HASP. A semicircular clamp turning in an eye-bolt in the stem-head of a sloop or boat, and fastened by a forelock in order to secure the bowsprit down to the bows. (SeeSpan-shackle.)
HASTAN. The Manx or Erse term for a large eel or conger.
HASTY-PUDDING. A batter made of flour or oatmeal stirred in boiling water, and eaten with treacle or sugar at sea. This dish is not altogether to be despised in need, although Lord Dorset—the sailor poet—speaks of it disparagingly:
"Sure hasty-pudding is thy chiefest dish,With bullock's liver, or some stinking fish."
HATCH. A half-door. A contrivance for trapping salmon. (SeeHeck.)
HATCH-BARS. To secure the hatches; are padlocked and sealed.
HATCH-BOAT. A sort of small vessel known as a pilot-boat, having a deck composed almost entirely of hatches.
HATCH-DECK. Gun brigs had hatches instead of lower decks.
HATCHELLING. The combing and preparing hemp for rope-making.
HATCHES. Flood-gates set in a river to stop the current of water. Also, coverings of grating, or close hatches to seal the holds.—To lie under hatches, stowed in the hold.Terms used figuratively for being in distress and death.
HATCHET-FASHION. Cutting at the heads of antagonists, instead of thrusting.
HATCH-RINGS. Rings to lift the hatches by, or replace them.
HATCHWAY. A square or oblong opening in the middle of the deckof a ship, of which there are generally three—the fore, main, and after—affording passages up and down from one deck to another, and again descending into the hold. The coverings over these openings are called hatches. Goods of bulk are let down into the hold by the hatchways. To lay anything in the hatchway, is to put it so that the hatches cannot be approached or opened. The hatches of a smaller kind are distinguished by the name ofscuttles.
HATCHWAY-NETTINGS. Nettings sometimes placed over the hatchways instead of gratings, for security and circulation of air. They arrest the fall of any one from a deck above.
HATCHWAY-SCREENS. Pieces of fear-nought, or thick woollen cloth, put round the hatchways of a man-of-war in time of action, to screen the passages to the magazine.
HATCHWAY-STOPPERS. Those for a hempen cable are fitted as a ring-stopper, only a larger rope. They are rove through a hole on each side of the coamings, in the corner of the hatchway; and both tails, made selvagee-fashion, are dogged along the cable. When a chain-cable is used, the stopper works from a beam on the lower deck.
HAT-MONEY. A word sometimes used forprimage, or the trifling payment received by the master of a ship for care of goods.
HAUBERK.SeeAuberk.
HAUGH. Flat or marshy ground by the side of a river.
HAUL,To. An expression peculiar to seamen, implying to pull or bowse at a single rope, without the assistance of blocks or other mechanical powers upon it; as "haul in," "haul down," "haul up," "haul aft," "haul together." (SeeBowse,Hoist, andRouse.) A vesselhauls her windby trimming the yards and sails so as to lie nearer to, or close to the wind, and by the power of the rudder shaping her course accordingly.
HAUL ABOARD THE FORE AND MAIN TACKS. This is to haul them forward, and down to the chess-trees on the weather-side.
HAUL AFT A SHEET. To pull it in more towards the stern, so as to trim the sail nearer to the wind.
HAULAGE. A traction-way.
HAUL-BOWLINGS. The old name for the able-bodied seamen.
HAUL HER WIND. Said of a vessel when she comes close upon the wind.—Haul your wind, orhaul to the wind, signifies that the ship's head is to be brought nearer to the wind—a very usual phrase when she has been going free.
HAUL IN,To. To sail close to the wind, in order to approach nearer to an object.
HAULING DOWN VACANCY. The colloquialism expressive of the promotion of a flag-lieutenant and midshipman on an admiral's hauling down his flag.
HAULING-LINE. A line made fast to any object, to be hauled nearer or on board, as a hawser, a spar, &c.
HAULING SHARP. Going upon half allowance of food.
HAUL MY WIND. An expression when an individual is going upon a new line of action. To avoid a quarrel or difficulty.
HAUL OF ALL! An order to brace round all the yards at once—a manœuvre sometimes used in tacking, or on a sudden change of wind; it requires a strong crew.
HAUL OFF,To. To sail closer to the wind, in order to get further from any object.
HAUL OUT TO LEEWARD! In reefing top-sails, the cry when the weather earing is passed.
HAUL ROUND. Said when the wind is gradually shifting towards any particular point of the compass. Edging round a danger.
HAULS AFT,or Veers aft. Said of the wind when it draws astern.
HAULSER. The old orthography forhawser.
HAULS FORWARD. Said of the wind when it draws before the beam.
HAUL UNDER THE CHAINS. This is a phrase signifying a ship's working and straining on the masts and shrouds, so as to make the seams open and shut as she rolls.
HAULYARDS.SeeHalliards.
HAUNCES. The breakings of the rudder abaft.
HAUNCH. A sudden fall or break, as from the drifts forward and aft to the waist. The same ashance.
HAVEN [Anglo-Saxon,hæfen]. A safe refuge from the violence of wind and sea; much the same as harbour, though of less importance. A good anchorage rather than place of perfect shelter. Milford Haven is an exception.
HAVENET. This word has appeared in vocabularies as a small haven.
HAVEN-SCREAMER. The sea-gull, calledhæfenby the Anglo-Saxons.
HAVERSACK. A coarse linen bag with a strap fitting over the shoulder worn by soldiers or small-arm men in marching order, for carrying their provision, instead of the knapsack.
HAVILLER.SeeHuffler.
HAVOC. Formerly a war cry, and the signal for indiscriminate slaughter. Thus Shakspeare,
"Cry havoc! and let slip the dogs of war."
HAWK'S-BILL.Chelone imbricata, a well-known turtle frequenting the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, so named from having a small mouth like the beak of a hawk; it produces the tortoise-shell of commerce. The flesh is indifferent, but the eggs very good.
HAWSE. This is a term of great meaning. Strictly, it is that part of a vessel's bow where holes are cut for her cables to pass through. It is also generally understood to imply the situation of the cables before the ship's stem, when she is moored with two anchors out from forward, one on the starboard, and the other on the port bow. It also denotes any small distance between her head and the anchors employed to ride her, as "he has anchored in our hawse," "the brig fell athwart our hawse," &c. Also, said of a vessel a little in advance of the stem; as, she sailsathwarthawse, or has anchoredin the hawse. If a vessel drives at her anchors into the hawse of another she is said to "foul the hawse" of the vessel riding there; hence the threat of a man-of-war's-man, "If you foul my hawse, I'll cut your cable," no merchant vessel being allowed to approach a ship-of-war within certain limits, and never to make fast to the government buoys.—A bold hawseis when the holes are high above the water. "Freshen hawse," or "veer out more cable," is said when part of the cable that lies in the hawse is fretted or chafed, and more should be veered out, so that another part of it may rest in the hawse. "Freshen hawse" also means, clap a service on or round the cable in the hawses to prevent it from fretting; hemp cables only are rounded or cackled. Also, a dram after fatiguing duty. "Clearing hawse," is untwisting or disentangling two cables that come through different holes, and make a foul hawse.
HAWSE-BAGS. Canvas bags filled with oakum, used in heavy seas to stop the hawse-holes and prevent the water coming in.
HAWSE-BLOCKS. Bucklers, or pieces of wood made to fit over the hawse-holes when at sea, to back the hawse-plugs.
HAWSE-BOLSTERS. Planks above and below the hawse-holes. Also, pieces of canvas stuffed with oakum and roped round, for plugging when the cables are bent.
HAWSE-BOX,or Naval Hood. Pieces of plank bolted outside round each of the hawse-holes, to support the projecting part of the hawse-pipe.
HAWSE-BUCKLERS. Plugs of wood to fit the hawse-holes, and hatches to bolt over, to keep the sea from spurting in.
HAWSE-FALLEN. To ride hawse-fallen, is when the water breaks into the hawse in a rough sea, driving all before it.
HAWSE-FULL. Riding hawse-full; pitching bows under.
HAWSE-HOLES. Cylindrical holes cut through the bows of a ship on each side of the stem, through which the cables pass, in order to be drawn into or let out of the vessel, as occasion requires.
HAWSE-HOOK. A compass breast timber which crosses the hawse-timber above the ends of the upper-deck planking, and over the hawse-holes. (SeeBreast-hooks.)
HAWSE-PIECES. The timbers which compose the bow of a vessel, and their sides look fore and aft; it is a name given to the foremost timbers of a ship, whose lower ends rest upon the knuckle-timbers. They are generally parallel to the stem, having their upper ends sometimes terminated by the lower part of the beak-head and otherwise by the top of the bow. Also, timbers through which the hawse-holes are cut.
HAWSE-PIPE. A cast-iron pipe in the hawse-holes to prevent the cable from cutting the wood.
HAWSE-PLUGS. Blocks of wood made to fit into the hawse-pipes, and put in from the outside to stop the hawses, and thereby prevent the water from washing into the manger. The plug, coated with old canvas, is first inserted, then a mat or swab, and over it the buckler or shield, which bolts upward and downward into the breast-hooks.
HAWSER. A large rope or cablet, which holds the middle degree between the cable and tow-line, being a size smaller than the former, and as much larger than the latter; curiously, it is not hawser but cable laid.
HAWSER-LAID ROPE. Is rope made in the usual way, being three or four strands of yarns laid up right-handed, or with the sun; it is used for small running rigging, as well as for standing rigging, shrouds, &c.; in the latter case it is generally tarred to keep out rain. It is supposed that this style of rope is stronger in proportion to the number of yarns than cable or water-laid rope, which is more tightly twisted, each strand being a small rope. This latter is more impervious to water, and therefore good for cables, hawsers, &c.; it is laid left-handed, or against the sun.
HAWSE-TIMBERS. The upright timbers in the bow, bolted on each side of the stem, in which the hawse-holes are cut.
HAWSE-WOOD. A general name for the hawse-timbers.
HAY. A straight rank of men drawn up exactly in a line.
HAYE. A peculiar ground-shark on the coast of Guinea.
HAYLER. An archaism for halliard.
HAZE. A grayish vapour, less dense than a fog, and therefore does not generally exclude objects from sight.
HAZE,To. To punish a man by making him do unnecessary work.
HEAD. The upper part or end of anything, as a mast-head, a timber-head. Also, an ornamental figure on a ship's stem expressive of her name, or emblematical of her object, &c. (SeeBillet-head,Bust-head,Family-head,Fiddle-head,Figure-head,Scroll-head, &c.) Also, in a more enlarged sense, the whole fore-part of a ship, including the bows on each side; the head therefore opens the column of water through which the ship passes when advancing; hence we say,head-way,head-sails,head-sea, &c. It is evident that the fore-part of a ship is called its head, from its analogy to that of a fish, or any animal while swimming. Also, in a confined sense, to that part on each side of the stem outside the bows proper which is appropriated to the use of the sailors for wringing swabs, or any wet jobs, for no wet is permitted in-board after the decks are dried. Also, hydrographically, the upper part of a gulf, bay, or creek.—By the head, the state of a ship which, by her lading, draws more water forward than aft. This may be remedied without reference to cargo in ships-of-war, by shifting shot, guns, &c. Vesselsby the headare frequently uneasy, gripe and pitch more than whenby the stern.
HEAD AND GUN-MONEY. An encouragement in the prize acts by which £5 a head is given to the captors for every person on board a captured vessel of war, or pirate.
HEAD-BOARDS. The berthing or close-boarding between the head-rails.
HEAD-CLUEof a Hammock. Where the head rests. (SeeHammock.)
HEAD-CRINGLES. Earing-cringles at the upper clues or corners of a sail.
HEAD-EARINGS. The laniards to haul out the earings. (SeeEarings.)
HEADER. The person in the Newfoundland fishing vessels who is engagedto cut open the fish, tear out the entrails, break off the head, and pass it over to thesplitter, who sits opposite to him.
HEAD-FAST. A rope or chain employed to fasten the head of a ship or boat to a wharf or buoy, or to some other vessel alongside.—Head-fast of a boat, the tow-rope or painter.
HEAD-HOLES. The eyelet-holes where the rope-bands of a sail are fitted; they are worked button-hole fashion, over grommets of twine of several thicknesses; sometimes of cod-line.
HEADING. As to ships in company, one advancing by sail or steam faster than another heads her.
HEADING UP THE LAND WATER. When the flood-tide is backed by a wind, so that the ebb is retarded, causing an overflow.
HEAD-KNEES. Pieces of moulded compass timber fayed edgeways to the cut-water and stem, to steady the former. These are also calledcheek-knees.
HEADLAND. Wherever the coast presents a high cliffy salient angle to the sea, without projecting far into it, it is called a headland; but if the point be low, it is a spit, tongue, or point. (SeeBluff.)
HEADMOST. The situation of any ship or ships which are the most advanced in a fleet, or line of battle. The opposite ofsternmost.
HEAD-NETTING. An ornamental netting used in merchant ships instead of the fayed planking to thehead-rails.
HEAD OF A COMET. The brighter part of a comet, from which the tail proceeds.
HEAD OF A MAST,or Mast-head. The upper part of any mast, or that whereon the caps or trucks are fitted.
HEAD OF A WORK. In fortification, the part most advanced towards the enemy. In progressive works, such as siege-approaches and saps, it is the farthest point then attained.
HEAD OF WATER. Water kept to a height by winds, or by artificial dams and sluice-gates. The vertical column which dock-gates have to bear.
HEAD-PIECE. A term for the helmet.
HEAD-PUMP. A small pump fixed at the vessel's bow, its lower end communicating with the sea: it is mostly used for washing decks.
HEAD-QUARTERS. The place where the general, or commanding officer, takes up his quarters. Also, the man-of-war, or transport, which carries the staff of an expedition.
HEAD-RAILS. The short rails of the head, extending from the back of the figure to the cat-head: equally useful and ornamental. There are two on each side, one straight and the other curved. (SeeFalse Rail.) Also, used familiarly for teeth.
HEAD-ROPE. That part of the bolt-rope which terminates any sail on the upper edge, and to which it is accordingly sewed. (SeeBolt-rope.) Also, the small rope to which a flag is fastened, to hoist it to the mast-head, or head of the ensign-staff.
HEAD-SAILS. A general name for all those sails which may be set on the fore-mast and bowsprit, jib, and flying jib-boom, and employed to influence the fore-part of the ship.
HEAD-SEA. A name given to the waves when they oppose a ship's course, as the ship must rise over, or cut through each. Their effect depends upon their height, form, and speed; sometimes they are steep, quick, and irregular, so that a ship is caught by a second before she has recovered from the first; these render her wet and uneasy.
HEAD-SHEETS. Specially jibs and staysail sheets, before the fore-mast.
HEAD-STICK. A short round stick with a hole at each end, through which the head-rope of some triangular sails is thrust, before it is sewed on. Its use is to prevent the head of the sail from twisting.
HEAD TO WIND. The situation of a ship or boat when her head is pointed directly to windward. The term is particularly applied in the act of tacking, or while lying at anchor.
HEAD-WAY. A ship is said to gather head-way when she passes any object thrown overboard at the bow, and it passes astern into her wake. A ship may also, by the action of swell, forge ahead.
HEAD-WIND. A breeze blowing from the direction of the ship's intended course. Thus, if a ship is bound N.E. a N.E. wind is a head-wind "dead on end," as seamen express it.—The wind heads us, that is, veers towards the direction of the ship's course.
HEALD. Theheelover of a grounded ship.
HEALTH-GUARD. Officers appointed to superintend the due observance of the quarantine regulations.
HEART. A block of wood forming a peculiar sort of triangular dead-eye, somewhat resembling the shape of a heart; it is furnished with only one large hole in the middle, grooved for the rope instead of the three holes. It is principally used to the stays, as the dead-eyes are to the shrouds. (SeeDead-eye.)
HEARTH. Applied to the ship's fire-place, coppers, and galley generally.
HEARTY. Open and free. "My hearties," a cheerful salute to shipmates and seamen in general. "What cheer, my hearties?" how fare ye? what's your news?
HEART-YARNS. The centre yarns of a strand. Also, the heart-yarn or centre, on which four-stranded rope is formed.
HEATH. Various broom-stuffs used in breaming.
HEAVE,To. To throw anything overboard. To cast, as heaving the log or the lead. Also, to drag, prize, or purchase, as heaving up the anchor.
HEAVE ABOUT,To. To go upon the other tack suddenly.
HEAVE AND A-WASH. An encouraging call when the ring of the anchor rises to the surface, and the stock stirs the water.
HEAVE AND A-WEIGH. Signifies that the next effort will start the anchor from its bed, and make ita-trip. "Heave and a-weigh, sir," from the forecastle, denotes that the anchor is a-weigh; it inspirits the men to run it to the bows rapidly.
HEAVE AND IN SIGHT. A notice given by the boatswain to the crew when the anchor is drawn up so near the surface of the water as to be seen by its muddy water surrounding it.
HEAVE AND PAUL. Is the order to turn the capstan or windlass till the paul may be put in, by which it is prevented from coming up, and is something similar tobelay, applied to a running rope.
HEAVE AND RALLY! An encouraging order to the men at the capstan to heave with spirit, with a rush, and thereby force the anchor out of the ground. When there is a rising sea "heave and rally" implies, "heave and stand to your bars," the pauls taking the strain, and the next wave probably lifting the anchor.
HEAVE AND SET. The ship's motion in rising and falling to the waves when at anchor.
HEAVE HANDSOMELY. Gently.
HEAVE HEARTY. Heave strong and with a will.
HEAVE OF THE SEA. The power that the swell of the sea exerts upon a ship in driving her out of, or faster on in, her course, and for which allowance must be made in the day's work. It is a similar, or the same action in force as in a head-sea.
HEAVE OUT THERE! The order to hasten men from their hammocks.
HEAVER. A wooden bar or staff, sometimes tapered at the ends; it is employed as a lever or purchase on many occasions, such as setting up the top-mast shrouds, stropping large blocks, seizing the standing rigging, &c. Also, a name on the Kentish shores for the haviler crab.
HEAVE SHORT,To. To heave in on the cable until the vessel is nearly over her anchor, or sufficiently near it for sail being made before the anchor is tripped. Short, is when the fore-stay and cable are in line.
HEAVE THE LEAD. To take soundings with the hand lead-line. "Get a cast of the lead," with the deep-sea lead and line.
HEAVE THE LOG. Determine the ship's velocity by the log line and glass.
HEAVE-TO,To. To put a vessel in the position oflying-to, by adjusting her sails so as to counteract each other, and thereby check her way, or keep her perfectly still. In a gale, it implies to set merely enough sail to steady the ship; the aim being to keep the sea on the weather bow whilst the rudder has but little influence, the sail is chiefly set on the main and mizen-mast; as hove-to under a close-reefed main-topsail, or main-trysail, or driver. It is customary in a foul wind gale, and a last resource in a fair one.
HEAVING AHEAD. Is the act of advancing or drawing a ship forwards by heaving on a cable or rope made fast to some fixed point before her.
HEAVING AND SETTING. Riding hard, pitching and sending.
HEAVING ASTERN. Causing a ship to recede or go backwards, by heaving on a cable or other rope fastened to some fixed point behind her. This more immediately applies to drawing a vessel off a shoal.
HEAVING A STRAIN. Working at the windlass or capstan with more than usual exertion.
HEAVING DOWN. (SeeCareening.) The bringing one of a ship's sides down into the water, by means of purchases on the masts, in order to repair any injury which is below her water-line on the other.
HEAVING IN. Shortening in the cable. Also, the binding a block and hook by a seizing.
HEAVING IN STAYS. The act of tacking, when, the wind being ahead, great pressure is thrown upon the stays.
HEAVING KEEL OUT. The utmost effect to be produced by careening, viz. to raise the keel out of the water in order to repair or clean it. (SeeHeaving Down.)
HEAVING OUT. The act of loosing or unfurling a sail; particularly applied to the staysails; or in the tops, footing the sail out of the top.
HEAVING TAUT. The act of turning the capstan, &c., till the rope applied thereto becomes straight and ready for action.
HEAVING THROUGH ALL. The surging or slipping of the cable when the nippers do not hold.
HEAVY DRIFT-ICE. Dense ice, which has a great depth in the water in proportion to its size, and is not in a state of decay, therefore dangerous to shipping.
HEAVY GALE. A strong wind, in which a ship is reduced to storm-staysails and close-reefed main-topsail. Force 10.
HEAVY METAL,or Heavy Ordnance. Ordnance of large calibre.
HEAVY SEA. High and strong waves.
HEBBER-MAN. An old name for a fisherman on the Thames below London Bridge, who took whitings, smelts, &c., commonly at ebbing-water.
HEBBING-WEIR. Contrivances for taking fish at ebbing-water.
HECK-BOAT. The old term for pinks. Latterly a clincher-built boat with covered fore-sheets, and one mast with a trysail.
HECKLE. Said to be from the Teutonicheckelen, to dress flax for rope-making. Also, an artificial fly for fishing.
HECKLE-BACK. A name of the fifteen-spined stickleback,Gasterosteus spinachia.
HEDA. An early term for a small haven, wharf, or landing-place.
HEDAGIUM. A toll or duty paid at the wharf for landing goods, &c.
HEDGEHOGS. A name formerly applied to vessels which rowed with many oars. Also, small stunted trees unfit for timber.
HEEL. The after end of a ship's keel, and the lower end of the stern-post to which it is connected. Also, the lower end of any mast, boom, bowsprit, or timber. Also, that part of the end of the butt of a musket which is uppermost when at the firing position.—To heel.To lie over, or incline to either side out of the perpendicular: usually applied to a ship when canted by the wind, or by being unequally ballasted. (SeeCrank,Stiff, andTrim.)
HEEL-BRACE. A piece of iron-work applicable to the lower part of a rudder, in case of casualty to the lower pintles.
HEELING GUNWALE TO. Pressing down sideways to her upper works, particularly applied to boats running before a heavy sea, when they may roll their weather gunwales to.
HEEL-KNEE. The compass-piece which connects the keel with the stern-post.
HEEL-LASHING. The rope which secures the inner part of a studding-sail boom to the yard; also, that which secures the jib-boom.
HEEL OF A MAST. The lower end, which either fits into the step attached to the keel, or in top-masts is sustained by the fid upon the trestle-trees. Heeling is the square part of the spar through which the fid hole is cut.
HEEL-ROPE. That which hauls out the bowsprit in cutters, and the jib and studding-sail booms, or anything else where it passes through the heel of the spar, except in the case of top-masts and topgallant-masts, where it becomes amast-rope.
HEELS.Having the heels of a ship; sailing faster.
HEEL-TACKLES. The luff purchases for the heels of each sheer previous to taking in masts, or otherwise using them.
HEEVIL. An old northern term for the conger.
HEFT. The Anglo-Saxonhæft; the handle of a dirk, knife, or any edge-tool; also, the handle of an oar.
HEIGHT. Synonymous with hill, and meaning generally any ground above the common level of the place. Our early navigators used the word as a synonym of latitude.
HEIGHTof the Hold. Used for the depth of the hold.
HEIGHT OF BREADTH. In ship-building, is a delineation generally in two lines—upper and lower—determining the height of the broadest place of each timber.
HELIACAL. A star rises heliacally when it first becomes visible in the morning, after having been hidden in the sun's rays; and it sets heliacally when it is first lost in the evening twilight, owing to the sun's proximity.
HELIER. A cavern into which the tide flows.
HELIOCENTRIC. As seen from, or having reference to, the centre of the sun.
HELIOMETER. An instrument designed for the accurate measurement of the diameters of the sun or planets.
HELIOSTAADT,or Heliotrope. This instrument reflects the sun's rays by a silvered disc, used in the great trigonometrical surveys. It has been visible at 100 miles' distance, from Cumberland to Ireland.
HELL-AFLOAT. A vessel with a bad name for tyranny.
HELM. Properly is the tiller, but sometimes used to express the rudder, and the means used for turning it, which, in small vessels and boats, is merely a tiller, but in larger vessels a wheel is added, which supplies theleverage for pulling the tiller either way; they are connected by ropes or chains.—A-lee the helm, orDown with the helm!So place the tiller that the rudder is brought on the weather side of the stern-post. These, and the following orders, were established when tillers extended forward from the rudder-head, but now they often extend aft, which requires the motion of the tiller to be reversed. With the latter style of tiller the order "down with the helm" is carried out by bringing the tillerupto the weather side of the ship; which being done, the order "Helm's a lee" follows.—Bear up the helm.That is, let the ship go more large before the wind.—Ease the helm.To let the helm come more amidships, when it has been put hard up or down.—It is common to ease the helm before a heavy sea takes the ship when close-hauled.—Helm amidships, orright the helm. That is, keep it even with the middle of the ship, in a line with the keel.—Helm over.The position of the tiller to enable a vessel steaming ahead to describe a curve.—Port the helm.Place the tiller so as to carry the rudder to starboard. (SeeA-lee the helm.)—Shift the helm.Put it from port to starboard, andvice versâ, or it may be amidships.—Starboard the helm.Place the tiller so as to carry the rudder to port.—Up with the helm.Place the tiller so as to carry the rudder to leeward. (SeeA-lee the helm.)
HELMED. An old word for steered; it is metaphorically used by Shakspeare inMeasure for Measure.
HELMET. A piece of defensive armour; a covering for the head.
HELM-PORT. The round hole or cavity in a ship's counter, through which the head of the rudder passes into the trunk.
HELM-PORT TRANSOM. The piece of timber placed across the lower counter, withinside the height of the helm-port, and bolted through every timber for the security of that part of the ship.
HELMSMAN. The timoneer, or person, who guides the ship or boat by the management of the helm. The same assteersman.
HELM-WIND. A singular meteorological phenomenon which occurs in the north of England. Besides special places in Cumberland and Westmoreland, it suddenly rushes from an immense cloud that gathers round the summit of Cross-Fell, covering it like a helmet. Its effects reach the sea-board.
HELMY. Rainy [from an Anglo-Saxon phrase for rainy weather].
HELTER-SKELTER. Hurry and confusion. Defiance of good order. Privateerism.
HELVE. The handle of the carpenter's mauls, axes, and adzes; also of an oar, &c.
HELYER.SeeHelier.
HEMISPHERE. Half the surface of a globe. The celestial equator divides the heavens into two hemispheres—the northern and the southern.
HEMP.Cannabis sativa.A manufactorial plant of equal antiquity with flax. The produce of hemp in fibre varies from three to six hundred weight per acre, and forms the best of all cordage and ropes. It is mixedwith opium in the preparation of those rich drugs calledhashishein Cairo and Constantinople. Those who were in the constant use of them were calledhashishin(herb-eaters); and being often by their stimulative properties excited almost to frenzy and to murder, the word "assassin" is said to have been derived by the crusaders from this source. While the French army was in Egypt, Napoleon I. was obliged to prohibit, under the severest penalties, the sale and use of these pernicious substances.
HENDECAGON. A right-lined figure with eleven sides; if it be regular, the sides and angles are all equal.
HEN-FRIGATE. A ship wherein the captain's wife interfered in the duty or regulations.
HEN'S-WARE. A name of the edible sea-weedFucus esculentus.
HEP-PAH,or Hippa. A New Zealand fort, or space surrounded with stout palisades; these rude defences have given our soldiers and sailors much trouble to reduce. (SeePah.)
HEPTAGON. A right-lined figure with seven sides; if it be regular, the sides and angles are all equal.
HERCULES. The large mass of iron by the blows of which anchors are welded.
HERE-AWAY. A term when a look-out man announces a rhumb or bearing of any object in this quarter.
HERE-FARE [Anglo-Saxon]. An expedition; going to warfare.
HERISSON. A balanced barrier to a passage in a fort, of the nature of a turnstile.
HERLING. A congener of the salmon species found in Scotland; it is small, and shaped like a sea-trout.
HERMAPHRODITEor Brig Schooner, is square-rigged, but without a top forward, and schooner-rigged abaft; carrying only fore-and-aft sails on the main-mast; in other phrase, she is a vessel with a brig's fore-mast and a schooner's main-mast.
HERMIT-CRAB. A name applied to a group of crabs (familyPaguridæ), of which the hinder part of the body is soft, and which habitually lodge themselves in the empty shell of some mollusc. Also calledsoldier-crabs.
HERMO. A Mediterranean term for the meteor calledcorpo santo.
HERNE. A bight or corner, as Herne Bay, so called from lying in an angle.
HERNSHAWand Herne. Old words for the heron.
HERON. A large bird of the genusArdea, which feeds on fish.
HERRING. A common fish—theClupea harengus; Anglo-Saxonhæringandhering.
HERRING-BONING. A method of sewing up rents in a sail by small cross-stitches, by which the seam is kept flat.
HERRING-BUSS. A peculiar boat of 10 or 15 tons, for the herring fishery. (SeeBuss.)
HERRING-COB. A young herring.
HERRING-GUTTED.SeeShotten-herring.
HERRING-HOG. A name for the porpoise.
HERRING-POND. The Atlantic Ocean.
HETERODROMOUS LEVERS. The windlass, capstan, crank, crane, &c.
HETEROPLON. A kind of naval insurance, where the insurers only run the risk of the outward voyage; when both the going out and return of a vessel is insured, it is called amphoteroplon.
HETTLE. A rocky fishing-ground in the Firth of Forth, which gives name to the fish called Hettle-codling.
HEUGH. A craggy dry dell; a ravine without water.
HEXAGON. A right-lined figure with six sides; if it be regular, the sides and angles are all equal.
HEYS-AND-HOW. An ancient sea-cheer.
HI! Often used forhoy; as, "Hi, you there!" Also, the old term forthey, as in Sir Ferumbras—
"Costroye there was, the Admiral,With vitaile great plente,And the standard of the sowdon royal,Toward Mantrible ridden hi."
HIDDEN HARBOUR. That of which the outer points so overlap as to cause the coast to appear to be continuous.
HIDE,To. To beat; to rope's-end or drub. Also, to secrete.
HIE,To. To flow quickly in a tide-way.
HIE ALOFT. Away aloft.
HIGH. In gunnery, signifies tightly fitting the bore; said of shot, wads, &c. Also, a gun is said to be laid high when too much elevated.
HIGH-AND-DRY. The situation of a ship or other vessel which is aground, so as to be seen dry upon the strand when the tide ebbs from her.
HIGH ENOUGH. Said in hoisting in goods, water, or masts.
HIGH FLOOD.SeeFlood.
HIGH LATITUDES. Those regions far removed from the equator towards the poles of the earth above the 50th degree.
HIGH TIDE,or High Water. Figuratively, a full purse. Constance, in Shakspeare'sKing John, uses the termhigh tidesas denoting the gold-letter days or holidays of the calendar.
HIGH-WATER. The greatest height of the flood-tide. (SeeTide.)
HIGH-WATER MARK. The line made by the water upon the shore, when at its greatest height; it is also designated theflood-markandspring-tide mark. This constitutes the boundary line of admiralty jurisdiction as to the soil.
HIGH WIND.SeeHeavy Gale.
HIGRE.SeeBoreandEagre.
HIKE. A brief equivalent to "Be off," "Go away." It is generally used in a contemptuous sense; as, he was "hiked off"—that is, dismissed at once, or in a hurry. To swing.
HIKE UP,To. To kidnap; to carry off by force.
HILL. In use with the Anglo-Saxons. An insulated rise of the ground, usually applied to heights below 1000 feet, yet higher than ahillockorhummock(which see).
HILLOCK. A small coast-hill, differing from ahummockin having a peaked or pointed summit.
HILT. The handle and guard of a sword.
HIND-CASTLE. A word formerly used for the poop, as being opposed tofore-castle.
HIPPAGINES,or Hippagogæ. Ancient transports for carrying cavalry.
HIPPER,or Hipping-stones. Large stones placed for crossing a brook.
HIPPOCAMPUS. A small fish, so termed from the head resembling that of a horse. They live among reeds and long fuci, to which they cling with prehensile tails.
HIPPODAMES. An old word for sea-horses.
HIPSY. A drink compounded of wine, water, and brandy.
HIRE,To. To take vessel or men on service at a stipulated remuneration.
HIRECANO. An old word for hurricane.
HIRST. The roughest part of a river-ford. A bank.
HITCH. A species of knot by which one rope is connected with another, or to some object. They are various; as, clove-hitch, racking-hitch, timber-hitch (stopped), rolling-hitch, running-hitch, half-hitch, blackwall-hitch, magnus-hitch, marline-spike hitch, harness-hitch, &c. (SeeBendandKnot.) It also signifies motion by a jerk. Figuratively, it is applied to an impediment. A seaman oftenhitches uphis trowsers, which "have no lifts or braces."—To hitchis to make fast a rope, &c., to catch with a hook. Thus of old, when a boat was to be hoisted in, they said—"Hitch the tackles into the rings of the boat."
HITCHER. An old term for a boat-hook.
HO!or Hay!An exclamation derived from our Danish ancestors, and literally meaningstop!
HOAKY. A common petty oath—"By the hoaky!" by your hearth or fire.
HOAM. The dried fat of the cod-fish.
HOASTMEN. An ancient guild at Newcastle dealing in coals.
HOAY,or Hoy!a word frequently added to an exclamation bespeaking attention, as "Main-top, hoay!" and is chiefly used to persons aloft or without the ship.
HOB-A-NOB. To drink cosily; the act of touching glasses in pledging a health. An early and extensive custom falling into disuse.
HOBBLE. A perplexity or difficulty.—Hobbles, irons or fetters.
HOBBLER. A coast-man of Kent, a bit of a smuggler, and an unlicensed pilot, ever ready for a job in either of these occupations. Also, a man on land employed in towing a vessel by a rope. Also, a sentinel who kept watch at a beacon.
HOBITS. Small mortars of 6 or 8 inches bore mounted on gun-carriages; in use before the howitzer.
HOBRIN. A northern designation of the blue shark,Squalus glaucus.
HOC. The picked dog-fish,Squalus acanthias.
HOCK-SAW. A fermented drink along the coasts of China, partaking more of the nature of beer than of spirit, and therefore less injurious thansam-tsin.
HOD. A hole under a bank or rock, forming a retreat for fish.
HODDY-DODDY. A west-country name for a revolving light.
HODMADODS. The name among early navigators for Hottentots.
HODMANDODS.SeeDodman.
HODOMETRICAL. A method of finding the longitude at sea by dead-reckoning.
HOE.SeeHowe.
HOE-MOTHER,or Homer. The basking shark,Squalus maximus.
HOE-TUSK.Squalus mustela, smooth hound-fish of the Shetlanders.
HOG. A kind of rough, flat scrubbing broom, serving to scrape a ship's bottom under water, particularly in the act ofboot-topping(which see); formed by inclosing a multitude of short twigs of birch, or the like, between two pieces of plank, which are firmly attached to each other; the ends of the twigs are then cut off even, so as to form a brush of considerable extent. To this is fitted a long staff, together with two ropes, the former of which is used to thrust the hog under the ship's bottom, and the latter to guide and pull it up again close to the planks, so as to rub off all the dirt. This work is usually performed in the ship's boat.
HOG-BOAT.SeeHeck-boat.
HOGGED. A significant word derived from the animal; it implies that the two ends of a ship's decks droop lower than the midship part, consequently, that her keel and bottom are so strained as to curve upwards. The term is therefore in opposition to that ofsagging.
HOG-IN-ARMOUR. Soubriquet for an iron-clad ship.
HOGO. From the Frenchhaut-gout, a disagreeable smell, but rather applied to ill-ventilated berths than to bilge-water.
HOISE. The old word for hoist.
HOIST. The perpendicular height of a sail or flag; in the latter it is opposed to the fly, which implies its breadth from the staff to the outer edge: or that part to which the halliards are bent.
HOIST,or Hoise, To. To raise anything; but the term is specially applied to the operation of swaying up a body by the assistance of tackles. It is also invariably used for the hauling up the sails along the masts or stays, and the displaying of flags and pendants, though by the help of a single block only. (SeeSway,Tracing-up, andWhip.)
HOISTING-TACKLE. A whip, a burton, or greater purchase, as yard-arm tackles, &c.
HOISTING THE FLAG. An admiral assuming his command "hoists his flag," and is saluted with a definite number of guns by all vessels present.
HOISTING THE PENDANT. Commissioning a ship.
HOLD. The whole interior cavity of a ship, or all that part comprehended between the floor and the lower deck throughout her length.—The after-holdlies abaft the main-mast, and is usually set apart for the provisions in ships of war.—The fore-holdis situated about the fore-hatchway, in continuation with the main-hold, and serves the same purposes.—The main-holdis just before the main-mast, and generally contains the fresh water and beer for the use of the ship's company.—To rummage the holdis to examine its contents.—To stow the holdis to arrange its contents in the most secure and commodious manner possible.—To trim the hold(seeTrim of the Hold). Also, an Anglo-Saxon term for a fort, castle, or stronghold.—Holdis also generally understood of a ship with regard to the land or to another ship; hence we say, "Keep a good hold of the land," or "Keep the land well aboard," which are synonymous phrases, implying to keep near the land; when applied to a ship, we say, "She holds her own;"i.e.goes as fast as the other ship; holds her wind, or way.—To hold.To assemble for public business; as, to hold a court-martial, a survey, &c.—Hold!An authoritative way of separating combatants, according to the old military laws at tournaments, &c.; stand fast!
HOLD A GOOD WIND,To. To have weatherly qualities.
HOLD-ALL. A portable case for holding small articles required by soldiers, marines, and small-arm men on service.
HOLD-BEAMS. The lowest range of beams in a merchantman. In a man-of-war they support the orlop-deck. (SeeOrlop-beams.)
HOLDERS. The people employed in the hold duties of a ship.
HOLD-FAST. A rope; also the order to the people aloft, when shaking out reefs, &c., to suspend the operation. In ship-building, it means a bolt going down through the rough tree rail, and the fore or after part of each stanchion.
HOLDING-ON. The act of pulling back the hind part of any rope.
HOLDING ON THE SLACK. Doing nothing. (SeeEyelids.)
HOLDING WATER. The act of checking the progress of a boat by holding the oar-blades in the water, and bearing the flat part strongly against the current alongside, so as to meet its resistance. (SeeBack Astern,Oar, andRow.)
HOLD OFF. The keeping the hove-in part of a cable or hawser clear of the capstan.
HOLD ON. Keep all you have got in pulling a rope.—Hold on a minute.Wait or stop.—Hold on with your nails and eyelids.A derisive injunction to a timid climber.
HOLD ON, GOOD STICKS! An apostrophe often made when the masts complain in a fresh squall, or are over-pressed, and it is unadvisable to shorten sail.
HOLD-STANCHIONS. Those which support the hold-beams amidships, and rest on the kelson.
HOLD UP,To. In meteorological parlance, for the weather to clear up after a gale; to stop raining.
HOLE. A clear open space amongst ice in the Arctic seas.
HOLEBER. A kind of light horseman, who rode about from place to place in the night, to gain intelligence of the landing of boats, men, &c., on the Kentish coast.
HOLES,Eyelet or Å’illet. The holes in sails for points and rope-bands which are fenced round by stitching the edge to a small log-line grommet. In the drumhead of a capstan, the holes receive the capstan-bars.
HOLIDAY. Any part left neglected or uncovered in paying or painting, blacking, or tarring.
HOLLANDS. The spirit principally distilled in Holland.
HOLLARDS. The dead branches and loppings of trees.
HOLLEBUT. A spelling ofhalibut.
HOLLOA,or Holla. An answer to any person calling from a distance, to show they hear. Thus, if the master intends to give any order to the people in the main-top, he previously calls, "Main-top, hoay." It is also the first answer received when hailing a ship. (SeeHailingandHoay.)
HOLLOW. The bore of a rocket. In naval architecture, a name for the fifth ortop-timber sweep(which see). Also, hollow or curved leeches of sails, in contradistinction to straight.
HOLLOW BASTION. In fortification, a bastion of which the terreplein or interior terrace is not continued beyond a certain distance to the rear of the parapet, and thus leaves a central area at a lower level.
HOLLOW-MOULD. The same asfloor-hollow(which see).
HOLLOWSANDROUNDS. Plane-tools used for making mouldings.
HOLLOW SEA. The undulation of the waves after a gale; long hollow-jawed sea; ground-swell.
HOLLOW SHOT. Introduced principally for naval use before the horizontal firing of shells from guns became general. Their weight was about two-thirds that of the solid shot; thus they required less charge of powder and weight of gun than the latter, whilst their smashing effect and first ranges were supposed to be greater. It is clear, however, that if filled with powder, their destructive effect must be immensely increased.
HOLLOW SQUARE. The square generally used by British infantry; a formation to resist cavalry. Each side is composed of four ranks of men, the two foremost kneeling with bayonets forming a fence breast high; the inclosed central space affords shelter to officers, colours, &c. With breech-loading muskets this defence will become less necessary. (See alsoRallying Square.)
HOLM. (SeeClett.) A name both on the shores of Britain and Norway for a small uninhabited island used for pasture; yet in old writers it sometimes is applied to the sea, or a deep water. Also, an ill-defined name applied to a low islet in a river, as well as the flat land by the river side.
HOLOMETRUM GEOMETRICUM. A nautical instrument of brass, one of which, price £4, was supplied to Martin Frobisher in 1576.
HOLSOM. A term applied to a ship that rides without rolling or labouring.
HOLSTER. A case or cover for a pistol, worn at the saddle-bow.
HOLT [from the Anglo-Saxon]. A peaked hill covered with a wood.
HOLUS-BOLUS. Altogether; all at once.
HOLY-STONE. A sandstone for scrubbing decks, so called from being originally used for Sunday cleaning, or obtained by plundering churchyards of their tombstones, or because the seamen have to go on their knees to use it.
HOME. The proper situation of any object, when it retains its full force of action, or when it is properly lodged for convenience. In the former sense it is applied to the sails; in the latter it usually refers to the stowage of the hold. The anchor is saidto come homewhen it loosens, or drags through the ground by the effort of the wind or current. (SeeAnchor.)—Homeis the word given by the captain of the gun when, by the sense of his thumb on the touch-hole, he determines that the charge is home, and no air escapes by the touch-hole. It is the word given to denote the top-sail or other sheets being "home," or butting.—Sheet home!The order to extend the clues of sails to the yard-arms.—The wind blows home.When it sets continuously over the sea and land with equal velocity. When opposed by vertical or high land, the breeze loses its force as the land is neared: then it does not blow home, as about Gibraltar and Toulon.
HOME-SERVICE. The Channel service; any force, either naval or military, stationed in and about the United Kingdom.
HOME-TRADERS. The contradistinction of foreign-going ships.
HOMEWARD-BOUND. Said of a ship when returning from a voyage to the place whence she was fitted out; or the country to which she belongs.
HOMEWARD-BOUNDER. A ship on her course home.
HOMMELIN. TheRaia rubus, or rough ray.
HONEST-POUNDS. Used in contradistinction to "purser's pounds" (which see).
HONEYCOMB. A spongy kind of flaw in the metal of ordnance, generally due to faulty casting.
HONG. Mercantile houses in China, with convenient warehouses adjoining. Also, a society of the principal merchants of the place.
HONOURS OF WAR. Favourable terms granted to a capitulating enemy on evacuating a fortress; they vary in degree, according to circumstances; generally understood to mean, to march out armed, colours flying, &c., but to pile arms at a given point, and leave them, and be sent home, or give parole not to serve until duly exchanged.
HOO.SeeHowe.
HOOD. A covering for a companion-hatch, skylight, &c. Also, the piece of tarred or painted canvas which used to cover the eyes of rigging to prevent water from damaging them; now seldom used. Also, the name given to the upper part of the galley chimney, made to turn round with the wind, that the smoke may always go to leeward.—Naval hoods or whood.Large thick pieces of timber which encircle the hawse-holes.
HOOD-ENDS. The ends of the planks which fit into the rabbets of the stem and stern posts.
HOOD OF A PUMP. A frame covering the upper wheel of a chain-pump.
HOODS,or Hoodings. The foremost and aftermost planks of the bottom, within and without. Also, coverings to shelter the mortar in bomb-vessels.
HOOK. There are several kinds used at sea, as boat-hooks, can-hooks, cat-hooks, fish-hooks, and the like. A name given to reaches, or angular points in rivers, such as Sandy Hook at New York.—Laying-hook.A winch used in rope-making.—Loof-tackle hooks, termedluffs. A tackle with two hooks, one to hitch into a cringle of the main or fore sail in the bolt-rope, and the other to hitch into a strap spliced to the chess-tree. They pull down the sail, and in a stiff gale help to hold it so that all the stress may not bear upon the tack.
HOOK AND BUTT. The scarphing or laying two ends of planks over each other. (SeeButt-and-ButtandHook-scarph.)
HOOK-BLOCK. Any block, of iron or wood, strapped with a hook.
HOOK-BOLTS. Those used to secure lower-deck ports.
HOOKER,or Howker. A coast or fishing vessel—a small hoy-built craft with one mast, intended for fishing. They are common on our coasts, and greatly used by pilots, especially off the Irish ports. Also, Jack's name for his vessel, the favourite "old hooker." Also, a term for a short pipe, probably derived fromhookah.
HOOKEY.SeeHoaky.
HOOKING. In ship-carpentry this is the act of working the edge of one plank into that of another, in such a manner that they cannot be drawn asunder.
HOOK OF THE DECKS.SeeBreast-hooks.
HOOK-POTS. Tin cans fitted to hang on the bars of the galley range.
HOOK-ROPES. A rope 6 or 8 fathoms long, with a hook and thimble spliced at one end, and whipped at the other: it is used in coiling hempen cables in the tiers, dragging chain, &c.
HOOK-SCARPH. In ship-carpentry, the joining of two pieces of wood by a strong method of hook-butting, which mode of connecting is termedhook and butt.
HOOP. The principal hoops of different kinds used for nautical purposes, are noticed under their several names, as mast-hoops, clasp-hoops, &c. In wind-bound ships in former times the left hands of several boys were tied to a hoop, and their right armed with a nettle, they being naked down to the waist. On the boatswain giving one a cut with his cat, the boy struck the one before him, and each one did the same, beginning gently, but, becoming irritated, they at last laid on in earnest. Also, a nautical punishment for quarrelsome fighters was, that two offenders, similarly fastened, thrashed each other until one gave in. The craven was usually additionally punished by the commander.
HOOPS. The strong iron bindings of the anchor-stock to the shank, though square, are called hoops.
HOPE. A small bay; it was an early term for valley, and is still used in Kent for a brook, and gives name to the adjacent anchorages. Johnson defines it to be any sloping plain between two ridges of hills.
HOPPER-PUNT. A flat-floored lighter for carrying soil or mud, with ahopperor receptacle in its centre, to contain the lading.
HOPPO. The chief of the customs in China.
HOPPO-MEN. Chinese custom-house officers.
HORARY ANGLE. The apparent time by the sun, or the sidereal time of the moon, or planets, or stars, from the meridian.
HORARY MOTION. The march or movement of any heavenly body in the space of an hour.
HORARY TABLES. Tables for facilitating the determination of horary angles.
HORIE-GOOSE. A northern name for theAnser bernicla, or brent-goose.
HORIOLÆ. Small fishing-boats of the ancients.
HORIZON. The apparent or visible circle which bounds our vision at sea; it is that line which is described by the sky and water appearing to meet. This is designated as thesensiblehorizon; therational, ortrueone, being a great circle of the heavens, parallel to the sensible horizon, but passing through the centre of the earth.
HORIZON-GLASSES. Two small speculums on one of the radii of a quadrant or sextant; the one half of the fore horizon-glass is silvered, while the other half is transparent, in order that an object may be seen directly through it: the back horizon-glass is silvered above and below, but in the middle there is a transparent stripe through which the horizon can be seen.
HORIZONTAL. A direction parallel to the horizon, or what is commonly termed lying flat. One of the greatest inconveniences navigators have to struggle with is the frequent want of a distinct sight of the horizon. To obviate this ahorizontal spinning speculumwas adopted by Mr. Lerson, who was lost in theVictoryman-of-war, in which ship he was sent out to make trial of his instrument. This was afterwards improved by Smeaton, and consists of a well-polished metal speculum about 31â„2inches in diameter, inclosed within a circular rim of brass, so fitted that the centre of gravity of the whole shall fall near the point on which it spins. This is the end of a steel axis running through the centre of the speculum, above which it finishes in a square for the convenience of fitting a roller on it, bearing a piece of tape wound round it. The cup in which it spins is made of agate flint, or other hard substance. Sextants, with spirit-levels attached, have latterly been used, as well as Becher's horizon; but great dexterity is demanded for anything like an approximation to the truth; wherefore this continues to be a great desideratum in navigation.
HORIZONTAL FIRE. From artillery, is that in which the piece is laid either direct on the object, or with but small elevation above it, the limiton land being 10°, and afloat still less. It is the most telling under ordinary circumstances, and includes all other varieties, with the exception of vertical fire, which has elevations of from 30° and upwards; and, according to some few, curved fire, an intermediate kind, of limited application.