A Sea of Words

by Dean King

  puncheon An instrument used for perforating, piercing, or stamping.

  punctilio A fine point or minute detail of conduct, procedure, or ceremony; a petty formality; also, a fastidious objection, a scruple.

  punk Dry, decayed wood or a fungus growing on wood used for tinder. Touchwood, amadou.

  punkah A large cloth or palmyra-leaf fan controlled by a cord; a servant who works such a fan.

  punt A flat-bottomed craft with a shallow draft sometimes used in the CAULKing of a ship’s waterline seam and for various other maintenance functions. A flat-bottomed craft with square ends poled along rivers.

  Purbeck A peninsula on the Dorsetshire coast of England. A stone quarried there or an object made of this stone. The geological formation typical of that region.

  purchase A means of applying or increasing power; leverage. A device that provides mechanical advantage or power in moving or raising a heavy object. Any contrivance for increasing applied power, especially, in nautical use, a rope, pulley, WINDLASS, or other TACKLE.

  purdah A curtain, screen, or veil used to hide Hindu or Muslim women from men or strangers. The practice of such seclusion.

  purpura Any condition characterized by PETECHLAE, purplish spots scattered over the skin, caused by intracutaneous hemorrhage; usually accompanies SCURVY.

  purse-net A bag-shaped net whose mouth can be drawn together with cords, used for catching fish and especially rabbits. A “purse seine” is a fishing net with its upper edge buoyed and its lower edge weighted.

  purser (commonly pronounced “pusser”) An officer responsible for keeping a ship’s accounts and issuing provisions and clothing. He was appointed by ADMIRALTY warrant but had no professional examination. Pursers played a dual role. On one hand, they were responsible for government-owned supplies, and on the other, they were private contractors who could make a profit on supplies. Pursers were considered to have WARDROOM rank after 1808.

  pusser’s shirt on a handspike A descriptive phrase meaning ill-fitting.

  puss-in-the-corner or puss A children’s game in which one player stands in the center and tries to capture one of the “dens” or “bases” of the others as they change places. Also, in a more elaborate form, a game played by sailors in the British Navy.

  putain A whore (French).

  puya A herbaceous or woody plant, sometimes as large as a small tree, native to dry regions of the Andes and distinguished by rosettes of spiny leaves and blue or yellow flowers.

  Pym, Admiral Sir Samuel (1778-1855) As a young Lieutenant in 1799, he served on H.M.S. Ethalion, 36, one of the ships that captured the Spanish treasure ships Thetis and Santa Brigida near Cape Finnisterre, earning for himself more than £5,000 in prize money. In command of H.M.S. Atlas, he was with Duckworth at Santo Domingo in 1806. Later he took part in the attack on MAURITIUS in 1810. In attempting to enter Grand Port, his ship H.M.S. Sirius went aground and had to be abandoned. Pym was taken and remained a prisoner of war on the island until it was taken by Sir Albermarle Bertie in 1811. Cleared of all blame, Pym commanded H.M.S. Niemen in the WEST INDIES between 1812 and 1815. He became an Admiral after the war.

  pyrites Various sulfides with a metallic appearance of which pyrite, or fool’s gold, an iron disulfide with a brassy yellow color, is the most common.

  Pythagoras (c. 580-c. 500 B.C.) Greek philosopher and mathematician who was famous chiefly for his theorem stating that for a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the two sides. His numerical ideas were incorporated into the theory of the four humors (see “The Disease Burden of the Royal Navy,” page 37).

  Q

  qat also kat or khat The buds and leaves of a large shrub, Catha edulis, indigenous to Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula; when eaten they produce excitation and increase energy, while reducing the need for sleep and food, somewhat as COCA does, but in this case the active chemical is not known.

  quacksalver A charlatan, a quack.

  quadrant In the late 18th century, this was an instrument in the form of a graduated eighth-circle (actually an octant, although called a quadrant because it could measure a quarter of a circle by using reflective mirrors). It was used for measuring angles in navigation, especially altitudes of heavenly bodies above the horizon or angles between two terrestrial objects in coastal surveying. The seaman’s quadrant was invented by John Hadley in 1731. It superseded Davis’ Quadrant, invented by John Davis in 1594. See also SEXTANT.

  quadrille A French form of square dance, usually involving four couples in five stages, each a complete dance in itself.

  quaere Ask, inquire; a question (Latin). Used chiefly in the imperative to introduce a question.

  quartan A type of malaria in which a paroxysm of fever occurs every 72 hours. Compare TERTIAN.

  quarter The upper after parts of a ship’s side (between the after part of the MAIN CHAINS and the STERN), as in STARBOARD quarter. Of a YARD, the part between the SLINGS and the YARDARM. The distance between the slings and the yardarm on each side is divided into the first, second, and third quarters, and yardarm. “To sail with the wind on the quarter” is to sail with the wind blowing between BEAM and STERN. A sea is said to quarter when it strikes a vessel on the quarter. Quarter also means mercy, clemency, especially toward a defeated opponent.

  quarter-bill A list of the ship’s officers and men and their appointed battle stations.

  quarterdeck The part of the ship from which the Captain, MASTER, or officer of the WATCH commands the sailing activities and that is used as a promenade by the officers. Originally, a smaller deck above the HALFDECK, covering about a quarter of the vessel. The tradition of saluting the quarterdeck when entering or leaving a ship or reporting there to an officer dates from early times. There is a historical debate about the origins of this custom. Some argue that the practice developed in ancient times when a pagan altar was located on board a GALLEY and others say it comes from an independent English practice. Officers on the quarterdeck traditionally lifted their hats in return to those who saluted in this way. By the late 18th century, the quarterdeck itself was considered virtually sacred and treated with great respect by all seamen and officers.

  quarter-gunner A PETTY OFFICER subordinate to the Gunner, whom he assists in keeping all guns and carriages in working order. The number of quarter-gunners allowed per ship is one for every four guns.

  quartermaster A PETTY OFFICER who assists with numerous tasks, including attending to the BINNACLE, steering the ship, signaling, and navigational duties.

  quarter-netting Netting extended along the rails on the upper part of a ship’s QUARTER for the stowage of hammocks.

  quarters Living accommodations or battle stations. “To beat to quarters” meant to play the drummer’s tune—in British ships frequently “Heart of Oak”—that called men to their battle stations.

  quart major In cards, the sequence of ace, king, queen, knave.

  quarto The size of paper obtained by folding a whole sheet twice to form four leaves. A book printed on quarto pages.

  quasi pannus menstruate Like a menstrual cloth (Latin).

  quay An artificial bank or landing place, usually built of stone, alongside or parallel to a navigable water for loading and unloading ships. When projecting into the water as a breakwater and a landing place, it is also known as a MOLE. In later American usage, this is also called a pier, but in England in the late 18th century, a pier was normally a quay protecting the entrance of a river, harbor, etc.

  Queen Anne’s Free Gift A sum of money granted annually to ships’ Surgeons to boost their modest monthly income. Queen Anne’s Bounty was first instituted in 1704 to supplement the income of clergymen who had inadequate stipends.

  Queen Charlotte, H.M.S. Named after King GEORGE III’s consort, this 100-gun first rate built in 1790 fought in the GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE in 1794. She was blown up in an accident off LEGHORN in 1800. A well-known painting by Henry Briggs depicts George III presenting a sword to Lord H
OWE on board his FLAGSHIP, H.M.S. Queen Charlotte, on June 26, 1794. Also, a second rate of 1810.

  Queeney or Queenie See KEITH, LADY.

  Queen of May A girl chosen to be “queen” of the games on May Day and crowned with flowers.

  queue A long plait of hair that hangs down behind from the head or from a wig; a pigtail.

  Quichua An Indian people of Peru and neighboring parts of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. The group of related languages that these people speak.

  quicksilver The metal MERCURY, so called for its liquid state at normal temperatures.

  quid One POUND sterling.

  qui ferox bello tamen inter arma/sive iactatam religarat udo/litore navim ... et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque/crine decorum He who had fought boldly in war, after mooring his ship ashore ... [he sang of the Muses... ] and of Lycus with black eyes and black hair adorned (Latin, Horace’s Odes, I, 32).

  quillon One of the two arms that form a sword’s cross-guard, the device that protects the swordsman’s hand.

  quinoa A plant, Chenopodium quinoa, found on the western slopes of the Andes, cultivated for its edible wheatlike seeds.

  quire A set of four sheets of parchment or paper doubled to form eight leaves, a unit common in medieval manuscripts. Any collection of leaves, one within another, in a manuscript or book. Also, 24 or 25 sheets of writing paper.

  quittance A release from a debt or obligation; a receipt, repayment, or reprisal.

  qui venit Who has come (Latin).

  Quixote An eager visionary similar to Cervantes’s fictional character Don Quixote, who was inspired by lofty, unattainable ideals.

  quizz An odd or eccentric person in character or look.

  quod volunt credere What they wish to believe (Latin).

  quoin A wooden wedge with a handle at the thick end used to adjust the elevation of a gun.

  Quo me rapis? Where are you carrying me off to? (Latin)

  Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus Because you alone are holy, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the most high (Latin).

  quota-men or Lord Mayor’s Men Recruits raised for the Navy after the passage of Pitt’s quota-bill in 1795, requiring each county to provide a certain number of recruits. Payments to these recruits, often outcasts and ne’er-do-wells, ranged from 20 to 70 pounds, far surpassing the sums previously paid to volunteers, which angered Navy seamen.

  R

  rabbet A groove or slot cut along a board’s edge, made to receive the tongue of another board cut to fit the groove.

  râble de lievre Saddle of hare (French).

  rachitic Having rickets or pertaining to rickets, a disease of the young caused by a lack of sunlight or vitamin D and resulting in deformed bones.

  rack-rent A very high rent, often approaching the annual income that a tenant can earn by working the property.

  radix serpentaria Virginia snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria), prescribed as a tonic, diuretic, and diaphoretic for fever patients.

  Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford (1781-1826) The son of an impoverished sea captain, Raffles was born at sea off Jamaica. He was hired as an office boy by the East India Company in 1795, and in 1805, he was sent out to PENANG as assistant secretary to the first governor. As secretary to Lord Minto, Governor-General of the Malay States, he accompanied the expedition that took Java from the French and was appointed Lieutenant Governor, reforming its internal administration, befriending the Javanese, and greatly increasing the company profits there. He returned home in 1816 and was knighted. Appointed Lieutenant Governor of Fort Marlborough on Sumatra in 1818, he established, without other authority, Singapore in 1819, where he remained until 1824. He founded and was first president of the London Zoo.

  ragabash An idle, worthless person; rabble or riffraff.

  ragot Malicious gossip (French).

  rail A wading bird of the family Rallidae, structurally similar to the crane but smaller, with short, round wings and long toes for running on mud. On a ship, any of the narrow ornamental planks on the upper works, such as the FIFE-RAIL.

  Rainier, Peter (c. 1741-1808) A British ADMIRAL who was COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF in the EAST INDIES from 1794 to 1804, during which time AMBOYNA, Trincomalee, and Banda Beira came under British control. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1795, he subsequently became Vice-Admiral in 1799 and Admiral in 1805.

  Rainier, Peter (1784-1836) The son of Admiral Peter Rainier, he served under his father from 1803 to 1804. Commanding H.M.S. Caroline in October of 1806, he captured the Dutch 32-gun FRIGATE Maria Reigersbergen.

  raison d’etat For reasons of the State, State policy (French).

  rake The projection or slope of the upper part of a ship’s hull at STEM and STERN beyond the KEEL. The slant of a ship’s MASTS, usually but not always AFT to increase speed. To fire a deadly and destructive BROADSIDE at a ship’s BOW or stern, the weakest points of a ship and those that provide the longest destructive path for a well-aimed shot.

  râle An abnormal rattling sound heard in diseased or congested lungs (French). “Rale” in English.

  Ramadan The ninth month of the Muslim year, observed strictly with 30 days of fasting during daylight hours. The lunar reckoning of the Muslim calendar brings the fast 11 days earlier each year.

  Ramillies, H.M.S. A name used three times in the 18th-century Royal Navy. The first was a rebuilt ship that served as Admiral John BYNG’S FLAGSHIP at MINORCA in 1756 and was wrecked in 1760, taking down 700 hands. The second was a third rate of 74 guns launched in 1763 and taking part in the action against the French off USHANT in 1778. In 1782, under the command of Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves, she burned in a hurricane off NEWFOUNDLAND in the Atlantic, but her crew was rescued. The third, also a third rate of 74 guns, was built in 1785. She fought in the GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE in 1794 and joined in action at Quiberon Bay and the Battle of COPENHAGEN. She was also engaged in the War of 1812, where the Americans, using a diving boat, attempted but failed to blow her up with a mine. She was finally broken up in 1850.

  ramus A projecting part or branch of a plant, vein, or bone.

  rapparee An Irish pikeman or irregular soldier of the Nine Years’ War (1689-1797). An Irish bandit, robber, or freebooter, or the same in other countries.

  raptor A member of an order of birds of prey that includes the eagle, hawk, buzzard, and owl.

  rara avis in mara, maro A rare seabird, at sea (Latin).

  RATE

  A seaman’s station, according to his skills and duties, as marked in , the ship’s MUSTER-BOOK. The chief grades in the Royal Navy included ORDINARY SEAMEN, ABLE SEAMEN, and PETTY OFFICERS; below them were the LANDSMEN and boys. Also, of naval SHIPS commanded by POST-CAPTAINS, their classification based on size and armament. The rating system was introduced by Admiral Lord ANSON in the 1750s. The British Navy like most large navies had six different rates.

  Ships of the first three rates were powerful enough to fight in a line of battle in a major fleet action,CARRONADES were not counted in the rating. The rates (in 1810 the number of guns shifted up by about ten in each):

  Rate Number of Guns

  1st 100+

  2nd 90-98

  3rd 64-80

  4th 50-60

  5th 32-8

  6th 20-32

  See also “Rated Ships of the Line,” page 9.

  Ratitae Flightless birds having a flat, keelless sternum, as do the ostrich, EMU, and CASSOWARY.

  Ratite Of or belonging to the RATITAE.

  ratline One of the small lines made of tarred rope and fastened horizontally to the SHROUDS of a vessel, forming steps by which seamen climb up and down the RIGGING.

  atsbane Rat poison, usually arsenic trioxide.

  rattan One of several species of climbing palms that grow mainly in the EAST INDIES, and also in Africa and Australia, with long thin jointed and pliable stems. Also, a switch or stick of rattan, used for beating a person or thing.

  rattle To furnish with RATLINES, usually used with “dow
n.”

  raveline or ravelin In fortification, an outwork with two faces that form a protruding angle, constructed beyond the main ditch and in front of the main wall.

  razee A ship of the line reduced in height by the removal of her upper deck or decks, making a heavy FRIGATE.

  receiving ship Old and often decrepit and filthy ships employed at ports to house and process new recruits or pressed men for the Royal Navy.

  reculing pour mew sauter Aubrey’s pidgin French for drawing back in order to spring.

  redbreast A robin.

  Redemptorist A member of the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, founded in Naples in 1732 by St. Alphon-sus Liguori and devoted chiefly to work among the poor, often through missionaries.

  red gum An irregular rash occurring usually in children who are cutting their teeth.

  Red Sea A long, narrow sea bordered to the east by Saudi Arabia and to the west by Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia and so named for its reddish tint, caused by floating algae.

  reef A horizontal portion of a sail that can be rolled or folded up in order to reduce the amount of canvas exposed to the wind. In SQUARE-RIGGED ships, the sails up to the TOPSAILS usually have two reefs, and sails above the topsail have none. To take in a reef (or to reef) means to reduce the amount of exposed sail by rolling up a part and securing it with the REEF-POINTS. (See also CLOSE-REEFED.) Also, a ridge of rock or coral in water shallow enough to be a hazard to vessels.

  reefband A long piece of canvas sewed horizontally across the sail to strengthen it along the REEF-POINTS, where the stress lies when a sail is REEFED.

  reefed Of MASTS, shortened. Of sails, having a REEF or reefs taken in, decreasing the amount of canvas exposed to the wind.

  reefer One who reefs. A familiar name for MIDSHIPMEN who were sent aloft to the TOPS to supervise the operation of REEFing.

  reef-point A short length of plaited SENNET, attached to a sail along the REEFBANDS and used to secure the canvas when REEFED. See illustration below.