by Dean King
half-deck In old ships of war, a deck extending from the MAINMAST AFT, between the then smaller QUARTERDECK and the upper or MAIN DECK. When the two decks above the main deck were reduced to one quarterdeck, “half-deck” survived only in the expression “under the half-deck,” the part of the main deck from the mainmast aft to the quarterdeck, formerly covered by the half-deck. The term was also applied to a deck-house placed aft of the mainmast. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, this was applied to a cabin on the deck of a merchant vessel, accommodating the apprentices.
half-galley A GALLEY of about half the full size.
half-pay officer An officer of the army or navy who receives a reduced allowance—usually half salary—when not in actual service or after retirement at a prescribed time.
halfpenny or ha’penny A coin of either copper or bronze worth half the value of a penny; a sum equivalent to two FARTHINGS.
Haliaetus albicilla The white-tailed eagle, a species of sea eagle.
Halifax A major Canadian seaport and the capital of the province of NOVA SCOTIA, founded by the British in 1749 as a naval base and dockyard.
halliard See HALYARD.
halloo An exclamation to incite dogs to the chase, also to call attention at a distance or to express surprise.
Hallowell, Admiral Benjamin (1760-1834) At the time a Captain, he commanded the Swiftsure at the Battle of the NILE (1798), after which he presented NELSON a coffin made from the MAINMAST of the French FLAGSHIP L’ORIENT. In 1806, Nelson was buried in it.
hallucinating cacti Probably peyote (Lophophora williamsii), found in Mexico and the southwestern United States.
Halte là. Qui vive?... le docteur Ralphe Stop. Who goes there? ... Doctor Ralph (French).
halyard or halliard Originally “haul yard,” a rope or TACKLE used for raising or lowering a sail, YARD, SPAR, or flag.
Hamadryad, H.M.S. A 34-gun fifth-rate named for a tree nymph. Formerly the Matilda, taken from the Spanish in November 1804. Sold in 1815.
hammock A naval hammock usually consisted of a piece of hemp cloth, about six feet long and three feet wide, with several small lines supporting each end, gathered together in a CLEW and slung from the underside of the deck above. It often held a mattress made of flock or wool, but sometimes (and objectionably) of chopped, old clothes.
hammock-cloth A cloth used for covering the hammocks to protect them from wet when stowed in the nettings on the top of the BULWARKS.
hammock-netting Rope nettings along the sides of the upper deck and around the break of the POOP where rolled-up hammocks were stowed. They served as a shield against small arms fire or a flotation device when needed.
hamper A large basket or wickerwork used as a packing-case. Also, objects that are a necessary part of a vessel’s equipment but that are in the way at certain times.
Hampstead Now a part of greater London, Hampstead, in 1810, was a village of about 900 houses and 5,500 inhabitants. During the reign of Henry VIII, the laundry of the nobility was washed in the village. Later its waters made it a spa destination, and eventually it attracted the idle doing the ill-advised. Its chief topographical feature is a large heath reaching nearly 450 feet above sea level. In Post Captain, Aubrey walks on the Heath after attending a ROUT at Lady KEITH’S and is assaulted by a literary mugger.
hance A curved, often ornamentally carved rise of the FIFERAILS or BULWARKS from the WAIST to the QUARTERDECK.
hand Of a sail, to take in, to FURL. Also, a member of a ship’s crew. A hand is also a linear measure, once equal to three inches but now to four. A palm, a hand-breadth.
hand-barrow A flat, rectangular frame or litter with poles at each end for carrying it.
hand-mast A round wooden pole between 24 inches (six hands) and 72 inches in circumference, suitable for making into a MAST. Those with a smaller circumference are called SPARS.
handspike A wooden bar used as a lever or crow primarily in moving artillery pieces. Round at one end and square at the other and usually shod with iron, it also functioned as a lever for turning a WINDLASS.
hanger A short sword that hung from the belt.
hangfire A delay in the explosion of a gun’s charge or of a blasting charge.
hanging knee A wooden KNEE with one leg against a ship’s side and the other on the underside of a BEAM.
hank A small ring of rope, wood, or iron fastened to the LUFF of a FORE-AND-AFT sail or STAYSAIL to run on a STAY. Also, a coil of small line or twine used for small work.
Hannibal, H.M.S. A 74-gun third rate (Captain Ferris) that surrendered beneath the batteries of Algeciras to a French SQUADRON commanded by Admiral Linois on July 5, 1801. Aubrey witnesses the taking of Hannibal in Master and Commander.
hapax A word or form occurring only once in a body of literature.
hard A firm beach or foreshore. Also, a sloping stone roadway or jetty at the water’s edge for convenience in landing and putting out. In PORTSMOUTH, Hampshire, the street along the landing leading to the Dockyard Gate. On shipboard, to the fullest degree, as in “hard alee.”
hard-tack Ship-biscuit. Also, ordinary sea fare in general.
hare To run or move speedily.
harness-cask A cask or tub with a rimmed cover for keeping the salt meats currently being used.
harrier or harrower Any of the hawks of the genus Circus, having long wings and slender bodies, such as the hen-harrier and the marsh-harrier. Harriers are indefatigable hunters of other birds and rabbits.
Harris’s Guaranteed Unguent A proprietary topical remedy of unknown properties.
Harrogate A spa with mineral springs in West Yorkshire, 13 miles north of Leeds.
harrow A heavy frame of timber or iron with iron tines dragged over ploughed land to break clods, stir the soil, or bury seed.
harry To raid or ravage. To overrun with an army; to lay waste, sack, pillage, spoil.
hartebeest An antelope common in Africa.
hartshorn Calcium phosphates extracted from stag horns, used as a medicinal tonic. Ammonium chloride, often used medically as a diuretic. Smelling salts, a pungent mixture of ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbamate in water.
Harwich On the east coast of Essex, England, a port used by ships sailing between England and Holland or Scandinavia.
Haslar The largest naval hospital in the world in its time, built on Haslar Creek east of PORTSMOUTH, England, in 1746, and headed by the famous physician James LIND and later by Sir Gilbert BLANE.
hat See TRICORN.
hatchway A square or oblong opening in a ship’s deck through which cargo is moved to the hold; a passage from one deck to another. Can be qualified, as after-, fore-, main-hatchway.
haud crede colori Do not trust outward show, or beauty (Latin).
haul To pull. To “haul her wind” or to “haul up” means to TRIM the sails of a ship so as to sail nearer to the direction from which the wind is blowing. To change or turn the ship’s course. To sail in a certain course. Also, to sail along a coast.
hawse The BOWS of a ship where the HAWSE-HOLES are cut for the anchor CABLES to pass through. The space between the STEM of a vessel at anchor and the anchors or a little beyond, as in “athwart the hawse.”
hawse-holes Two cylindrical holes in the BOWS of a vessel for the anchor CABLE to run through. “To come in through the hawse-holes” means to enter the service at the lowest level.
hawser A large rope or small CABLE, more than five inches in circumference, used in WARPing and MOORing.
hawser-laid Of a rope, made of three or four strands laid up right-handed.
haysel The hay season (proper to East Anglia).
head A lavatory for seamen, found in the “head” or FORE part of the ship. Of a sail, the upper part.
head, down by the Of a ship, drawing more water at the BOWS than the STERN.
headed by the wind Of a ship, when the wind swings around to blow toward a ship’s BOWS, causing a need to alter the ship’s course.
headland A
point of land projecting into the sea; a cape or promontory.
head-money A reward for prisoners taken, slaves recovered, or people brought in according to various prescriptions. In Britain, an allowance of £5 per head was paid for all persons captured who were on the enemy ship’s books previous to the action.
head-piece Person of intellect.
head-rope One of the supporter STAYS for the head of a MAST. The part of the BOLT-ROPE along the upper edge of a square sail. Also, a small rope used to HOIST a flag.
headsail Any of the sails set between the FOREMAST and BOWSPRIT.
healing by first intention Facilitating the healing process by keeping the wound clean; healing by second intention implied that the appearance of pus was beneficial in that it demonstrated that the foul HUMOURS causing the inflammation were escaping from the wound site.
“Heart of Oak” A patriotic song with references to victories at Minden, Quiberon Bay, and Quebec. Written in 1759 by David Garrick, with music by William Boyce, for the pantomime Harlequin’s Invasion. A verse and the chorus:
Come cheer up my lads, ‘tis to Glory we steer, To add something more to this wonderful Year: To Honor we call you, not Press you like Slaves, For who are so free as the Sons of the waves?
chorus:
Heart of Oak are Our Ships, Heart of
Oak are our Men, We always are ready,
Steady Boys, steady, We’ll fight and we’ll conquer
again and again.
heath An extensive area of level, uncultivated, open land without trees, usually of poor soil with a peaty surface in which heather and other low-growing plants naturally proliferate. There are several areas in London with this name, such as, Black Heath, west of the GREENWICH Observatory, and HAMSTEAD Heath. The term “one’s native heath” means the place where one grew up.
heave To pull or HAUL; to push, as at the CAPSTAN, to heave in the CABLE. To move the ship in some direction by these means. Of a ship, to move or turn.
heave to To stop the vessel by shortening sail and throwing some of the canvas ABACK. A ship is also said to be “hove to” when lying ATRY (lying to) under storm canvas.
heave down To turn a ship on its side for cleaning or repairing; to CAREEN. The part above the water is said to be “hove out.”
hecatomb In ancient Greece and Rome, a great public sacrifice of 100 oxen. Loosely, a large number or quantity, a “heap.”
hedge-creeper One that skulks under hedges for bad purposes; a sneaking rogue; a hedge-bird.
heel To lean to one side; a ship normally heels in the wind. The usually squared lower end of a MAST or the lower end of a BOOM or SPAR. The point where the after end of the KEEL and the STERNPOST connect.
heel-piece An angle-bar joining the HEELS of a frame across the KEEL. The piece forming the heel of a MAST or other SPAR.
heel-tap Liquor left in the bottom of a glass after drinking; the dross of a bottle.
HEI Company See EAST INDIA COMPANY.
Heligoland Bight The area of water between the island of Heligoland in the North Sea and the German coast. The British captured the island in 1807 and retained it until 1890, after which it became a German naval base.
heliocentric Having the sun as center. Also, considered as viewed from the center of the sun, as in heliocentric latitude and longitude.
hellebore A drastic cathartic made from root of black hellebore or Christmas rose and containing several toxic compounds, including hyoscyamine, digitalislike compounds, and severe intestinal irritants. In classical times it was reputed to cure insanity. Helleborus foetidus, stinking hellebore; a green-flowered plant of the buttercup family found in calcareous woodlands.
Helleborus foetidus See HELLEBORE.
Hellespont The DARDANELLES, the strait that separates European Turkey from Asian Turkey and links the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara.
helm The handle or TILLER, in large ships the wheel, used to move the RUDDER and thus steer the vessel. Also, the entire steering apparatus. Orders to the helmsman were traditionally given in terms of the position of the TILLER, not the position of the RUDDER. Putting the tiller to STARBOARD made the vessel go to LARBOARD. Since sailing ships heel to leeward, the high side was to windward, thus, the order to put her helm up meant to push it to the windward side, while putting the helm down meant to turn the tiller toward the LEE side.
hemp Rope made of the fibers of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. Where it is exposed to the weather, hemp rope needs to be tarred to prevent decay. Untarred hemp rope is called white rope. It is about three-quarters as strong as Manila hemp, a rope made from the leaves of the abaca plant, native to the Philippine Islands. Although mentioned by O’Brian, it was not imported for use in Europe or America until the 1820s.
hemp, vapour of Known from antiquity, smoking marijuana seeds was reintroduced to European medicine by physicians who had accompanied Napoleon’s army to Egypt in 1798. Used as an astringent, analgesic, and anticonvulsant.
henbane Black henbane. Used medically as a sedative and an analgesic, it can also produce a wide range of poisonous effects, including death.
Hendaye A town on the Atlantic coast of France, 13 miles southwest of Biarritz, on the Spanish frontier.
hepatic Of or pertaining to the liver.
hepatica Any of several plants of the genus Hepatica, whose tri-lobed leaves were thought to resemble the liver, hence its use in treating liver diseases. Sometimes called liverwort, but that name was more often applied to several species of moss.
hermaphrodite A sailing vessel that combines the sails and RIGGING of two kinds of craft.
HERMIONE, H.M.S.
A 32-gun fifth-rate ship built in Bristol in 1782 and handed over to the Spanish in 1797 by mutineers who murdered her Captain and nine officers in the WEST INDIES. In October of 1799, she returned to the Royal Navy when boats from H.M.S. SURPRISE under Captain Sir Edward Hamilton cut her out of the harbor at Puerto Cabello on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. She was renamed Retaliation and in 1800 was renamed again as Retribution. She was broken up in 1805.
Reproduced from The Naval Chronicle, vol. 5 (courtesy of the Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, Virginia)
H.M.S. Surprise cuts out the Hermione. The Naval Chronicle, on whose report of the attack the following account is based, called this event “one of the most singular, as well as the most gallant, which ever hitherto graced the naval annals of Britain.” Pictured on the previous page is the Hermione; the crew of the Surprise is about to board her. Having received orders from Sir Hyde Parker, H.M.S. Surprise, under Captain Hamilton, had cruised between the island of Aruba and Cape St. Roman, near the gulf of Venezuela, to look for the Hermione. Hamilton found her at Puerta Cabello, moored between two strong batteries.
The Surprise prepared for the attack for two days. A speech by Captain Hamilton, along with the Hermione’s well-known bloody history, so inspired the crew that “many instances occurred of pecuniary offers being made by those who were ordered to remain with the ship, on condition of their exchanging stations with such as had been selected to make the attack.”
The Surprise’s boats reached the Hermione under fire. Captain Hamilton and about ten men boarded at the forecastle and advanced to the starboard gangway, where they met a contingent of Spaniards. Hamilton left the Gunner in charge here and joined the Surgeon and his party, moving along the larboard gangway to the quarterdeck. Meanwhile, the black cutter, with a Lieutenant, the red cutter, under the Boatswain, and an Officer of the Marines and his party struggled to board. In the launch, the First Lieutenant and his crew were busy cutting the Hermione’s bower cable, while in the jollyboat, the Carpenter and his men were cutting the stern cable. The crews of these boats were to immediately take the ship in tow.
On board the Hermione, the enemy was caught between the boarding parties. Many were killed and some jumped overboard. The cables were now cut, and the boats took the ship in tow. The boarding crew set sail while the battle raged on.
Aft
er the quarterdeck was taken, the Officer of the Marines and the Surgeon led an attack on the maindeck. Captain Hamilton and the Gunner had been too badly wounded to take part. Fortunately for the British, the Spanish shore batteries could not tell who possessed the ship. By the time it was clear that the British had won the bloody battle on board, the Hermione had traveled half a mile out. The shore batteries opened fire, but it was too late. The Surprise had pulled off one of the war’s memorable achievements.
Hermitage A French wine from near Valence in the north of the Rhone Valley, named for a ruin said to have been a hermit’s cell.
heroic couplet Poetry of iambic pentameter lines in rhymed pairs.
heron Long-necked, long-legged wading birds of several genera.
herring-buss The Dutch haring-buis, a round-bowed, two-or three-masted vessel used in herring fishing. See also BUSS.
Herschel, Sir William (1738-1822) Noted English astronomer and mathematician who discovered the planet Uranus. His sister Caroline Lucretia (1750-1848) independently discovered eight comets.
Hessian boots A high, tasseled boot, first worn by Hessian troops, that was fashionable in the early 19th century.
heuch An exclamation of excitement. The cry of a dancer of the Highland fling, a Scottish folk dance.
hey-bote A tenant’s right to take wood or thorns for fence repair from a landlord’s estate.
Heywood, Peter (1773-1831) Joined the Navy at age 13. His first ship was H.M.S. Bounty, under the command of William BLIGH, on her infamous voyage to Tahiti to obtain breadfruit trees. When the mutiny broke out on April 28, 1789, the mutineers confined Heywood and apparently planned to put him into the Bounty’s launch with Bligh. However, there was not enough room and Heywood was left behind. In the Bounty, the mutineers reached Tahiti, and Heywood stayed there until H.M.S. Pandora arrived in 1791.
On the voyage home, Captain Edwards confined Heywood with the others in irons, caged on the QUARTERDECK. When the Pandora sank after hitting a reef in the Endeavour Strait, Heywood and a few of the others managed to escape in the boats. Edwards, as well as the officers of the Dutch merchant ship that took them from BATAVIA to England, treated the Bounty’s men severely.