"Have I not heard these islanders shout outVive le Roy!as I havebank'dtheir towns?"
BANKA. A canoe of the Philippines, consisting of a single piece.
BANKER. A vessel employed in the deep-sea cod-fishery on the great banks of Newfoundland. Also, a man who works on the sides of a canal, or on an embankment; a navvy.
BANK-FIRES. In steamers, taking advantage of a breeze by allowing the fires to burn down low, and then pulling them down to a side of the bridge of the fire-place, and there covering them up with ashes taken from the ash-pit, at the same time nearly closing the dampers in the funnel and ash-pit doors. This, with attention on the part of the engineers, will maintain the water hot, and a slight pressure of steam in the boilers. When fuel is added and draught induced the fires are said to be "drawn forward," and steam is speedily generated.
BANK-HARBOUR. That which is protected from the violence of the sea by banks of mud, gravel, sand, shingle, or silt.
BANK-HOOK. A large fish-hook laid baited in running water, attached by a line to the bank.
BANKING. A general term applied to fishing on the great bank of Newfoundland.
BANK OF OARS [banco, Sp.] A seat or bench for rowers in the happily all but extinct galley: these are properly called the athwarts, but thwarts by seamen. The common galleys have 25 banks on each side, with one oar to each bank, and four men to each oar. The galeasses have 32 banks on a side, and 6 or 7 rowers to each bank. (SeeDouble-banked, when two men pull separate oars on the same thwart.)
BANKSAL,or Banksaul, and in Calcutta spelledbankshall. A shop, office, or other place, for transacting business. Also, a square inclosure at the pearl-fishery. Also, a beach store-house wherein ships deposit their rigging and furniture while undergoing repair. Also, where small commercial courts and arbitrations are held.
BANN. A proclamation made in the army by beat of drum, sound of trumpet, &c., requiring the strict observance of discipline, either for the declaring of a new officer, the punishing an offender, or the like.
BANNAG. A northern name for a white trout, a sea-trout.
BANNAK-FLUKE. A name of the turbot, as distinguished from the halibut.
BANNER. A small square flag edged with fringe.
BANNERER. The bearer of a banner.
BANNERET. A knight made on the field of battle.
BANNEROL. A little banner or streamer.
BANNOCK. A name given to a certain hard ship-biscuit.
BANQUETTE. In fortification, a small terrace, properly of earth, on the inside of the parapet, of such height that the defenders standing on it may conveniently fire over the top.
BANSTICKLE. A diminutive fish, called also the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).
BAPTISM. A ceremony practised on passengers on their first passing the equinoctial line: a riotous and ludicrous custom, which from the violence of its ducking, shaving, and other practical jokes, is becoming annually less in vogue. It is esteemed a usurpation of privilege to baptize on crossing the tropics.
BAR,OF A PORT OR HARBOUR. An accumulated shoal or bank of sand, shingle, gravel, or other uliginous substances, thrown up by the sea to the mouth of a river or harbour, so as to endanger, and sometimes totally prevent, the navigation into it.—Bars of riversare some shifting and some permanent. The position of the bar of any river may commonly be guessed by attending to the form of the shores at the embouchure. The shore on which the deposition of sediment is goingon will be flat, whilst the opposite one is steep. It is along the side of the latter that the deepest channel of the river lies; and in the line of this channel, but without the points that form the mouth of the river, will be thebar. If both the shores are of the same nature, which seldom happens, the bar will lie opposite the middle of the channel. Rivers in general have what may be deemed a bar, in respect of the depth of the channel within, although it may not rise high enough to impede the navigation—for the increased deposition that takes place when the current slackens, through the want of declivity, and of shores to retain it, must necessarily form a bank. Bars of small rivers may be deepened by means of stockades to confine the river current, and prolong it beyond the natural points of the river's mouth. They operate to remove the place of deposition further out, and into deeper water. Bars, however, act as breakwaters in most instances, and consequently secure smooth water within them. The deposit in all curvilinear or serpentine rivers will always be found at the point opposite to the curve into which the ebb strikes and rebounds, deepening the hollow and depositing on the tongue. Therefore if it be deemed advisable to change the position of a bar, it may be in some cases aided by works projected on the last curve sea-ward. By such means a parallel canal may be forced which will admit vessels under the cover of the bar.—Bar, a boom formed of huge trees, or spars lashed together, moored transversely across a port, to prevent entrance or egress.—Bar, the short bits of bar-iron, about half a pound each, used as the medium of traffic on the Negro coast.—Bar-harbour, one which, from a bar at its entrance, cannot admit ships of great burden, or can only do so at high-water.—Capstan-bars, large thick bars put into the holes of the drumhead of the capstan, by which it is turned round, they working as horizontal radial levers.—Hatch-bars, flat iron bars to lock over the hatches for security from theft, &c.—Port-bar, a piece of wood or iron variously fitted to secure a gun-port when shut.—Bar-shallow, a term sometimes applied to a portion of a bar with less water on it than on other parts of the bar.—Bar-shot, two half balls joined together by a bar of iron, for cutting and destroying spars and rigging. When whole balls are thus fitted they are more properly double-headed shot.—To bar.To secure the lower-deck ports, as above.
BARACOOTA. A tropical fish (Sphyræna baracuda), considered in the West Indies to be dangerously poisonous at times, nevertheless eaten, and deemed the sea-salmon.
BARBACAN. In fortification, an outer defence.
BARBADOES-TAR. A mineral fluid bitumen resembling petroleum, of nauseous taste and offensive smell.
BARBALOT. The barbel. Also, a puffin.
BARB-BOLTS. Those which have their points jagged or barbed to make them hold securely, where those commonly in use cannot be clinched. The same asrag-bolt. Those of copper used for the false keel.
BARBECUE. A tropical custom of dressing a pig whole.
BARBEL (Barbus vulgaris). An English river-fish of the carp family, distinguished by the four appendant beards, whence its name is derived. It is between 2 and 3 feet in length, and coarse. Also,barbelis a small piece of armour which protects part of the bassenet.
BARBER. A rating on the ships' books for one who shaves the people, for which he receives the pay of an ordinary seaman. In meteorology,barberis a singular vapour rising in streams from the sea surface,—owing probably to exhalations being condensed into a visible form, on entering a cold atmosphere. It is well known on the shores of Nova Scotia. Also, the condensed breath in frosty weather on beard or moustaches in Arctic travelling.
BARBETTE. A mode of mounting guns to fire over the parapet, so as to have free range, instead of through embrasures.
BARCA-LONGA. A large Spanish undecked coasting-vessel, navigated with pole-masts,i.e.single-masts, without any top-mast or upper part; and high square sails, called lug-sails. Propelled with sweeps as well. The name is also applied to Spanish gunboats by our seamen.
BARCES. Short guns with a large bore formerly used in ships.
BARCHETTA. A small bark for transporting water, provisions, &c.
BARCONE. A short Mediterranean lighter.
BAREKA. A small barrel: spelled alsobarika(Sp.baréca). Hence the nautical namebreakerfor a small cask or keg.
BARE-POLES. The condition of a ship having no sails set when out at sea, and either scudding or lying-to by stress of weather. (SeeUnder Bare Poles.)
BARE-ROOM. An old phrase forbore-down.
BARGE. A boat of a long, slight, and spacious construction, generally carvel-built, double-banked, for the use of admirals and captains of ships of war.—Barge, in boat attacks, is next in strength to the launch. It is likewise a vessel or boat of state, furnished and equipped in the most sumptuous style;—and of this sort we may naturally suppose to have been the famous barge or galley of Cleopatra, which, according to the beautiful description of Shakspeare—
"Like a burnished throneBurnt on the water: the poop was beaten gold,Purple her sails; and so perfumed, thatThe winds were love-sick with them; the oars were silver.Which to the tune of flutes kept time, and madeThe water which they beat to follow fasterAs amorous of their strokes."
The barges of the lord-mayor, civic companies, &c., and the coal-barges of the Thames are varieties. Also, an early man-of-war, of about 100 tons. Also, an east-country vessel of peculiar construction. Also, a flat-bottomed vessel of burden, used on rivers for conveying goods from one place to another, and loading and unloading ships: it has various names, as a Ware barge, a west-country barge, a sand barge, a row-barge, a Severn trough, a light horseman, &c. They are usually fitted with a large sprit-sail to a mast, which, working upon a hinge, is easily struck for passing under bridges. Also, the bread-barge or tray or basket, for containing biscuit at meals.
BARGEES. The crews of canal-boats and barges.
BARGE-MATE. The officer who steers when a high personage is to visit the ship.
BARGE-MEN. The crew of the barge, who are usually picked men. Also, the large maggots with black heads that infest biscuit.
BARGET. An old term for a small barge.
BARILLA. An alkali procured by burningSalsola kaliand other sea-shore plants. It forms a profitable article of Mediterranean commerce. (SeeKelp.)
BARK. The exterior covering of vegetable bodies, many of which are useful in making paper, cordage, cloth, dyes, and medicines.
BARK,or Barque[frombarca, Low Latin]. A general name given to small ships, square-sterned, without head-rails; it is, however, peculiarly appropriated by seamen to a three-masted vessel with only fore-and-aft sails on her mizen-mast.—Bark-rigged.Rigged as a bark, with no square sails on the mizen-mast.
BARKANTINE,or Barquantine. A name applied on the great lakes of North America to a vessel square-rigged on the fore-mast, and fore-and-aft rigged on the main and mizen masts. They are not three-masted schooners, as they have a regular brigantine's fore-mast. They are long in proportion to their other dimensions, to suit the navigation of the canals which connect some of these lakes.
BARKERS. An old term for lower-deck guns and pistols.
BARKEY. A sailor's term for the pet ship to which he belongs.
BARKING-IRONS. Large duelling pistols.
BARLING. An old term for the lamprey.—Barling-spars, fit for any smaller masts or yards.
BARNACLE (Lepas anatifera). A species of shell-fish, often found sticking by its pedicle to the bottom of ships, doing no other injury than deadening the way a little:
"Barnacles, termedsoland geeseIn th' islands of the Orcades."—Hudibras.
They were formerly supposed to produce the barnacle-goose! (vide old cyclopedias): the poet, however, was too good a naturalist to believe this, but here, as in many other places, he means to banter some of the papers which were published by the first establishers of the Royal Society. The shell is compressed and multivalve. The tentacula are long and pectinated like a feather, whence arose the fable of their becoming geese. They belong to the order ofCirripeds.
BARNAGH. The Manx or Gaelic term for a limpet.
BAROMETER. A glass tube of 36 inches in length, filled with the open end upwards with refined mercury—thus boiled and suddenly inverted into a cistern, which is furnished with a leathern bag, on which the atmosphere, acting by its varying weight, presses the fluid metal up to corresponding heights in the tube, easily read off by an external scale attached thereto. By attentive observations on this simple prophet, practised seamen are enabled to foretell many approaching changes of wind or weather, and thus by shortening sail in time, save hull, spars, and lives. This instrument also affords the means of accurately determining the heights or depressions of mountains and valleys. This is themercurialbarometer; another, theaneroidbarometer, invented by Monsr. Vidi, measures approximately, but not with the permanence of the mercurial. It is constructed to measure the weight of a column of air or pressure of the atmosphere, by pressure on a very delicate metallic box hermetically sealed. It is more sensible to passing changes, but not so reliable as the mercurial barometer. 29·60 is taken as the mean pressure in England; as it rises or falls below this mark, fine weather or strong winds may be looked for:—30·60 is very high, and 29·00 very low. The barometer is affected by the direction of the wind, thus N.N.E. is the highest, and S.S.W. the lowest—therefore these matters govern the decision of men of science, who are not led astray by the change of reading alone. The seaman pilot notes the heavens; the direction of the wind—and the pressure due to that direction—not forgetting sudden changes of temperature. Attention is due to the surface, whether convex or concave.
BARQUE. The same asbark(which see).
BARR. A peremptory exception to a proposition.
BARRA-BOATS. Vessels of the Western Isles of Scotland, carrying ten or twelve men. They are extremely sharp fore and aft, having no floor, but with sides rising straight from the keel, so that a transverse section resembles the letterV. They are swift and safe, for inproportion as they heel to a breeze their bearings are increased, while from their lightness they are as buoyant as Norway skiffs.
BARRACAN. A strong undiapered camblet, used for garments in the Levant and in Barbary; anciently it formed the Roman toga.
BARRACK-MASTER. The officer placed in charge of a barrack.
BARRACKS. Originally mere log-huts, but of late extensive houses built for the accommodation and quartering of troops. Also, the portion of the lower deck where the marines mess. Also, little cabins made by Spanish fishermen on the sea-shore, calledbarracas, whence our name.
BARRACK SMACK. A corruption ofBerwick smack; a word applied to small Scotch traders. The masters were nicknamedbarrack-masters.
BARRATRY. Any fraudulent act of the master or mariners committed to the prejudice of the ship's owners or underwriters, whether by fraudulently losing the vessel, deserting her, selling her, or committing any other embezzlement. The diverting a ship from her right course, with evil intent, is barratry.
BARRED KILLIFISH. A small fish from two to four inches in length, which frequents salt-water creeks, floats, and the vicinity of wharves.
BARREL. A cylindrical vessel for holding both liquid and dry goods. Also, a commercial measure of 311⁄2gallons.
BARRELof a Capstan. The cylinder between the whelps and the paul rim, constituting the main-piece.
BARRELof a Pump. The wooden tube which forms the body of the engine.
BARRELof Small Arms. The tube through which the bullets are discharged. In artillery the term belongs to the construction of certain guns, and signifies the inner tube, as distinguished from the breech piece, trunnion-piece, and hoops or outer coils, the other essential parts of "built-up guns" (which see).
BARRELof the Wheel. The cylinder round which the tiller-ropes are wound.
BARREL-BUILDER. The old rating for a cooper.
BARREL-BULK. A measure of capacity for freight in a ship, equal to five cubic feet: so that eight barrel-bulk are equal to one ton measurement.
BARREL-SCREW. A powerful machine, consisting of two large poppets, or male screws, moved by levers in their heads, upon a bank of plank, with a female screw at each end. It is of great use in starting a launch.
BARRICADE. A strong wooden rail, supported by stanchions extendingas a fence across the foremost part of the quarter-deck, on the top of which some of the seamen's hammocks are usually stowed in time of battle. In a vessel of war the vacant spaces between the stanchions are commonly filled with rope-mats, cork, or pieces of old cable; and the upper part, which contains a double rope-netting above the sail, is stuffed with full hammocks to intercept small shot in the time of battle. Also, a temporary fortification or fence made with abatis, palisades, or any obstacles, to bar the approach of an enemy by a given avenue.
BARRIERof Ice. Ice stretching from the land-ice to the sea or main ice, or across a channel, so as to render it impassable.
BARRIER REEFS. Coral reefs that either extend in straight lines in front of the shores of a continent or large island, or encircle smaller isles, in both cases being separated from the land by a channel of water. Barrier reefs in New South Wales, the Bermudas, Laccadives, Maldives, &c.
BARRIERS. A martial exercise of men armed with short swords, within certain railings which separated them from the spectators. It has long been discontinued in England.
BARROW. A hillock, a tumulus.
BARSE. The common river-perch.
BARTIZAN. The overhanging turrets on a battlement.
BARUTH. An Indian measure, with a corresponding weight of 31⁄2lbs. avoirdupois.
BASE. The breech of a gun. Also, the lowest part of the perimeter of a geometrical figure. When applied to a delta it is that edge of it which is washed by the sea, or recipient of the deltic branches. Also, the lowest part of a mountain or chain of mountains. Also, the level line on which any work stands, as the foot of a pillar. Also, an old boat-gun; a wall-piece on the musketoon principle, carrying a five-ounce ball.
BASE-LINE. In strategy, the line joining the various points of a base of operations. In surveying, the base on which the triangulation is founded.
BASE OF OPERATIONS. In strategy, one or a series of strategic points at which are established the magazines and means of supply necessary for an army in the field.
BASE-RING. In guns of cast-metal, the flat moulding round the breech at that part where the longitudinal surface ends and the vertical termination or cascable begins. The length of the gun is reckoned from the after-edge of the base-ring to the face of the muzzle: but in built-up guns, there being generally no base-ring moulded, and the breech assuming various forms, the length is measured fromthe after-extreme of the breech, exclusive of any button or other adjunct.
BASHAW. A Turkish title of honour and command; more properlypacha.
BASIL. The angle to which the edge of shipwrights' cutting tools is ground away.
BASILICON. An ointment composed of wax, resin, pitch, black resin, and olive oil.Yellow basilicon, of olive oil, yellow resin, Burgundy pitch, and turpentine.
BASILICUS. A name of Regulus or the Lion's Heart, α Leonis; a star of the first magnitude.
BASILISK. An old name for a long 48-pounder, the gun next in size to the carthoun: called basilisk from the snakes or dragons sculptured in the place of dolphins. According to Sir William Monson its random range was 3000 paces. Also, in still earlier times, a gun throwing an iron ball of 200 lbs. weight.
BASILLARD. An old term for a poniard.
BASIN. A wet-dock provided with flood-gates for restraining the water, in which shipping may be kept afloat in all times of tide. Also, all those sheltered spaces of water which are nearly surrounded with slopes from which waters are received; these receptacles have a circular shape and narrow entrance. Geographically basins may be divided, as upper, lower, lacustrine, fluvial, Mediterranean, &c.
BASIS.SeeBase.
BASKET. In field-works, baskets or corbeilles are used, to be filled with earth, and placed by one another, to cover the men from the enemy's shot.
BASKET-FISH. A name for several species ofEuryale; a kind of star-fish, the arms of which divide and subdivide many times, and curl up and intertwine at the ends, giving the whole animal something of the appearance of a round basket.
BASKET-HILT. The guard continued up the hilt of a cutlass, so as to protect the whole hand from injury.
BASKING SHARK. So called from being often seen lying still in the sunshine. A large cartilaginous fish, theSqualus maximusof Linnæus, inhabiting the Northern Ocean. It attains a length of 30 feet, but is neither fierce nor voracious. Its liver yields from eight to twelve barrels of oil.
BASS,or Bast. A soft sedge or rush (Juncus lævis), of which coarse kinds of rope and matting are made. A Gaelic term for the blade of an oar.
BASSE. A species of perch (Perca labrax), found on the coast and in estuaries, commonly about 18 inches long.
BASSOS. A name in old charts for shoals; whence bas-fond and basso-fondo. Rocks a-wash, or below water.
BAST. Lime-tree, linden (Tilia europea). Bast is made also from the bark of various other trees, macerated in water till the fibrous layers separate. In the Pacific Isles it is very fine and strong, fromHibiscus tiliaceus.
BASTA. A word in former use forenough, from the Italian.
BASTARD. A term applied to all pieces of ordnance which are of unusual or irregular proportions: the government bastard-cannon had a 7-inch bore, and sent a 40-lb. shot. Also, a fair-weather square sail in some Mediterranean craft, and occasionally used for an awning.
BASTARD-MACKEREL,or Horse-Mackerel. TheCaranx trachurus, a dry, coarse, and unwholesome fish, of the familyScombridæ, very common in the Mediterranean.
BASTARD-PITCH. A mixture of colophony, black pitch, and tar. They are boiled down together, and put into barrels of pine-wood, forming, when the ingredients are mixed in equal portions, a substance of a very liquid consistence, called in Francebray gras. If a thicker consistence is desired, a greater proportion of colophony is added, and it is cast in moulds. It is then calledbastard-pitch.
BASTE,To. To beat in punition. A mode of sewing in sail-making.
BASTILE. A temporary wooden tower, used formerly in naval and military warfare.
BASTIONS. Projecting portions of a rampart, so disposed that the bottom of the escarp of each part of the whole rampart may be defended from the parapet of some other part. Their form and dimensions are influenced by many considerations, especially by the effect and range of fire-arms; but it is essential to them to have two faces and two flanks; the former having an average length, according to present systems, of 130 yards, the latter of 40 yards.
BASTON,or Baton. A club used of old by authority. (SeeBatoon.)
BASTONADO. Beating a criminal with sticks [frombastone, a cudgel]. A punishment common among Jews, Greeks, and Romans, and still practised in the Levant, China, and Russia.
BAT,or Sea-bat. An Anglo-Saxon term for boat or vessel. Also a broad-bodied thoracic fish, with a small head, and distinguished by its large triangular dorsal and anal fins, which exceed the length of the body. It is theChætodon vespertilioof naturalists.
BAT AND FORAGE. A regulated allowance in money and forage to officers in the field.
BATARDATES. Square-stemmed row-galleys.
BATARDEAU. In fortification, a dam of masonry crossing the ditch: its top is constructed of such a form as to afford no passage along it.
BATARDELLES. Galleys less strong than the capitana, and placed on each side of her.
BATEAU. A flat-bottomed, sharp-ended clumsy boat, used on the rivers and lakes of Canada; some of them are large. Also a peculiar army pontoon.
BATED. A plump, full-roed fish is said to be bated.
BATELLA. A small plying-boat.
BATH. (SeeWashing-place.) An order of knighthood instituted in 1339, revived in 1725, and enlarged as a national reward of naval and military merit in January, 1815. Henry IV. gave this name, because the forty-six esquires on whom he conferred this honour at his coronation had watched all the previous night, and thenbathedas typical of their pure virtue. The order was supposed to belong to men who distinguished themselves by valour as regards the navy, but it is now deemed an inferior representation of court favour.
BATILLAGE. An old term for boat-hire.
BATMAN. A Turkish weight of 6 okes, or about 18 lbs. English. There is also a smaller batman in Turkey, of about 4 lbs. 10 ozs. English. In Persia there are also two batmans—the larger equal to 12 lbs. English, and the other is of about half that weight. Also, a soldier assigned to a mounted officer as groom.
BATOON,Baston, or Baton. A staff, truncheon, or badge of military honour for field-marshals. A term in heraldry. Also,batoons of St. Paul, the fossil spines of echini, found in Malta and elsewhere.
BAT-SWAIN. An Anglo-Saxon expression for boatswain.
BATTA. Extra allowance of pay granted to troops in India, varying somewhat with the nature of the service they are employed upon, and their distance from the capital of the presidency.
BATTALIA. The order of battle.
BATTALION. A force of soldiers, complete in staff and officers, of such strength as will allow of its manœuvres on the field of battle being intimately regulated by one superior officer. The term is now proper to infantry only, and represents from 500 to 1000 men. It is the ordinary unit made use of in estimating the infantry strength of an army.
BATTARD. An early cannon of small size.
BATTELOE. A lateen-rigged vessel of India.
BATTENING THE HATCHES. Securing the tarpaulins over them. (SeeBattens of the Hatches.)
BATTENS. In general, scantlings of wood from 1 inch to 3 inches broad. Long slips of fir used for setting fair the sheer lines of a ship, or drawing the lines by in the moulding loft, and setting off distances.
BATTENSfor Hammocks.SeeHammock-battens.
BATTENSof the Hatches. Long narrow laths, or straightened hoops of casks, serving by the help of nailing to confine the edges of the tarpaulins, and keep them close down to the sides of the hatchways, in bad weather. Also, thin strips of wood put upon rigging, to keep it from chafing, by those who dislike mats: when large these are designatedScotchmen.
BATTERING GUNS. Properly guns whose weight and power fit them for demolishing by direct force the works of the enemy; hence all heavy, as distinguished from field or light, guns come under the term. (SeeSiege-artilleryandGarrison Guns.)
BATTERING RAM.SeeRam.
BATTERING TRAIN. The train of heavy ordnance necessary for a siege, which, since the copious introduction of vertical and other shell fire, is more correctly rendered by the termsiege-train(which see).
BATTERY. A place whereon cannon, mortars, &c., are or may be mounted for action. It generally has a parapet for the protection of the gunners, and other defences and conveniences according to its importance and objects. (See alsoFloating Battery.) Also, a company of artillery. In field-artillery it includes men, guns (usually six in the British service), horses, carriages, &c., complete for service.
BATTLE. An engagement between two fleets, or even single ships, usually called a sea-fight or engagement. The conflict between the forces of two contending armies.
BATTLE LANTERNS (American).SeeFighting-lanterns.
BATTLEMENTS. The vertical notches or openings made in the parapet walls of old castles and fortified buildings, to serve for embrasures to the bowmen, arquebusiers, &c., of former days.
BATTLE-ROYAL. A term derived from cock-fighting, but generally applied to a noisy confused row.
BATTLE THE WATCH,To. To shift as well as we can; to contend with a difficulty. To depend on one's own exertions.
BATTLING-STONE. A large stone with a smooth surface by the side of a stream, on which washers beat their linen.
BATTS. A north-country term for flat grounds adjoining islands in rivers, sometimes used for the islands themselves.
BAT-WARD. An old term for a boat-keeper.
BAUN.SeeBore.
BAVIER. The beaver of a helmet.
BAVIN. Brushwood bound up with only one withe: a faggot is tied with two. It is often spelledbaven, but Shakspeare has
"Rash bavin wits,Soon kindled and soon burned."
This underwood is sometimes procurable by ships where none other can be got. Bavin in war applies to fascines.
BAW-BURD. An old expression of larboard.
BAWDRICK. Corrupted frombaldrick. A girdle or sword-belt.
BAWE. A species of worm, formerly used as a bait for fishing.
BAWGIE. One of the names given to the great black and white gull (Larus marinus) in the Shetlands.
BAWKIE. A northern term for the auk, or razor-bill.
BAXIOS. [Sp.] Rocks or sand-banks covered with water. Scopuli.
BAY. The fore-part of a ship between decks, before the bitts (seeSick-bay). Foremost messing-places between decks in ships of war.
BAY. An inlet of the sea formed by the curvature of the land between two capes or headlands, often used synonymously with gulf; though, in strict accuracy, the term should be applied only to those large recesses which are wider from cape to cape than they are deep. Exposed to sea-winds, a bay is mostly insecure. A bay is distinguished from a bend, as that a vessel may not be able to fetch out on either tack, and is embayed. A bay has proportionably a wider entrance than either a gulf or haven; a creek has usually a small inlet, and is always much less than a bay.
BAY. Laurel; hence crowned with bays.
BAYAMOS. Violent blasts of wind blowing from the land, on the south side of Cuba, and especially from the Bight of Bayamo, by which some of our cruisers have been damaged. They are accompanied by vivid lightning, and generally terminate in rain.
BAY-GULF. A branch of the sea, of which the entrance is the widest part, as contradistinguished from the strait-gulf. The Bay of Biscay is a well-known example of the semicircular gulf.
BAY-ICE. Ice newly formed on the surface of the sea, and having the colour of the water; it is then in the first stage of consolidation. The epithet is, however, also applied to ice a foot or two in thickness in bays.
BAYLE. An old term for bucket.
BAYONET [Sp.bayoneta]. A pike-dagger to fit on the muzzle of a musket, so as not to interfere with its firing.
BAZAR,or Bazaar. A market or market-place. An oriental term.
BAZARAS. A large flat-bottomed pleasure-boat of the Ganges, moved with both sails and oars.
BEACH. A littoral margin, or line of coast along the sea-shore, composed of sand, gravel, shingle, broken shells, or a mixture of them all: any gently sloping part of the coast alternately dry and covered by the tide. The same asstrand.
BEACH,To. Sudden landing—to run a boat on the shore, to land a person with intent to desert him—an old buccaneer custom. To land a boat on a beach before a dangerous sea, this demands practical skill, for which the Dover and Deal men are famed.
BEACH-COMBERS. Loiterers around a bay or harbour.
BEACH-COMBING. Loafing about a port to filch small things.
BEACH-FLEA. A small crustacean (Talitra) frequenting sandy shores.
BEACH-GRASS.Alga marinathrown up by the surf or tide.
BEACHING A VESSEL.See underVoluntary Stranding. Also, the act of running a vessel up on the beach for various purposes where there is no other accommodation.
BEACH-MAN. A person on the coast of Africa who acts as interpreter to shipmasters, and assists them in conducting the trade.
BEACH-MASTER. A superior officer, captain, appointed to superintend disembarkation of an attacking force, who holds plenary powers, and generally leads the storming party. His acts when in the heat of action, if he summarily shoot a coward, are unquestioned—poor Falconer, to wit!
BEACH-MEN. A name applied to boatmen and those who land people through a heavy surf.
BEACH-RANGERS. Men hanging about sea-ports, who have been turned out of vessels for bad conduct.
BEACH-TRAMPERS. A name applied to the coast-guard.
BEACON. [Anglo-Saxon,béacn.] A post or stake erected over a shoal or sand-bank, as a warning to seamen to keep at a distance; also a signal-mark placed on the top of hills, eminences, or buildings near the shore for the safe guidance of shipping.
BEACONAGE. A payment levied for the maintenance of beacons.
BEAFT. Often used by east-country men for abaft.
BEAK,or Beak-head. A piece of brass like a beak, fixed at the head of the ancient galleys, with which they pierced their enemies. Pisæus is said to have first added the rostrum or beak-head. Later it was a small platform at the fore part of the upper deck, but the term is now applied to that part without the ship before the forecastle, or knee of the head, which is fastened to the stem and is supported by the main knee. Latterly, to meet steam propulsion, the whole of this is enlarged, strengthened, and armed with iron plates, and thus the armed stem revives the ancient strategy in sea-fights. Shakspeare makes Ariel thus allude to the beak in the "Tempest:"—
"I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak,Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,I flam'd amazement."
BEAKER. A flat drinking tumbler or cup, from the Germanbecher. (SeeBicker.)
BEAK-HEAD BEAM. For this important timberseeCat-beam.
BEAK-HEAD BULK-HEAD. The old termination aft of the space calledbeak-head, which inclosed the fore part of the ship.
BEAL. A word of Gaelic derivation for an opening or narrow pass between two hills.
BEAM. A long double stratum of murky clouds generally observed over the surface of the Mediterranean previous to a violent storm or an earthquake. The French call ittrave.
BEAM. (SeeAbeam.)—Before the beamis an arc of the horizon, comprehended between a line that crosses the ship's length at right angles and some object at a distance before it; or between the line of the beam and that point of the compass which she stems. On theweatherorleebeam is in a direction to windward or leeward at right angles with the keel.
BEAM-ARM. Synonymous withcrow-foot(which see).
BEAM-ENDS. A ship is said to be on her beam-ends when she has heeled over so much on one side that her beams approach to a vertical position; hence also a person lying down is metaphorically said to be on his beam-ends.
BEAM-FILLINGS. Short lengths of wood cut to fit in between the beams to complete the cargo of a timber ship.
BEAM-LINE. A line raised along the inside of the ship fore and aft, showing the upper sides of the beams at her side.
BEAM OF THE ANCHOR. Synonymous withanchor-stock.
BEAMS. Strong transverse pieces of timber stretching across the ship from one side to the other, to support the decks and retain the sides at their proper distance, with which they are firmly connected by means of strong knees, and sometimes of standards. They are sustained at each end by thick stringers on the ship's side, called shelf-pieces, upon which they rest. The main-beam is next abaft the main-mast, which is stepped between two beams with transverse supports termed partners; the foremost of these is generally termed the main-beam, or the after-beam of the main-hatchway. The greatest beam of all is called the midship-beam.
BEAN-COD. A small fishing-vessel, or pilot-boat, common on the sea-coasts and in the rivers of Spain and Portugal; extremely sharp forward, having its stem bent inward above in a considerable curve; it is commonly navigated with a large lateen sail, which extends the whole length of the deck, and sometimes of an out-rigger over the stern, and is accordingly well fitted to ply to windward. They frequently set as many as twenty different sails, alow and aloft, byevery possible contrivance, so as to puzzle seamen who are not familiar with the rig.
BEAR. A large block of stone, matted, loaded with shot, and fitted with ropes, by which it is roused or pulled to and fro to grind the decks withal. Also, a coir-mat filled with sand similarly used.
BEAR,The constellations of the. Ursa Major and Minor, most important to seamen, as instantly indicating by the pointers and pole-star the true north at night, much more correctly than any compass bearing.
BEAR,To. The direction of an object from the viewer; it is used in the following different phrases: The land's end bore E.N.E.;i.e.it was seen from the ship in a line with the E.N.E. point of the compass. We bore down upon the enemy;i.e.having the advantage of the wind, or being to windward, we approached the enemy by sailing large, or from the wind. When a ship that was to windward comes under another ship's stern, and so gives her the wind, she is said to bear under the lee; often as a mark of respect. She bears in with the land, is said of a ship when she runs towards the shore. We bore off the land;i.e.we increased our distance from the land.—To bear downupon a ship, is to approach her from the windward.—To bear ordnance, to carry her guns well.—To bear sail, stiff under canvas.—To bear up, to put the helm up, and keep a vessel off her course, letting her recede from the wind and move to leeward; this is synonymous withto bear away, but is applied to the ship instead of the helm.—Bear up, one who has duly served for a commission, but from want of interest bears up broken-hearted and accepts an inferior warrant, or quits the profession, seeking some less important vocation; some middies have borne up and yet become bishops, lord-chancellors, judges, surgeons, &c.—To bear up round, is to put a ship right before the wind.—To bring a cannon to bear, signifies that it now lies right with the mark.—To bear off from, andin withthe land, signifies standing off or going towards the coast.
BEAR A BOB,ORA FIST. Jocular for "lend a hand."
BEAR A HAND. Hasten.
BEARD. The silky filaments or byssus by which some testacea adhere to rocks. Of an oyster, the gills.
BEARDIE. A northern name of the three-spined stickleback.
BEARDING. The angular fore-part of the rudder, in juxtaposition with the stern-post. Also, the corresponding bevel of the stern-post. Also, the bevelling of any piece of timber or plank to any required angle: as the bearding of dead wood, clamps, &c.
BEARDING-LINE. In ship-building, is a curved line made by bearding the dead-wood to the shape of the ship's body.
BEARERS. Pieces of plank placed on the bolts which are driven through the standards or posts for the carpenters' stages to rest upon.
BEARING. An arc of the horizon intercepted between the nearest meridian and any distant object, either discovered by the eye and referred to a point on the compass, or resulting from finical proportion. There is thetrueor astronomical bearing, and themagneticbearing. It is also the situation of any distant object, estimated with regard to the ship's position; and in this sense the object must bear either ahead, astern, abreast, on the bow, or on the quarter; if a ship sails with a side wind, a distant object is said to bear to leeward or to windward, on the lee quarter or bow, or on the weather quarter or bow.
BEARING BACKSTAYS AFT. To throw the breast backstays out of the cross-tree horns or out-riggers and bear them aft. If not done, when suddenly bracing up, the cross-tree horn is frequently sprung or broken off.
BEARING BINNACLE. A small binnacle with a single compass, usually placed before the other. In line-of-battle ships it is generally placed on the fife-rail in the centre and foremost part of the poop.
BEARINGS. The widest part of a vessel below the plank-shear. The line of flotation which is formed by the water upon her sides when she sits upright with her provisions, stores, and ballast, on board in proper trim.
BEARINGS,To bring to his. Used in conversation for "to bring to reason." To bring an unruly subject to his senses, to know he is under control, to reduce to order.
BEAT. The verb means to excel, surpass, or overcome.