by Dean King
Upon their return, the Bounty’s men were COURT-MARTIALed and all sentenced to death, but the court, presided over by Lord Hood, recommended mercy in Heywood’s case. The First Lord, the Earl of Chatham, gave him an unconditional pardon. Hood advised Heywood to continue in the Navy. At the GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE, Heywood acted as captain’s aide de camp on board the FLAGSHIP Queen Charlotte, and on the ship’s return was one of two Midshipmen attending the side when the King and Queen visited the ship. Promoted to temporary Lieutenant, his good behavior cleared his name for further promotion. Having served around the world and risen to the rank of Captain, he retired in 1816.
hiera picra A cathartic made with aloes and canella bark, sometimes mixed with honey and other ingredients. Also, corrupted to hickery-pickery, hicra picra, higry-pigry.
hieratic Pertaining to or used by the priestly class; used in connection with sacred subjects.
highland bonnet or Scotch cap A man’s hat made of thick, firm wool with no brim and decorated with two tails or streamers.
Highlander A native or inhabitant of the Highlands of Scotland. Also, a soldier of a Highland regiment.
high road A main road or highway.
Hilum Point at which one of the internal organs connects to the vascular system. Also, certain small apertures and depressions.
hip Morbidly depressed, low-spirited.
hippogriff A mythic creature with the foreparts of a griffin and the body and hindquarters of a horse.
hirundine Of or pertaining to a swallow.
H.M.S. The prefix to a ship’s name, meaning “His/Her Majesty’s Ship,” used from 1789 on to indicate that a ship belongs to the Royal Navy.
Hoare’s Bank Originally a goldsmith business founded by Richard Hoare in 1672, it moved from Cheapside to Fleet Street in 1690 and became a bank around the turn of the century. Early customers were Samuel Pepys and John Dryden. The Hoare family still runs the privately held bank.
hobnail Nails with large heads and short tangs, used for protecting the soles of heavy boots and shoes.
hoboy An oboe.
hock A white wine from the Rhine Valley, originally from Hochheim, Germany.
hog Of a ship, to react to a strain by having the BOW and STERN droop and the KEEL and bottom arch upward. Also, a very stiff scrubbing brush made of birch twigs sandwiched between wooden planks and trimmed to make bristles.
hogget A young boar of the second year. A yearling sheep.
hogshead A large cask for liquids, especially one of a definite capacity that varied for different liquids and commodities and in different localities. For example, a hogshead of wine contained 63 old wine-gallons (52 1/2 imperial gallons). The London hogshead of beer held 54 gallons, that of ale 48 gallons. In other places a hogshead of ale or beer held 51 gallons.
hoist To raise or HAUL up a flag, COLORS, sail, or anything else. The side of the flag on which the HALYARDS are attached. A group of flags that make a particular signal.
hola A form of “holla,” a shout to draw attention.
holothurian An ECHINODERM with a tough, elongated body, and a ring of tentacles around the mouth. A sea slug, sea cucumber, or trepang.
holt A dwelling or refuge, an animal’s den, especially an otter’s.
holystone A soft sandstone used by sailors for scouring the decks of ships, after which the deck was hosed down with saltwater, creating a smooth, blanched appearance. Small HOLYSTONES were called prayer books and large ones BIBLES. The provenance of the terminology is unknown; the theories range from the possibility that the stones were first taken from the broken monuments of St. Nicholas Church in Great Yarmouth to the fact that sailors often scrubbed the deck on hands and knees.
Home Office In Great Britain after 1782, the department of the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, which deals with domestic administration and some of the matters dealt with by a ministry of justice in other countries.
hominy Ground corn boiled with water or milk.
Homo homini lupus Man is a wolf to man (Latin).
homoiousian Of like essence or substance. A person who believes the Father and the Son, in the Godhead, to be of like, but not the same, essence or substance. Compare HOMOOUSIAN.
homologue A counterpart, an equivalent in position, value, structure, or function.
homoousian Of the same essence or substance. A person who believes in the doctrine of the Nicene Creed, that the Father and Son of the Trinity are of the same essence or substance. Compare HOMOIOUSIAN.
honey-buzzard A bird of prey of the genus Pernis, especially the European P. apivorus, which feeds on the contents of bees’ and wasps’ nests.
Honi soit qui mal y pense See GARTER.
Honneur and Patier Honneur et Patrie means Honor and Country (French).
hood-ends The ends of the hull planks, which fit into slits, or RABBETS, in the STEM and STERN posts.
Hoogli or Hooghly River The most westerly and most important channel of the Ganges River, leading to Calcutta, founded by the English in c.1690. Hooghly-Chinsura is a town on the river where the English first established a trading post in 1651. The Nawab of Bengal forced them out temporarily in 1685, and the Marathas sacked the town in 1742.
hooker A variant of the KETCH employed primarily by the Dutch as a fishing vessel. An irreverent reference to a ship past its prime.
hoopoe or hoop Upupa epops, a southern European bird with variegated plumage and a large standing crest, occasionally seen in England.
hop-pillow A pillow made to induce sleep by being stuffed with hops, the ripened cones of the female hop plant, considered to be soporific.
horchata A sweet white drink made from either the juice of almonds or from chufa (also called nut grass or earth almond), popular in Spain and Latin America.
horn-book A kind of primer for children, often covered by a thin plate of animal horn and mounted on a wooden tablet with a handle, consisting of a leaf of paper containing the alphabet and sometimes the ten digits, rules for spelling, and the Lord’s Prayer.
hornpipe A wind instrument possibly so called from once having the bell and mouthpiece made of horn. Also a lively English country dance, usually to the tune of a wind instrument, and especially associated with the revelry of sailors.
Horsburgh, James (1762-1836) The cartographer who succeeded DALRYMPLE as Hydrographer of the EAST INDIA COMPANY. He is often remembered as the compiler of Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, New Holland, Cape of Good Hope and Interjacent Ports (1809-1811).
horse A FOOTROPE stretched under a yard and supported by STIRRUPS, which is used by sailors to stand on while REEFing or FURLing sails. Also, various other ropes used to support or to guide. A Flemish horse is a short footrope used by the man at the YARDARM when furling or reefing.
horse-coper A horse-dealer.
Horse-Guard Cavalry picked for special service as a guard. Also the cavalry brigade of the English Household troops, specifically the third regiment of this body. The guard house at Whitehall, home of the British Army’s mounted troops. Nearby is the Horse Guard Parade, a broad plaza bordering ST. JAMES’S PARK. It is the site of military exercises, medal presentation ceremonies, and other processions.
horse-leach or horse-leech A horse doctor or veterinary surgeon.
horse-pistol A large pistol carried by a horseman beside the pommel.
horseshoe-bat Any species of bat having a horseshoe-shaped nose.
horse-tail In Turkey, an ornament used as a military standard, as a symbol of war, and as an ENSIGN denoting the rank of a pasha.
hortus siccus A collection of dried plants (Latin); also, a set of boring facts, minutiae, etc.
Hoste, Sir William (1780-1828) An officer who served under NELSON in H.M.S. AGAMEMNON and later was Captain of the Mutine. Hoste commanded a SQUADRON of British FRIGATES in the Adriatic from 1808 to 1814, regularly defeating the French in land raids and sea battles.
hostler A man who attends to horses at an inn; a groom.
&nbs
p; Hôtel Dieu Said to have been founded in the late seventh century, it was one of the great teaching hospitals of early-19th-century Paris. Maturin tells Aubrey he had “walked the wards” there, meaning that he had purchased a ticket that allowed him to further his professional training by following a professor of medicine on his regular daily patient rounds for a given period, usually an academic term.
houario A French lug-rigged boat of the CHASSE-MAREE type.
houbara bustard A game bird, Chlamydotis undulata, found in North Africa and in Asia as far east as India and Persia.
hounds Projections attached to either side of the MAST just below the MASTHEAD to support the TRESTLETREES. The hounds of the lower masts are called CHEEKS.
house-bote The right of a tenant to cut wood for house repairs from a landlord’s estate.
House of Commons The elected, lower chamber of Parliament.
hoveller An unlicensed pilot or boatman, especially on the coast of Kent. A boatman who goes out to wrecks to render aid or sometimes to plunder. Also, the craft used by these boatmen.
howdah A seat usually with a railing and a canopy erected on the back of an elephant for two or more people.
Howe, Admiral Lord Richard (1726-1799) Called “Black Dick” for his dark complexion, Admiral Howe—brother of General Sir William Howe, who commanded British troops during the American Revolution—was one of the Royal Navy’s great tacticians. He won his greatest victory when he defeated the French fleet under Villaret de Joyeuse at the GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE, 1794. Howe sank one French warship and captured six more without losing a British ship, but he allowed the convoy they were protecting to reach port safely. Nelson believed he should have pushed his advantage more and later referred to an unfinished victory as a “Lord Howe victory.” For reasons of health, Howe retired from the Navy soon after the battle, in 1797. He served as First Lord of the ADMIRALTY from 1783 to 1788.
howitzer A short piece of ORDNANCE, usually of light weight, specially designed for firing shells with small charges and adapted for use in a mountainous country.
howker See HOOKER.
hoy A small COASTING vessel often with a large MAIN hatch for moving goods and supplies in and out quickly.
hoyden A rude or dumb fellow; a rude or rambunctious girl or woman.
hubble-bubble A rudimentary form of the oriental hookah, or smoking pipe, in which the smoke bubbles through a coconut shell half filled with water. Also, similar pipes, made of clay, glass, silver, or other materials.
Hugli See HOOGLI.
huitieme Eighth (French).
hull-down So far away that only the MASTS and sails are showing and the hull is not visible, being below the horizon.
hull-up When the hull of a ship on the horizon is visible.
Humane Society The Royal Humane Society, for the rescue of drowning people. It was founded in England in 1774. The Society once awarded Aubrey, the savior of some two dozen sailors, a gold medal, which he hocked in Gibraltar.
humble pie A pie made of the “umbles,” or innards, of a deer or other animal.
Humboldt, Baron Alexander von (1769-1859) Prussian naturalist and explorer who traveled in South America from 1799 to 1803 and spent two decades analyzing his scientific findings. The northward-flowing Pacific current from Antarctica along South America is named the Humboldt Current after him. Humboldt’s work Kosmos detailed his beliefs on the physical laws of the universe.
Hummel, Johann Nepomuk (1778-1837) Born in Pressburg, Bratislava, the son of the director of the Imperial School of Military Music, Hummel studied piano with Mozart for two years in Vienna. He toured Europe as a child prodigy pianist. He was the concertmaster to Prince Esterhazy from 1804 to 1811. He composed about 130 works, primarily for the piano, but also wrote nine operas and three masses.
hummum A Turkish bath; a hammam. A bathing place called “the Hummums” was opened in Covent Garden in London in 1631 and later became a hotel.
humour In ancient and medieval physiology, any fluid or juice of an animal or plant, either natural or caused by disease. One of the four chief fluids of the body—blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy or black choler—whose relative proportions, it was believed, determined a person’s physical and mental qualities and disposition. For more on the humours, see “The Disease Burden of the Royal Navy,” page 37.
hundredweight A unit of weight equal, in Britain, to 112 pounds, but originally and in the United States, equal to 100 pounds and so the name. Abbreviated as CWT.
Hunter, John (1728-1793) Famous teacher of surgery and anatomy in London, regarded as the founder of experimental pathology and a pioneer in physiology. After accidentally infecting himself with syphilis, he used the opportunity to study the disease in himself. An expert on gunshot wounds, he developed a number of improvements in trauma surgery along with his copious anatomical discoveries.
Huron A confederation of five Iroquoian peoples formerly living near Lake Huron in North America. Also, a member of the Huron, or their language.
hurricano Hurricane.
hussar A member of a military unit based on the light horsemen organized in Hungary in the 15th century and subsequently introduced in most European armies. The bright, elaborate uniforms of the Hungarian force set the dress standard for hussars of other nations.
hussif A small case for sewing gear, such as needles, pins, thread, and scissors. The word is a corruption of “housewife.”
hydatic cyst The encysted larva of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, found in the livers of afflicted patients. The word “hydatid” is now used.
hydrography The scientific description and study of the waters of the earth’s surface, including rivers, lakes, and seas. It includes the charting of bodies of water and physical features, such as shallows, winds, tides, and currents. Earlier, it included the principles of navigation. Also, a treatise on or a scientific description of the waters of the earth. The Admiralty Hydrographic Office was established in 1795.
hydropericardium Abnormal accumulation of water in the PERICARDIUM.
Hygeia Goddess of health.
hygrometer Instrument for measuring the humidity of the air.
hylobate A long-armed ape or gibbon.
hyoid bone The U-shaped tongue-bone, or os linguae, between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. In most mammals it is comparatively larger, more complicated, and more important than in humans.
hyperaemia An excess of blood.
hyperborean Of or relating to the extreme north of the earth.
hypnotic A sleeping medicine
I
ibadite In arabic, “ibadiyyah,” originally part of the puritanical Kharijite Islamic sect that rebelled against Muhammad’s son Ali when he showed willingness to negotiate the succession to the caliphate. The Kharijites felt that the caliphate was turning into a purely political Arab kingdom and were angry that converts to Islam were not being welcomed into full brotherhood. Some Kharijite sects still survive, notably the Ibadites of northern Oman, East Africa, southern Algeria, and Libya.
ibis A member of a genus of large wading birds with long legs and long slender curved bills, related to the stork and heron and inhabiting lakes and swamps in warm climates. Especially the sacred ibis of Egypt with white and black plumage, much revered by ancient Egyptians.
Ibn Haukal or Hawqui An Arab geographer of Nisibis and Upper Mesopotamia, who traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean region and recorded his observations. His chief work was Configuration of the Earth (10th c.).
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) Born in Tunis, he is considered the greatest of the Arab historical thinkers. In his masterpiece, the Kitab al-Ibar (“universal history”), he attempted to treat history as a science and outlined a philosophy of history, setting forth principles of sociology and political economy. He completed an autobiography in 1394 and expanded it a few months before his death.
ice-bird The little AUK, or sea-dove. Also, the Indian NIGHTJAR.
ice fender A guard to protect a v
essel from damage by ice.
ice-pudding A frozen, puddinglike confection.
ichu An alpine grass growing on the uplands of the Andes and useful for fodder and thatching.
Idelfonso Treaty The name of two treaties in this period. The first, signed August 19, 1796, was the treaty of alliance between France and Spain. As a result of the treaty, British leaders thought it prudent to withdraw from Toulon, relinquish Corsica, and evacuate the Royal Navy from the western Mediterranean, moving to Gibraltar. By the second treaty, signed October 7, 1800, Spain transferred the Louisiana Territory to France.
idler Anyone on a ship-of-war who is on constant day duty and so not required to keep the night-WATCH, usually the Carpenter, Cook, Sailmaker, and BOATSWAIN.
Île de France See MAURITIUS.
Il faut que le prêtre vive de l’autel The priest must make a living within the Church (French). A variation of the saying Qui serf a l’autel doit vivre de l’autel: Every man must live by his profession.
iliac also iliac passion or ileus Painful obstruction of the longest segment of the small intestine, the ileum.
iliac crest The relatively sharp anterior prominence of the pelvic bone.
Illustrious, H.M.S. A third-rate 74-gun ship built at BUCKLER’S HARD, the shipbuilding port in Hampshire, in 1789. In 1795, she suffered great damage and was captured in a battle known as Hotham’s Action against an inferior French fleet. In tow, the Illustrious broke loose during a GALE, ran aground, and was lost.
Illyrian Of or pertaining to the Illyrians or to ancient Ulyria (or Illyricum), located on what is now the Adriatic coast of Croatia. The breed of dog that originated here.
imago The last and perfect form of an insect after all metamorphoses.
Imam In Islam, a recognized leader or a religious teacher. The Twelve-Imam Shiite doctrine presents the Imams as infallible intermediaries between the human and the divine. The continuous presence of the Imams is a prerequisite for human salvation. AL-MAHDI, the last Imam, is considered hidden from humanity since 874 and is expected to return near the end of creation as a messiah-like figure.