is not sufficient for that
purpose; as when she is got "in irons."
BOX THE COMPASS, TO. Not only to repeat the names of the thirty-two
points in order and backwards, but also to be able to answer any and all
questions respecting its divisions.
BOYART. An old term for a hoy.
BOYAUX. The zig-zags or tortuous trenches in the approach of a besieger.
BOYER. A sloop of Flemish construction, with a raised work at each end.
BRAB. The sheaf of the young leaves of the Palmyra palm (and also of the
cocoa-nut), from which sinnet or plait for hats is made.
BRAB-TREE. The Palmyra palm.
BRACE. The braces are ropes belonging to all the yards of a ship; two to
each yard, rove through blocks that are stropped to the yards, or
fastened to pendants, seized to the yard-arms. Their use is either to
square or traverse the yards horizontally; hence, _to brace the yard_,
is to bring it to either side by means of the braces. In ship-building,
braces are plates of iron, copper, or mixed metal, which are used to
bind efficiently a weakness in a vessel; as also to receive the pintles
by which the rudder is hung.
BRACE ABACK. To brace the yards in, so as to lay the sails aback.--_To
brace about_, to turn the yards round for the contrary tack, or in
consequence of a change of wind.--_To brace abox_, a man[oe]uvre to
insure casting the right way, by bracing the head-yards flat aback (not
square).--_To brace by_, to brace the yards in contrary directions to
each other on the different masts, to effect the stopping of the vessel.
(_See_ COUNTER-BRACE.)--_To brace in_, to lay the yard less oblique, as
for a free wind, or nearly square.--_To brace round_, synonymous with
brace about.--_To brace sharp_, to cause the yards to have the smallest
possible angle with the keel, for the ship to have head-way: deemed
generally to form an angle of 20 deg. with the keel.--_To brace to_, is
to check or ease off the lee braces, and round in the weather ones, to
assist in the man[oe]uvre of tacking or wearing.--_To brace up_, or
_brace sharp up_, to lay the yards more obliquely fore and aft, by
easing off the weather-braces and hauling in the lee ones, which enables
a ship to lie as close to the wind as possible.
BRACE OF SHAKES. A moment: taken from the flapping of a sail. I will be
with you before it shakes thrice.
BRACE PENDANTS. Are lengths of rope, or now more generally chain, into
which the yard-arm brace-blocks are spliced. They are used in the
merchant service to save rope, to give the blocks more freedom for
slewing to their work, but chiefly because when the brace is let go, the
falling chain will overhaul it, making it easier to haul in the other
brace.
BRACE UP AND HAUL AFT! The order usually given after being hove-to, with
fore or main top-sail square or aback, and jib-sheet flowing, _i.e._
haul aft jib-sheet, brace up the yards which had been squared, for the
purpose of heaving to.
BRACK. The Manx or Gaelic name for mackerel.
BRACKETS. Short crooked timbers resembling knees, fixed in the frame of
a ship's head to support the gratings; they likewise served to support
and ornament the gallery. Also, the two vertical side-pieces of the
carriage of any piece of ordnance, which support it by the trunnions.
Called also cheeks. Also, triangular supports to miscellaneous things.
BRACKISH. Water not fresh; from the Icelandic _breke_, the sea.
BRADS. Small nails.
BRAE. A declivity or precipice.
BRAGGIR. The name given in the Western Islands of Scotland to the broad
leaves growing on the top of the _Alga marina_, or sea-grass.
BRAILS. Ropes passing through leading blocks on the hoops of the
mizen-mast and gaff, and fastened to the outermost leech of the sail, in
different places, to truss it close up as occasion requires; all
trysails and several of the staysails also have brails.
BRAIL UP! The order to pull upon the brails, and thereby spill and haul
in the sail. The mizen, or spanker, or driver, or any of the gaff-sails,
as they may be termed, when brailed up, are deemed furled; unless it
blows hard, when they are farther secured by gaskets.
BRAKE. The handle or lever by which a common ship-pump is usually
worked. It operates by means of two iron bolts, one thrust through the
inner hole of it, which bolted through forms the lever axis in the iron
crutch of the pump, and serves as the fulcrum for the brake, supporting
it between the cheeks. The other bolt connects the extremity of the
brake to the pump-spear, which draws up the spear box or piston, charged
with the water in the tube; derived from _brachium_, an arm or lever.
Also, used to check the speed of machinery by frictional force pressing
on the circumference of the largest wheel acted on by leverage of the
brake.
BRAN, TO. To go on; to lie under a floe edge, in foggy weather, in a
boat in Arctic seas, to watch the approach of whales.
BRANCH. The diploma of those pilots who have passed at the Trinity
House, as competent to navigate vessels in particular places. The word
branch is also metaphorically used for river divergents, but its
application to affluents is improper. Any branch or ramification, as in
estuaries, where they traverse, river-like, miles of territory, in
labyrinthine mazes.
BRANCH-PILOT. One approved by the Trinity House, and holding a branch,
for a particular navigation.
BRAND. The Anglo-Saxon for a burnished sword. A burned device or
character, especially that of the broad arrow on government stores, to
deface or erase which is felony.
BRANDED TICKET. A discharge given to an infamous man, on which his
character is written, and the reason he is turned out of the service. In
the army, deserters are branded with D; also B for bad character. In the
navy, a corner of the ticket is cut off.
BRANDLING. A supposed fry of the salmon species, found on the north of
England coasts. Also, the angler's dew-worm.
BRANDY-PAWNEE. A cant term for brandy and water in India.
BRANLAIG. The Manx or Gaelic term for a cove or creek on a shore between
rocks.
BRANLIE, OR BRANLIN. A northern name for the samlet or par.
BRAN-NEW. Quite new: said of a sail which has never been bent.
BRASH. Small fragments of crushed ice, collected by wind or currents,
near the shore; or such that the ship can easily force through.
BRASS. Impudent assurance.
BRASSARTS. Pieces between the elbow and the top of the shoulder in
ancient armour.
BRASSER. A defensive bit of armour for the arm.
BRAT. A northern name for a turbot.
BRAVE. This word was not only used to express courage by our early
seamen, but was also applied to strength; as, "we had a brave wind."
BRAWET. A kind of eel in the north.
BRAY, TO. To beat and bruise in a mortar.
BREACH. Formerly, what is made by the breaking in of the sea, now
applied also to the openings or gaps made in the works of fortified
places battered by an enemy's cannon. Also, an old term for a heavy surf
or broken water on a sea-coast; by some called _brist_.
BREACHING. The act of leaping out of the water; applied to whales.
BREACH OF THE SEA. Waves breaking over the hull of a vessel in bad
weather, or when stranded.--_A clear breach_ implies the waves rolling
clean over without breaking. Shakspeare in "Twelfth Night" uses the term
for the breaking of the waves.--_Clean-breach_, when masts and every
object on deck is swept away.
BREACHY. Brackish, as applied to water, probably originating in the sea
breaking in.
BREAD. The usual name given to biscuit.
BREAD-BARGE. The tray in which biscuit is handed round.
BREAD-FRUIT (_Artocarpus incisa_). This most useful tree has a wide
range of growth, but the seedless variety produced in Tahiti and some of
the South Sea Islands is superior to others; it has an historical
interest from its connection with the voyage of the _Bounty_ in 1787.
BREAD-ROOM. The lowest and aftermost part of the orlop deck, where the
biscuit is kept, separated by a bulk-head from the rest; but any place
parted off from below deck for containing the bread is so designated.
BREAD-ROOM JACK. The purser's steward's help.
BREADTH. The measure of a vessel from side to side in any particular
place athwart-ships. (_See_ STRAIGHT OF BREADTH, HEIGHT OF BREADTH,
TOP-TIMBER BREADTH, &c.)--_Breadth of beam_, extreme breadth of a ship.
BREADTH EXTREME. _See_ EXTREME BREADTH OR BEAM.
BREADTH LINE. A curved line of the ship lengthwise, intersecting the
timbers at their greatest extent from the middle line of the ship.
BREADTH-MOULDED. _See_ MOULDED BREADTH.
BREADTH-RIDERS. Timbers placed nearly in the broadest part of the ship,
and diagonally, so as to strengthen two or more timbers.
BREAK, TO. To deprive of commission, warrant, or rating, by
court-martial.
BREAK. The sudden rise of a deck when not flush; when the aft, and
sometimes the fore part, of a vessel's deck is kept up to give more
height below, and at the drifts.--_Break of the poop_, where it ends at
the foremost part.
BREAKAGE. The leaving of empty spaces in stowing the hold. In marine
insurance, the term alludes to damage occurring to goods.
BREAK-BEAMS. Beams introduced at the break of a deck, or any sudden
termination of planking.
BREAK-BULK. To open the hold, to begin unloading and disposing of the
goods therein, under legal provisions.
BREAKERS. Small barrels for containing water or other liquids; they are
also used in watering the ship as gang-casks. (_See_ BAREKA.) Also,
those billows which break violently over reefs, rocks, or shallows,
lying immediately at, or under, the surface of the sea. They are
distinguished both by their appearance and sound, as they cover that
part of the sea with a perpetual foam, and produce loud roaring, very
different from what the waves usually have over a deeper bottom. Also, a
name given to those rocks which occasion the waves to break over
them.--_Breakers ahead!_ the common pass-word to warn the officer of
broken water in the direction of the course. (_See also_ SHIP-BREAKER.)
BREAK-GROUND. Beginning to weigh, or to lift the anchor from the
bottom. On shore it means to begin the works for besieging a place, or
opening the trenches.
BREAKING. Breaking out stores or cargo in the hold. The act of
extricating casks or other objects from the hold-stowage.
BREAKING LIBERTY. Not returning at the appointed time.
BREAKING OF A GALE. Indications of a return of fine weather; short gusts
at intervals; moaning or whistling of the wind through the rigging.
BREAKING-PLATE DISTANCE. The point within which iron-plated ships, under
concentrated fire, may be damaged.
BREAKING THE EY. _See_ EYGHT.
BREAKING-UP OF THE MONSOON. A nautical term for the violent storms that
attend the shifting of periodical winds.
BREAK-OFF. (_See_ BROKEN-OFF). "She breaks off from her course," applied
only when the wind will not allow of keeping the course; applies only to
"close-hauled" or "on a wind."--_Break-off!_ an order to quit one
department of duty, to clap on to another.
BREAK-SHEER, TO. When a ship at anchor is laid in a proper position to
keep clear of her anchor, but is forced by the wind or current out of
that position, she is said to break her sheer. Also, for a vessel to
break her sheer, or her back, means destroying the gradual sweep
lengthways.
BREAK-UP, TO. To take a ship to pieces when she becomes old and
unserviceable.
BREAK-WATER. Any erection or object so placed as to prevent the sea from
rolling inwards. Where there is no mole or jetty the hull of an old ship
may be sunk at the entrance of a small harbour, to break off or diminish
the force of the waves as they advance towards the vessels moored
within. Every bar to a river or harbour, intended to secure smooth water
within, acts as a break-water.
BREAM. A common fresh as well as salt water fish (_Abramis brama_),
little esteemed as food.
BREAMING. Cleaning a ship's bottom by burning off the grass, ooze,
shells, or sea-weed, which it has contracted by lying long in harbour;
it is performed by holding kindled furze, faggots, or reeds to the
bottom, which, by melting the pitch that formerly covered it, loosens
whatever filth may have adhered to the planks; the bottom is then
covered anew with a composition of sulphur, tallow, &c., which not only
makes it smooth and slippery, so as to divide the fluid more readily,
but also poisons and destroys those worms which eat through the planks
in the course of a voyage. This operation may be performed either by
laying the ship aground after the tide has ebbed from her or by docking
or careening.
BREAST, TO. To run abeam of a cape or object. To cut through a sea, the
surface of which is poetically termed breast.--_To breast the sea_, to
meet it by the bow on a wind.--_To breast the surf_, to brave it, and
overcome it swimming.--_To breast a bar_, to heave at the capstan.--_To
breast to_, the act of giving a sheer to a boat.
BREAST-BACKSTAYS. They extend from the head of an upper-mast, through an
out-rigger, down to the channels before the standing backstays, for
supporting the upper spars from to windward. When to leeward, they are
borne abaft the top-rim. (_See_ BACKSTAYS.)
BREAST-BEAMS. Those beams at the fore-part of the quarter-deck, and the
after-part of the forecastle, in those vessels which have a poop and a
top-gallant forecastle.
BREAST-FAST. A large rope or chain, used to confine a ship's broadside
to a wharf or quay, or to some other ship, as the head-fast confines her
forward, and the stern-fast abaft.
BREAST-GASKETS. An old term for bunt-gaskets.
BREAST-HOOKS. Thick pieces of timber, incurvated into the form of knees,
and used to strengthen the fore-part of a ship, where they are placed at
different heights, directly across the stem internally, so as to unite
it with the bows on each side, and form the principal security,
supporting the hawse-pieces and strain of the cables. The breast-hooks
are strongly connected to the stem and hawse-pieces by tree-nails, and
by bolts driven from without through all, and forelocked or clinched
upon rings inside.
BREAST-RAIL. The upper rail of the balcony; formerly it was applied to a
railing in front of the quarter-deck, and at the after-part of the
forecastle-deck. Also, fife-rail.
BREAST-ROPE. The lashing or laniard of the yard-parrels. (_See also_
HORSE.) Also, the bight of a mat-worked band fastened between the
shrouds for the safety of the lad's-man in the chains, when sounding, so
that he may hang over the water, and let the lead swing clear.
BREAST-WORK. A sort of balustrade of rails, mouldings, or stanchions,
which terminates the quarter-deck and poop at the fore ends, and also
incloses the forecastles both before and behind. (_See_ PARAPET.) Now
applicable to the poop-rails only. In fortification, it signifies a
parapet thrown up as high as the breasts of the men defending it.
BREATHER. A tropical squall.
BREATH OF WIND. All but a dead calm.
BREECHING. A strong rope passing through at the cascable of a gun, used
to secure it to the ship's side, and prevent it recoiling too much in
time of battle, also to secure it when the ship labours; it is fixed by
reeving it through a thimble stropped upon the cascable or knob at the
breech of the gun; one end is rove and clinched, and the other is
passed through the ring-bolt in the ship's side, and seized back. The
breeching is of sufficient length to let the muzzle of the cannon come
within the ship's side to be charged, or to be housed and lashed.
Clinch-shackles have superseded the ring-bolts, so that guns may be
instantly unshackled and shifted.
BREECHING-BOLT. Applies to the above.
BREECH-LOADER. A gun, large or small, charged at the breech. The method
is a very old one revived, but with such scientific modifications as to
have enormously increased the effectiveness of small-arms; with cannon
its successful practical application to the larger natures has not yet
been arrived at, but with field-guns it has added largely to accuracy of
practice and facility of loading.
BREECH OF A CANNON. The after-end, next the vent or touch-hole. It is
the most massive part of a gun; strictly speaking, it is all the solid
metal behind the bottom of the bore. Also, the outside angle formed by
the knee-timber, the inside of which is the throat.
BREECH-SIGHT. The notch cut on the base ring of a gun.
BREEZE. This word is widely understood as a pleasant zephyr; but among
seamen it is usually applied as synonymous with wind in general, whether
weak or strong.
BREEZE, SEA OR LAND. A shifting wind blowing from sea and land
alternately at certain hours, and sensibly only near the coasts; they
are occasioned by the action of the sun raising the temperature of the
land so as to draw an aerial current from sea-ward by day, which is
returned as the earth cools at night.
BREEZE, TO KICK UP A. To excite disturbance, and promote a quarrelsome
row.
BREEZING UP. The gale freshening.
BREEZO. A toast given by the presiding person at a mess-table; derived
from _brisee generale_.
BREVET. A rank in the army higher than the regimental commission held by
an officer, affording him a precedence in garrison and brigade duties.
Something approaching this has been attempted afloat, under the term
"staff."
BREWING. The appearance of a collection of black and tempestuous clouds,
rising gradually from a particular part of the hemisphere, as the
forerunner of a storm.
BRICKLAYER'S CLERK. A contemptuous expression for lubberly pretenders to
having seen "better days," but who were forced to betake themselves to
sea-life.
BRIDGE. A narrow gangway between two hatchways, sometimes termed a
bridge. Military bridges to afford a passage across a river for troops,
are constructed with boats, pontoons, casks, trusses, trestles, &c.
Bridge in steam-vessels is the connection between the paddle-boxes, from
which the officer in charge directs the motion of the vessel. Also, the
middle part of the fire-bars in a marine boiler, on either side of which
the fires are banked. Also, a narrow ridge of rock, sand, or shingle,
across the bottom of a channel, so as to occasion a shoal over which the
tide ripples. That between Mount Edgecombe and St. Nicholas' Isle, at
Plymouth, has occasioned much loss of life.
BRIDGE-ISLET. A portion of land which becomes insular at high-water--as
Old Woman's Isle at Bombay, and among others, the celebrated
Lindisfarne, thus _tidally_ sung by Scott:--
"The tide did now his flood-mark gain,
And girdled in the saint's domain:
For, with the flow and ebb, its style
Varies from continent to isle;
Dry-shod, o'er sands, twice ev'ry day
The pilgrims to the shrine find way;
Twice every day the waves efface
Of staves and sandall'd feet the trace."
BRIDGE-TRAIN. An equipment for insuring the passage of troops over a
river. Pontooners. (_See_ PONTOON.)
BRIDLE. _See_ MOORING-BRIDLE and BOWLINE-BRIDLE.
BRIDLE-PORT. A square port in the bows of a ship, for taking in mooring
bridles. They are also used for guns removed from the port abaft, and
required to fire as near a line ahead as possible. They are main-deck
chase-ports.
BRIDLES. The upper part of the moorings laid in the queen's harbours, to
ride ships or vessels of war. (_See_ MOORINGS.)
BRIG. A two-masted square-rigged vessel, without a square main-sail, or
a trysail-mast abaft the main-mast. This properly constituted the snow,
but both classes are latterly blended, and the terms therefore
synonymous.
BRIGADE. A party or body of men detached for a special service. A
division of troops under the command of a general officer. In artillery
organization on land, a brigade is a force usually composed of more than
a battery; in the field it commonly consists of two or three batteries;
on paper, and for administrative purposes, of eight.
BRIGADE-MAJOR. A staff officer attached to a brigade, and is the channel
through which all orders are received from the general and communicated
to the troops.
BRIGADE-ORDERS. Those issued by the general officer commanding troops
which are brigaded.
BRIGADIER. An officer commanding a brigade, and somewhat the same as
commodore for a squadron of ships.
BRIGANDINE. A pliant scale-like coat of mail.
BRIGANTINE. A square-rigged vessel with two masts. A term variously
applied by the mariners of different European nations to a peculiar sort
of vessel of their own marine. Amongst British seamen this vessel is
distinguished by having her main-sail set nearly in the plane of her
keel, whereas the main-sails of larger ships are spread athwart the
ship's length, and made fast to a yard which hangs parallel to the deck;
but in a brig, the foremost side of the main-sail is fastened at
different heights to hoops which encircle the main-mast, and slide up
and down it as the sail is hoisted or lowered: it is extended by a gaff
above and a boom below. Brigantine is a derivative from brig, first
applied to passage-boats; in the Celtic meaning "passage over the
water." (_See_ HERMAPHRODITE OR BRIG-SCHOONER.)
BRIGANTS. Formerly, natives of the northern parts of England.
BRIGDIE. A northern name for the basking shark (_Squalus maximus_).
BRIGHT LOOK-OUT. A vigilant one.
BRIG-SCHOONER. (_See_ HERMAPHRODITE and BRIGANTINE, by which, term she
is at present classed in law.) Square-rigged on the fore-mast, schooner
on the main-mast.
BRILL. The _Pleuronectes rhombus_, a common fish, allied to, but rather
smaller than, the turbot.
BRIM. The margin or bank of a stream, lake, or river.
BRIMSTONE. _See_ SULPHUR.
BRINE, OR PICKLE. Water replete with saline particles, as brine-pickle
for salt meat. The briny wave.
BRINE-GAUGE. _See_ SALINOMETER.
BRINE-PUMPS. When inconvenient to blow off the brine which collects at
the bottom of a steamer's boilers, the brine-pump is used for clearing
away the deposit.
BRING BY THE LEE, TO. To incline so rapidly to leeward of the course
when the ship sails large, or nearly before the wind, as in scudding
before a gale, that the lee-side is unexpectedly brought to windward,
and by laying the sails all aback, exposes her to the danger of
over-setting. (_See_ BROACH-TO.)
BRING 'EM NEAR. The day-and-night telescope.
BRINGERS UP. The last men in a boarding or small-arm party. Among
soldiers, it means the whole last rank of a battalion drawn up, being
the hindmost men of every file.
BRING HOME THE ANCHOR, TO, is to weigh it. It applies also when the
flukes slip or will not hold; a ship then brings home her
anchor.--_Bring home the log_. When the pin slips out of the log ship
and it slides through the water.
BRINGING IN. The detention of a vessel on the high seas, and bringing
her into port for adjudication.
BRINGING-TO THE YARD. Hoisting up a sail, and bending it to its yard.
BRING-TO, TO. To bend, as to bring-to a sail to the yard. Also, to check
the course of a ship by trimming the sails so that they shall counteract
each other, and keep her nearly stationary, when she is said to lie by,
or lie-to, or heave-to.--_Bring to!_ The order from one ship to another
to put herself in that situation in order to her being boarded, spoken
to, or examined. Firing a blank gun across the bows of a ship is the
forcible signal to shorten sail and bring-to until further
pleasure.--_Bring-to_ is also used in applying a rope to the capstan, as
"bring-to the messenger."
BRING-TO AN ANCHOR, TO. To let go the anchor in the intended port. "All
hands bring ship to an anchor!" The order by which the people are
summoned for that duty, by the pipes of the boatswain and his mates.
BRING UP, TO. To cast anchor.
BRING UP WITH A ROUND TURN. Suddenly arresting a running rope by taking
a round turn round a bollard, bitt-head, or cleat. Said of doing a thing
effectually though abruptly. It is used to bring one up to his senses by
a severe rating.
BRISAS. A north-east wind which blows on the coast of South America
during the trades.
BRISMAK. A name among the Shetlanders for the excellent fish called tusk
or torsk, the best of the cod kind (_Brosmius vulgaris_).
BRISTOL FASHION AND SHIP-SHAPE. Said when Bristol was in its palmy
commercial days, unannoyed by Liverpool, and its shipping was all in
proper good order.
BRITISH-BUILT SHIP. Such as has been built in Great Britain or Ireland,
Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man, or some of the colonies, plantations,
islands, or territories in Asia, Africa, or America, which, at the time
of building the ship, belonged to or were in possession of Her Majesty;
or any ship whatsoever which has been, taken and condemned as lawful
prize.
BRITISH SEAS. _See_ QUATUOR MARIA.
BRITISH SHIP. May be foreign built, or rebuilt on a foreign keel which
belonged to any of the people of Great Britain and Ireland, Guernsey,
Jersey, or the Isle of Man, or of any colony, island, or territory in
Asia, Africa, or America, or was registered before the 1st of May, 1786.
BRITISH SUBJECT. Settled in an enemy's country, may not trade in any
contraband goods.
BRITTLE-STAR. The common name of a long-rayed star-fish (_Ophiocoma
rosula_).
BROACH A BUSINESS, TO. To begin it.
BROACH-TO, TO. To fly up into the wind. It generally happens when a ship
is carrying a press of canvas with the wind on the quarter, and a good
deal of after-sail set. The masts are endangered by the course being so
altered, as to bring it more in opposition to, and thereby increasing
the pressure of the wind. In extreme cases the sails are caught flat
aback, when the masts would be likely to give way, or the ship might go
down stern foremost.
BROAD ARROW. The royal mark for government stores of every description.
To obliterate, deface, or remove this mark is felony; or even to be in
possession of any goods so marked without sufficient grounds. It is no
doubt one of the Ditmarsh runes.
BROAD AXE. Formerly a warlike instrument; also for beheading; specially
applied to the axe of carpenters for mast-making, and sometimes cutting
away the masts or cable.
BROAD CLOTH. Square sails.
BROAD OF WATER. An extensive lake with a channel communicating with the
sea, or a wide opening of a river after passing a narrow entrance.
BROAD PENNANT. A swallow-tailed piece of buntin at the mast-head of a
man-of-war; the distinctive mark of a commodore. The term is frequently
used for the officer himself. It tapers, in contradistinction to a
cornet, which has only the triangle cut out of it.
BROAD R. _See_ BROAD ARROW.
BROADS. Fresh-water lakes, in contradistinction to rivers or narrow
waters.
BROADSIDE. The whole array, or the simultaneous discharge of the
artillery on one side of a ship of war above and below. It also implies
the whole of that side of a ship above the water which is situate
between the bow and quarter, and is in a position nearly perpendicular
to the horizon. Also, a name given to the old folio sheets whereon
ballads and proclamations were printed of old (broad-sheet).
BROADSIDE-ON. The whole side of a vessel; the opposite of _end-on_.
BROADSIDE WEIGHT OF METAL. The weight of iron which the guns of a ship
can project, when single-shotted, from one side. (_See_ WEIGHT OF
METAL.)
BROADSWORD. _See_ CUTLAS.
BROCAGE. The same with _brokerage_ (which see).
BROCLES. _See_ STRAKE-NAILS.
BRODIE. The fry of the rock-tangle, or Hettle-codling, a fish caught on
the Hettle Bank, in the Firth of Forth.
BROGGING. A north-country method of catching eels, by means of small
sticks called brogs.
BROGUES. Among seamen, coarse sandals made of green hide; but Shakspeare
makes Arviragus put "his clouted brogues from off his feet," for
"answering his steps too loud." This would rather refer to shoes
strengthened with hob-nails.
BROKE. Sentence of a court-martial, depriving an officer of his
commission.
BROKEN. An old army word, used for _reduced_; as, a broken lieutenant,
&c. The word is also applied to troops in line when not dressed. The
heart of a gale is said to be broken; parole is broken; also, leave,
bulk, &c. (which see).
BROKEN-BACKED. The state of a ship so loosened in her frame, either by
age, weakness, or some great strain from grounding amidships, as to
droop at each end, causing the lines of her sheer to be interrupted, and
termed _hogged_. It may result from fault of construction, in the
midship portions having more buoyancy, and the extreme ends too much
weight, as anchors, boats, guns, &c., to sustain.
BROKEN-OFF. Fallen off, in azimuth, from the course. Also, men taken
from one duty to be put on another.
BROKEN SQUALL. When the clouds separate in divisions, passing ahead and
astern of a ship, and affecting her but little, if at all.
BROKEN WATER. The contention of currents in a narrow channel. Also, the
waves breaking on and near shallows, occasionally the result of vast
shoals of fish, as porpoise, skip-jacks, &c., which worry untutored
seamen.
BROKER. Originally a broken tradesman, from the Anglo-Saxon _broc_, a
misfortune; but, in later times, a person who usually transacts the
business of negotiating between the merchants and ship-owners respecting
cargoes and clearances: he also effects insurances with the
underwriters; and while on the one hand he is looked to as to the
regularity of the contract, on the other he is expected to make a candid
disclosure of all the circumstances which may affect the risk.
BROKET. A small brook; the sea-lark is so called at the Farne Islands.
BROKE-UP. Said of a gale of wind passing away; or a ship which has gone
to pieces on a reef, &c.
BROND. An old spelling of _brand_, a sword.
BRONGIE. A name given to the cormorant in the Shetland Islands.
BROOD. Oysters of about two years old, which are dredged up at sea, for
placing on the oyster-beds.
BROOD-HEN STAR. The cluster of the Pleiades.
BROOK, OR BROOKLET. Streams of fresh or salt water, less than a rivulet,
creeping through narrow and shallow passages. The clouds _brook-up_,
when they draw together and threaten rain.
BROOM. A besom at the mast-head signifies that the ship is to be sold:
derived probably from the old practice of displaying boughs at shops and
taverns. Also, a sort of _spartium_, of which ropes are made.
BROOMING. _See_ BREAMING.
BROTHER-OFFICERS. Those of the same ship or regiment.
BROTH OF A BOY. An excellent, though roystering fellow.
BROUGHT BY THE LEE. _See_ BRING BY THE LEE.
BROUGHT-TO. A chase made to stop, and heave-to. Also, the cable is
brought-to when fastened to the messenger by nippers. The messenger is
brought to the capstan, or the cable to the windlass.
BROUGHT TO HIS BEARINGS. Reduced to obedience.
BROUGHT TO THE GANGWAY. Punished.
BROW. An inclined plane of planks, on one or both sides of a ship, to
communicate internally; a stage-gangway for the accommodation of the
shipwrights, in conveying plank, timber, and weighty articles on board.
Also, the face of a rising ground. An old term for a gang-board.
BROWN BESS. A nickname for the old government regulation bronzed musket,
although till recently it was brightly burnished.
BROWN BILL. The old weapon of the English infantry: hence, perhaps the
expression "Brown Bess" for a musket.
BROWN GEORGE. A hard and coarse biscuit.
BROWNIE. The Polar bear, so called by the whalers. It is also a northern
term for goblin.
BROWN JANET. A cant phrase for a knapsack.
BROWN-PAPER WARRANT. _See_ WARRANT.
BROWSE. A light kind of dunnage.
BRUISE-WATER. A ship with very bluff bows, built more for carrying than
sailing.
BRUISING WATER. Pitching heavily to a head-sea, and making but little
head-way.
BRUN-SWYNE. An early name for a seal.
BRUSH. A move; a skirmish.
BRYDPORT. An old word signifying cable. The best hemp grew at Bridport,
in Dorsetshire; and there was a statute, that the cables and hawsers for
the Royal Navy were to be made thereabouts.
BUB. A liquor or drink. _Bub_ and _grub_ meaning inversely meat and
drink.
BUBBLE. Another term for spirit-level, used for astronomical
instruments.
BUBBLER. A fish found in the waters of the Ohio, thus named from the
bubbling noise it makes.
BUCCANEER. A name given to certain piratical rovers, of various
European nations, who formerly infested the coasts of Spanish America.
They were originally inoffensive settlers in Hispaniola, but were
inhumanly driven from their habitations by the jealous policy of the
Spaniards; whence originated their implacable hatred to that nation.
Also, a large musketoon, about 8 feet in length, so called from having
been used by those marauders.
BUCENTAUR. A large and splendid galley of the doge of Venice, in which
he received the great lords and persons of quality who went there,
accompanied by the ambassadors and councillors of state, and all the
senators seated on benches by him. The same vessel served also in the
magnificent ceremony on Ascension-day, when the doge threw a ring into
the sea to espouse it, and to denote his dominion over the Gulf of
Venice.
BUCHAN BOILERS. The heavy breaking billows among the rocks on the coast
of Buchan.
BUCHT. A Shetland term for lines of 55 fathoms.
BUCK, TO. To wash a sail.
BUCKALL. An earthen wine-cup used in the sea-ports of Portugal, Spain,
and Italy. [From _bocale_, It.]
BUCKER. A name for the grampus in the Hebrides. It is also applied, on
some of our northern coasts, to the porpoise.
BUCKET. A small globe of hoops, covered with canvas, used as a recall
for the boats of whalers.
BUCKET-ROPE. That which is tied to a bucket for drawing water up from
alongside.
BUCKETS. Are made either of canvas, of leather, or of wood; the latter
are used principally for washing the decks, and therefore answer the
purposes of pails.
BUCKET-VALVE. In a steamer's engine, is a flat metal plate filling up
the passage between the air-pump and the condenser, and acted upon by
both in admitting or repressing the passage of water.
BUCKHORN. Whitings, haddocks, thorn-backs, gurnet, and other fish,
cleaned, gently salted, and dried in the sun.
BUCKIE. A northern name for the whelk.
BUCKIE-INGRAM. A name for the hermit-crab.
BUCKIE-PRINS. A northern designation for a periwinkle.
BUCKLE. A mast buckles when it suffers by compression, so that the fibre
takes a sinuous form, and the grain is _upset_. Also, in Polar regions,
the bending or arching of the ice upwards, preceding a nip.
BUCKLERS. Two blocks of wood fitted together to stop the hawse-holes,
leaving only sufficient space between them for the cable to pass, and
thereby preventing the ship taking in much water in a heavy head-sea.
They are either _riding_ or _blind bucklers_ (which see).
BUCKRA. A term for white man, used by the blacks in the West Indies,
Southern States of America, and the African coast.
BUCK-WEEL. A bow-net for fish.
BUDE. An old name for the biscuit-weevil.
BUDGE-BARREL. A small cask with copper and wooden hoops, and one head
formed by a leather hose or bag, drawing close by a string, for carrying
powder in safety from sparks. In heraldry, the common bucket is called a
water bouget or budget.
BUDGEROW. A cabined passage-boat of the Ganges and Hooghly.
BUFFET A BILLOW, TO. To work against wind and tide.
BUG. An old term for a vessel more remarkable in size than efficiency.
Thus, when Drake fell upon Cadiz, his sailors regarded the huge galleys
opposed to them as mere "great bugges."
BUGALILO. A large trading-boat of the Gulf of Persia; the _buglo_ of our
seamen.
BUGAZEENS. An old commercial term for calicoes.
BUILD. A vessel's form or construction.
BUILD A CHAPEL, TO. To turn a ship suddenly by negligent steerage.
BUILDER'S CERTIFICATE. A necessary document in admiralty courts,
containing a true account of a ship's denomination, tonnage, trim, where
built, and for whom.
BUILDING. The work of constructing ships, as distinguished from naval
architecture, which may rather be considered as the art or theory of
delineating ships on a plane. The pieces by which this complicated
machine is framed, are joined together in various places by scarfing,
rabbeting, tenanting, and scoring.
BUILT. A prefix to denote the construction of a vessel, as carvel or
clinker-built, bluff-built, frigate-built, sharp-built, &c.; English,
French, or American built, &c.
BUILT-BLOCK. Synonymous with _made-block_ (which see). The lower masts
of large ships are built or made.
BUILT-UP GUNS. Recently invented guns of great strength, specially
adapted to meet the requirements of rifled artillery and of the attack
of iron plating. They are usually composed of an inner core or barrel
(which may be of coiled and welded iron, but is now generally preferred
of tough steel), with a breech-piece, trunnion-piece, and various outer
strengthening hoops or coils of wrought iron, shrunk or otherwise forced
on; having their parts put together at such predetermined relative
tensions, as to support one another under the shock of explosion, and
thereby avoiding the faults of solid cast or forged guns, whereof the
inner parts are liable to be destroyed before the outer can take their
share of the strain. The first practical example of the method was
afforded by the Armstrong gun, the "building up" which obtained in
ancient days, before the casting of solid guns, having been apparently
resorted to as an easy means of producing large masses of metal, without
realizing the principle of the mutual support of the various parts.
BUIRAN. A Gaelic word signifying the sea coming in, with a noise as of
the roar of a bull.
BULCH, TO. To bilge a ship.
BULGE. (_See_ BILGE.) That part of the ship she bears upon when on the
ground.
BULGE-WAYS. Otherwise _bilge-ways_ (which see).
BULK. In bulk; things stowed without cases or packages. (_See_ BULK-HEAD
and LADEN IN BULK.)
BULKER. A person employed to measure goods, and ascertain the amount of
freight with which they are chargeable.
BULK-HEAD, THE. Afore, is the partition between the forecastle and
gratings in the head, and in which are the chase-ports.
BULK-HEADS. Partitions built up in several parts of a ship, to form and
separate the various cabins from each other. Some are particularly
strong, as those in the hold, which are mostly built with rabbeted or
cyphered plank; others are light, and removable at pleasure. Indeed the
word is applied to any division made with boards, to separate one
portion of the 'tween decks from another.
BULK OF A SHIP. Implies the whole cargo when stowed in the hold.
BULL. An old male whale. Also, a small keg; also the weak grog made by
pouring water into a spirit-cask nearly empty.
BULL-DANCE. At sea it is performed by men only, when without women. It
is sometimes called a stag-dance.
BULL-DOG, OR MUZZLED BULL-DOG. The great gun which stands "housed" in
the officer's ward-room cabin. General term for main-deck guns.
BULLETIN. Any official account of a public transaction.
BULLET-MOULD. An implement for casting bullets.
BULLETS. Leaden balls with which all kinds of fire-arms are loaded.
BULL-HEAD, OR BULL-JUB. A name of the fish called miller's thumb
(_Cottus gobio_).
BULLOCK-BLOCKS. Blocks secured under the top-mast trestle-trees, which
receive the top-sail ties through them, in order to increase the
mechanical power used in hoisting them up.
BULLOCK-SLINGS. Used to hoist in live bullocks.
BULL'S-EYE. A sort of block without a sheave, for a rope to reeve
through; it is grooved for stropping. Also, the central mark of a
target. Also, a hemispherical piece of ground glass of great thickness,
inserted into small openings in the decks, port-lids, and
scuttle-hatches, for the admission of light below.
BULL'S-EYE CRINGLE. A piece of wood in the form of a ring, which answers
the purpose of an iron thimble; it is seldom used by English seamen, and
then only for the fore and main bowline-bridles.
BULL-TROUT. The salmon-trout of the Tweed. A large species of trout
taken in the waters of Northumberland.
BULLYRAG, TO. To reproach contemptuously, and in a hectoring manner; to
bluster, to abuse, and to insult noisily. Shakspeare makes mine host of
the Garter dub Falstaff a bully-rook.
BULWARK. The planking or wood-work round a vessel above her deck, and
fastened externally to the stanchions and timber-heads. In this form it
is a synonym of berthing. Also, the old name for a bastion.
BULWARK-NETTING. An ornamental frame of netting answering the purpose of
a bulwark.
BUMBARD. A cask or large vessel for liquids. (_See_ BOMBARD.) Trinculo,
in the "Tempest," thinks an impending storm-cloud "looks like a foul
bumbard."
BUM-BOAT. A boat employed to carry provisions, vegetables, and small
merchandise for sale to ships, either in port or lying at a distance
from the shore; thus serving to communicate with the adjacent town. The
name is corrupted from bombard, the vessels in which beer was formerly
carried to soldiers on duty.
BUMKIN, BUMPKIN, OR BOOMKIN. A short boom or beam of timber projecting
from each bow of a ship, where it is fayed down upon the false rail. Its
use is to extend the clue or lower corner of the fore-sail to windward,
for which purpose there is a large block fixed on its outer end, through
which the tack is passed, and when hauled tight down is said to be
aboard. The name is also applied to the pieces on each quarter, for the
main-brace blocks.
BUMKIN. A small out-rigger over the stern of a boat, usually serving to
extend the mizen.
BUMMAREE. A word synonymous with _bottomry_, in maritime law. It is also
a name given to a class of speculating salesmen of fish, not recognized
as regular tradesmen.
BUMP, TO. To bump a boat, is to pull astern of her in another, and
insultingly or inimically give her the stem; a practice in rivers and
narrow channels.
BUMP-ASHORE. Running stem-on to a beach or bank. A ship bumps by the
action of the waves lifting and dropping her on the bottom when she is
aground.
BUMPERS. Logs of wood placed over a ship's side to keep off ice.
BUND. In India, an embankment; whence, Bunda head, and Bunda boat.
BUNDLE-UP! The call to the men below to hurry up on deck.
BUNDLING THINGS INTO A BOAT. Loading it in a slovenly way.
BUNGLE, TO. To perform a duty in a slovenly manner.
BUNGO, OR BONGA. A sort of boat used in the Southern States of America,
made of the bonga-tree hollowed out.
BUNG-STARTER. A stave shaped like a bat, which, applied to either side
of the bung, causes it to start out. Also, a soubriquet for the captain
of the hold. Also, a name given to the master's assistant serving his
apprenticeship for hold duties.
BUNG-UP AND BILGE-FREE. A cask so placed that its bung-stave is
uppermost, and it rests entirely on its beds.
BUNK. A sleeping-place in the fore-peak of merchantmen; standing
bed-places fixed on the sides between decks.
BUNKER. For stowing coal in steamers. Cellular spaces on each side which
deliver the coal to the engine-room.--_Wing-bunkers_ below the decks,
cutting off the angular side-spaces of the hold, and hatched over, are
usually filled with sand, holy-stones, brooms, junk-blocks, &c., saving
stowage.
BUNT OF A SAIL. The middle part of it, formed designedly into a bag or
cavity, that the sail may gather more wind. It is used mostly in
top-sails, because courses are generally cut square, or with but small
allowance for bunt or compass. "The bunt holds much leeward wind;" that
is, it hangs much to leeward. In "handed" or "furled" sails, the bunt is
the middle gathering which is tossed up on the centre of the yard.--_To
bunt a sail_ is to haul up the middle part of it in furling, and secure
it by the bunt-gasket.
BUNTERS. The men on the yard who gather in the bunt when furling sails.
BUNT-FAIR. Before the wind.
BUNT-GASKET. _See_ GASKET.
BUNTING. A name on our southern shores for the shrimp.
BUNTING, OR BUNTIN. A thin woollen stuff, of which the ship's colours,
flags, and signals are usually made.
BUNT-JIGGER. A small gun-tackle purchase, of two single blocks, one
fitted with two tails, used in large vessels for bowsing up the bunt of
a sail when furling: a peculiar combination of two points, fitted to a
spar to which it is hooked.
BUNTLINE-CLOTH. The lining sewed up the fore-part of the sail in the
direction of the buntline to prevent that rope from chafing the sail.
BUNTLINE-CRINGLE. An eye worked into the bolt-rope of a sail, to receive
a buntline. This is only in top-gallant sails, and is seldom used now.
In the merchant service all buntlines are generally passed through an
eyelet-hole in the sail, and clinched round its own part.
BUNTLINES. Ropes attached to the foot-ropes of top-sails and courses,
which, passing over and before the canvas, turn it up forward, and thus
disarm the force of the wind; at one-third from each clue, eyelet-holes
are worked in the canvas, and by grummets passed through, a toggle is
secured on both bights: to this buntline-toggle the buntline attaches by
an eye or loop. When the sails are loosed to dry, the bowlines, unbent
from the bridles, are attached to these toggles, and haul out the sails
by the foot-ropes like table-cloths. The buntline is rove through a
block at the mast-head, passes through the buntline span attached to the
tye-blocks on the yard to retain them in the bunt, or amidships, down
before all, and looped to the toggles aforesaid. By aid of the
clue-lines, reef-tackles, and buntlines, a top-sail is taken in or
quieted if the sheets carry away, but more especially by the buntlines,
as the wind has no hold then to belly the canvas.
BUNTLINE-SPANS. Short pieces of rope with a thimble in one end, the
other whipped; the buntlines are rove through these thimbles: they are
attached to the tie-blocks to keep the sail in the bunt when hauled up.
BUNTLINE-TOGGLES. _See_ BUNTLINES and TOGGLE.
BUNT SLAB-LINES. Reeve through a block on the slings of the yard or
under the top, and pass abaft the sail, making fast to its foot. Their
object is to lift the foot of a course so as to see underneath it, or to
prevent it from chafing. Something of the same kind is used for
top-sails, to keep them from rubbing on the stays when flapping in a
calm.
BUOY. A sort of close cask, or block of wood, fastened by a rope to the
anchor, to show its situation after being cast, that the ship may not
come so near it as to entangle her cable about its stock or flukes.--_To
buoy a cable_ is to make fast a spar, cask, or the like, to the bight of
the cable, in order to prevent its galling or rubbing on the bottom.
When a buoy floats on the water it is said to watch. When a vessel slips
her cable she attaches a buoy to it in order afterwards to recover it.
Thus the blockading squadrons off Brest and in Basque Roads frequently
slipped, by signal, and each in beautiful order returned and picked up
their cables.--_To stream the buoy_ is to let it fall from the ship's
side into the water, which is always done before the anchor is let go,
that it may not be fouled by the buoy-rope as it sinks to the
bottom.--_Buoys_ of various kinds are also placed upon rocks or
sand-banks to direct mariners where to avoid danger.
BUOYANCY. Capacity for floating lightly.--_Centre of buoyancy_, in naval
architecture, the mean centre of that part of the vessel which is
immersed in the water. (_See_ CENTRE OF CAVITY.)
BUOYANT. The property of floating lightly on the water.
BUOY-ROPE. The rope which attaches the buoy to the anchor, which should
always be of sufficient strength to lift the anchor should the cable
part; it should also be little more in length than equal to the depth of
the water (at high-water) where the anchor lies.--_To bend the
buoy-rope_, pass the running eye over one fluke, take a hitch over the
other arm, and seize. Or, take a clove-hitch over the crown on each arm
or fluke, stopping the end to its own part, or to the shank.
BUOY-ROPE KNOT. Used where the end is lashed to the shank. A knot made
by unlaying the strands of a cable-laid rope, and also the small strand
of each large strand; and after single and double walling them, as for a
stopper-knot, worm the divisions, and round the rope.
BURBOT. A fresh-water fish (_Molva lota_) in esteem with fishermen.
BURDEN. Is the quantity of contents or number of tons weight of goods or
munitions which a ship will carry, when loaded to a proper sea-trim: and
this is ascertained by certain fixed rules of measurement. The precise
burden or burthen is about twice the tonnage, but then a vessel would be
deemed deeply laden.
BURG [the Anglo-Saxon _burh_]. A word connected with fortification in
German, as in almost all the Teutonic languages of Europe. In Arabic the
same term, with the alteration of a letter, _burj_, signifies primarily
a bastion, and by extension any fortified place on a rising ground. This
meaning has been retained by all northern nations who have borrowed the
word; and we, with the rest, name our towns, once fortified, burghs or
boroughs.
BURGALL. A fish of the American coasts, from 6 to 12 inches long: it is
also called the blue-perch, the chogset, and the nibbler--the last from
its habit of nibbling off the bait thrown for other fishes.
BURGEE. A swallow-tailed or tapered broad pendant; in the merchant
service it generally has the ship's name on it.
BURGOMASTER. In the Arctic Sea, a large species of gull (_Larus
glaucus_).
BURGONET. A steel head-piece, or kind of helmet. Shakspeare makes
Cleopatra, alluding to Antony, exclaim--
"The demi-Atlas of this earth, the arm
And burgonet of men."