"And from thy burgonet I'll rend thy bear,
And tread it underfoot with all contempt."
BURGOO. A seafaring dish made of boiled oatmeal seasoned with salt,
butter, and sugar. (_See_ LOBLOLLY and SKILLY.)
BURLEY. The butt-end of a lance.
BURLEY-TWINE. A strong and coarse twine or small string.
BURN, OR BOURNE. The Anglo-Saxon term for a small stream or brook,
originating from springs, and winding through meadows, thus differing
from a beck. Shakspeare makes Edgar say in "King Lear"--
"Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me."
The word also signifies a boundary.
BURNETTIZE, TO. To impregnate canvas, timber, or cordage with Sir
William Burnett's fluid, a solution of chloride of zinc.
BURN THE WATER. A phrase denoting the act of killing salmon in the
night, with a lister and lighted torch in the boat.
BURN-TROUT. A northern term for a small species of river-trout.
BURR. The iris or hazy circle which appears round the moon before rain.
Also, a Manx or Gaelic term for the wind blowing across on the tide.
Also, the sound made by the Newcastle men in pronouncing the letter R.
BURREL. A langrage shot, consisting of bits of iron, bullets, nails, and
other matters, got together in haste for a sudden emergency.
BURROCK. A small weir over a river, where weals are laid for taking
fish.
BURR-PUMP. A name of the bilge-pump.
BURSER. _See_ PURSER.
BURST. The explosion of a shell or any gun.
BURTHEN. _See_ BURDEN.
BURTON. A small tackle rove in a particular manner; it is formed by two
blocks or pulleys, with a hook-block in the bight of the running part;
it is generally used to set up or tighten the shrouds, whence it is
frequently termed a top-burton tackle; but it is equally useful to move
or draw along any weighty body in the hold or on the deck, as anchors,
bales of goods, large casks, &c. (_See_ SPANISH-BURTON.) The burton
purchase, also _runner-purchase_ (which see).
BUSH, OR BOUCHE. A circular shouldered piece of metal, usually of brass,
let into the lignum vitae sheaves of such blocks as have iron pins,
thereby preventing the sheave from wearing, without adding much to its
weight. The operation of placing it in the wood is called bushing or
coaking, though the last name is usually given to smaller bushes of a
square shape. Brass bushes are also extensively applied in the marine
steam-engine work. Also, in artillery, the plug (generally of copper, on
account of the superior resistance of that metal to the flame of
exploded gunpowder), having a diameter of about an inch, and a length
equal to the intended length of the vent, screwed into the metal of the
gun at the place of the vent, which is then drilled in it. Guns may be
re-bushed when the vent has worn too large, by the substitution of a new
bush.
BUSH. The forests in the West Indies, Australia, &c.
BUSHED. Cased with harder metal, as that inserted into the holes of some
rudder braces or sheaves in general, to prevent their wearing.
BUSHED-BLOCK. _See_ COAK.
BUSKING. Piratical cruising; also, used generally, for beating to
windward along a coast, or cruising off and on.
BUSS. A small strong-built Dutch vessel with two masts, used in the
herring and mackerel fisheries, being generally of 50 to 70 tons burden.
BUST-HEAD. _See_ HEAD.
BUSY AS THE DEVIL IN A GALE OF WIND. Fidgety restlessness, or double
diligence in a bad cause; the imp being supposed to be mischievous in
hard gales.
BUT. A northern name for a flounder or plaice. Also, a conical basket
for catching fish.
BUTCHER'S BILL. A nickname for the official return of killed and wounded
which follows an action.
BUTESCARLI. The early name for the sea-officers in the British Navy
(_see the_ EQUIPMENT OF).
BUTT. The joining of two timbers or planks endways. Also, the opening
between the ends of two planks when worked. Also, the extremities of the
planks themselves when they are united, or abut against each other. The
word likewise is used to denote the largest end of all timber. Planks
under water as they rise are joined one end to another. In large ships
butt-ends are most carefully bolted, for if any one of them should
spring, or give way, the leak would be very dangerous and difficult to
stop.--_To start_ or _spring a butt_ is to loosen the end of a plank by
the ship's weakness or labouring.--_Butt-heads_ are the same with
butt-ends.--_Butt_ is also a mark for shooting at, and the hind part of
a musket or pistol. Also, a wine-measure of 126 gallons.
BUTT-AND-BUTT. A term denoting that the butt ends of two planks come
together, but do not overlay each other. (_See_ HOOK AND BUTT and
HOOK-SCARPH.)
BUTT-END. The shoulder part of a fire-lock.
BUTTER-BOX. A name given to the brig-traders of lumpy form, from London,
Bristol, and other English ports. A cant term for a Dutchman.
BUTTER-BUMP. A name of the bittern in the north.
BUTTER-FINGERED. Having a careless habit of allowing things to drop
through the fingers.
BUTTLE. An eastern-county name for the bittern.
BUTTOCK. The breadth of the ship astern from the tuck upwards: it is
terminated by the counter above, by the bilge below, by the stern-post
in the middle, and by the quarter on the side. That part abaft the after
body, which is bounded by the fashion pieces, and by the wing transom,
and the upper or second water-line. A ship is said to have a broad, or
narrow, buttock according to her transom convexity under the stern.
BUTTOCK-LINES. In ship-building, the longitudinal curves at the rounding
part of the after body in a vertical section.
BUTTON. The knob of metal which terminates the breech end of most guns,
and which affords a convenient bearing for the application of
handspikes, breechings, &c.
BUTTONS, TO MAKE. A common time-honoured, but strange expression, for
sudden apprehension or misgiving.