The War of Knives
Page 33
pinnace, a boat of moderate size that could be sailed or rowed.
Port Républicain, Port-au-Prince (or Pòtoprens), Haiti, during the French Revolution.
Porto Rico, the U.S. name for Puerto Rico.
post-captain, an officer holding the rank of CAPTAIN and entitled to command a SHIP of more than 20 guns.
privateer, a private armed vessel authorized in time of war to seize the ships and goods of the enemy.
quadroon, a person who is of one-quarter African descent.
quarter, clemency, as in not killing a defeated opponent. Cry for quarters: beg for mercy. Also, either of the after quadrants of a vessel.
quarters, the place where a man sleeps or fights, depending.
quarterdeck, the after part of the WEATHER DECK, from which the CAPTAIN and his officers CONN the ship.
quartermaster,a PETTY OFFICER who helps to CONN a vessel.
quarter-gunner,a PETTY OFFICER who assists the gunner; in theory one was allowed for every four GUNS.
rate, status assigned to a man according to his skills.
ratlines, horizontal ropes strung between the shrouds and used as footholds for going aloft; pronounced “ratlins.”
razee, a large SHIP made smaller by removing its upper deck.
real, an eighth of a Spanish silver dollar. See PIECE OF EIGHT.
redcoat, a British soldier or marine.
reef, to reduce a sail’s area by rolling up the lower part of it.
rope,a line that isn’t attached to anything.
round hat, i.e., without the brim turned up as in a tricorne, which it began to replace around this time; it often looked like a low-crowned top hat.
round jacket, a short coat without tails.
round shot, a solid ball of iron.
royal, a mast, YARD, or sail above the TOPGALLANT.
running rigging, ROPES used to control the sails and SPARS.
saber, a long and heavy cavalry sword, sometimes but not always curved.
sailing master, the WARRANT OFFICER charged with a vessel’s navigation, equal in rank but subordinate to a LIEUTENANT.
sailmaker, the WARRANT OFFICER charged with the care of the ship’s canvas.
Sails, nickname for a ship’s SAILMAKER.
Saint-Dómingue, the French colony in the island of HISPANIOLA. Now the Republic of Haiti.
Saint Kitts, a British island in the Lesser Antilles, where there was a large naval base.
San Domingo, the U.S. name for SAINT-DÓMINGUE.
sang-mélee, lit. “mixed blood”; the lightest of the racial designations under French law.
Santo Domingo, the Spanish colony in HISPANIOLA. Now the Dominican Republic.
schooner,a FORE-AND-AFT-rigged vessel with a narrow hull and usually two masts, common to North America and the Caribbean.
scuttle, a porthole.
sea lieutenant, “sea” to distinguish him from an Army or Marine lieutenant, whom he outranked.
servant, a seaman who cooked and served an officer’s meals, cleaned his cabin, and tended to his clothes. It was also a euphemism for “slave.” Marines might serve as mess attendants on formal occasions.
sheet,a LINE attached to a clew and used to haul a sail taut.
ship,a SQUARE-RIGGED vessel with three masts; loosely, any vessel large enough to carry a boat.
shroud, a piece of STANDING RIGGING in lateral support of a mast.
sloop, a single-masted sailing vessel.
small-sword, a light, straight-bladed sword carried by gentlemen as a sign of social status and for sticking into rude fellows.
sojer, a derogatory word for a soldier, specifically a Marine; to sojer, to perform a repetitive and often pointless task, as for punishment.
spar, a stout wooden pole such as a mast or a YARD.
splice the mainbrace, to have a TOT of GROG.
square-rigged, fitted primarily with SQUARE SAILS.
square sail, actually trapezoidal, but set “square” to a vessel’s
centerline.
standing rigging, lines used to support masts and SPARS.
starboard, to the right of a vessel’s centerline; loosely, to the right.
stay,a FORE-AND-AFT piece of STANDING RIGGING in support of a mast.
staysail,a FORE-AND-AFT sail set to a STAY.
stem, the upright timber at a vessel’s BOW.
stern, the rear of a vessel.
stiletto, a narrow-bladed dagger often worn concealed in a sleeve or waistband.
studding sail, a sail set outboard of a square sail in light weather.
stuns’l, STUDDING SAIL.
subaltern, a junior army officer.
surgeon, a ship’s chief medical officer. Surgeons of the day were not usually physicians, who held a much higher social rank.
surtout, a long, usually close-fitting coat.
swivel gun, a small GUN mounted on a bulwark and used to discourage boarders.
tack, to come about with the wind across the BOW. Also, the lower corner of a sail’s leading edge. On a (starboard or larboard) tack: sailing with the wind on that side.
taffrail, the rail at a vessel’s stern.
throw weight, the amount of metal that a gun could fire, or the amount that a vessel could fire from all of its guns in one go.
topgallant, the mast, sail, or YARD above the TOPMAST.
topmast, the second-highest mast.
topsail, a square sail mounted on the second-highest mast.
tot, a small serving of booze.
vomito negro, YELLOW FEVER.
voudou, the ancestral West African religion as practiced in SAINT-DÓMINGUE.
wardroom, the cabin where the senior officers ate.
warrant officer, in the U.S. Navy, an officer confirmed by the president and the secretary of the Navy, and usually specializing in a skilled task such as navigation or gunnery. Senior warrant officers included the SAILING MASTER, SURGEON, BOSUN, and GUNNER. Inferior warrant officers included the COOK and SAILMAKER.
watch, a stint on duty, usually four hours. See DOGWATCH.
watch below, the men off duty.
watch on deck, the men on duty.
wear, to come about with the wind across the stern.
weather deck, a deck exposed to the elements.
windward, in the direction of the wind.
Windward Passage, the channel between HISPANIOLA and Cuba.
yard,a spar used to spread the head of a sail.
yarn, a long and often intentionally preposterous story.
yellow fever, an acute infectious viral disease that occurs in the warm regions of Africa and the Americas and is spread by mosquitoes, so-called because of the jaundice that sometimes accompanies it.
yellow jack, YELLOW FEVER.