C.P. Mark for men sent by civil power.
CRAB. A wooden pillar, the lower end of which being let down through a ship's decks, rests upon a socket like the capstan, and having in its upper end three or four holes at different heights, long oars are thrust through them, each acting like two levers. It is employed to wind in the cable, or any other weighty matter. Also, a portable wooden or cast-iron machine, fitted with wheels and pinions similar to those of a winch, of use in loading and discharging timber-vessels, &c.—The crab with three claws, is used to launch ships, and to heave them into the dock, or off the key.—To catch a crab.To pull an oar too light or too deep in the water; to miss time in rowing. This derisive phrase for a false stroke may have been derived from the Italianchiappar un gragno, to express the same action.
CRABBING TO IT. Carrying an over-press of sail in a fresh gale, by which a ship crabs or drifts sideways to leeward.
CRABBLER.SeeKrabla.
CRAB-BOAT. Resembles a large jolly-boat.
CRAB-CAPSTAN.SeeCrab.
CRAB-WINDLASS. A light windlass for barges.
CRAB-YAWS.SeeYaw.
CRACK. "In a crack," immediately.
CRACKER. So named from the noise it makes in exploding; it is appliedto a small pistol. Also, to a little hard cabin biscuit, so called from its noise in breaking.
CRACKNEL. A small bark. Also, biscuits (see 1 Ki. xiv. 3).
CRACK OFFICER. One of the best class.
CRACK ON,To. To carry all sail.
CRACK-ORDER. High regularity.
CRACK-SHIP. One uncommonly smart in her evolutions and discipline, perhaps from the old English word for a fine boy. Crack is generally used for first-rate or excellent.
CRADLE. A frame consisting of bilge-ways, poppets, &c., on the principle of the wedge, placed under the bottom of a ship, and resting on the ways on which it slips, thus launching her steadily into the water, at which time it supports her weight while she slides down the greased ways. The cradle being the support of the ship, she carries it with her into the water, when, becoming buoyant, the frame separates from the hull, floats on the surface, and is again collected for similar purposes.
CRADLES. Standing bedsteads made up for wounded seamen, that they may be more comfortable than is possible in a hammock. Boats' chocks are sometimes called cradles.
CRAFT [from the Anglo-Saxon wordcræft, a trading vessel]. It is now a general name for lighters, hoys, barges, &c., employed to load or land any goods or stores.—Small craft.The small vessels of war attendant on a fleet, such as cutters, schooners, gunboats, &c., generally commanded by lieutenants. Craft is also a term in sea-phraseology for every kind of vessel, especially for a favourite ship. Also, all manner of nets, lines, hooks, &c., used in fishing.
CRAG. A precipitous cliff whose strata if vertical, or nearly so, subdivide into points.
CRAGER. A small river lighter, mentioned in our early statutes.
CRAGSMAN. One who climbs cliffs overhanging the sea to procure sea-fowls, or their eggs.
CRAIG-FLOOK. The smear-dab, or rock-flounder.
CRAIK,or Crake. A ship; a diminutive corrupted fromcarrack.
CRAIL.SeeKreel.
CRAIL-CAPON. A haddock dried without being split.
CRAKERS. Choice soldiers (temp.Henry VIII.) Perhaps managers of the crakys, and therefore early artillery.
CRAKYS. An old term for great guns.
CRAMP. A machine to facilitate the screwing of two pieces of timber together.
CRAMPER. A yarn or twine worn round the leg as a remedy against cramp.
CRAMPETS. The cramp rings of a sword scabbard. Ferrule to a staff.
CRAMPINGS. A nautical phrase to express the fetters and bolts for offenders.
CRAMPOON.SeeCreeper.
CRANAGE. The money paid for the use of a wharf crane. Also, the permission to use a crane at any wharf or pier.
CRANCE. A sort of iron cap on the outer end of the bowsprit, through which the jib-boom traverses. The name is not unfrequently applied to any boom-iron.
CRANE. A machine for raising and lowering great weights, by which timber and stores are hoisted upon wharfs, &c. Also, a kind of catapult for casting stones in ancient warfare. Also, pieces of iron, or timber at a vessel's sides, used to stow boats or spars upon. Also, as many fresh or green unsalted herrings as would fill a barrel.
CRANE-BARGE. A low flat-floored lump, fitted for the purpose of carrying a crane, in aid of marine works.
CRANE-LINES. Those which formerly went from the spritsail-topmast to the middle of the fore-stay, serving to steady the former. Also, small lines for keeping the lee backstays from chafing against the yards.
CRANG. The carcass of a whale after being flinched or the blubber stripped off.
CRANK,or Crank-sided. A vessel, by her construction or her stowage, inclined to lean over a great deal, or from insufficient ballast or cargo incapable of carrying sail, without danger of overturning. The opposite term isstiff, or the quality of standing well up to her canvas.—Crankyexpresses a foolish capriciousness. Ships built too deep in proportion to their breadth are notoriously crank.—Crank by the ground, is a ship whose floor is so narrow that she cannot be brought on the ground without danger.
CRANK-HATCHES. Are raised coamings on a steamer's deck, to form coverings for the cranks of the engines below.
CRANK-PIN. In steam machinery, it goes through both arms of the crank at their extremities; to this pin the connecting-rod is attached.
CRANKSof a Marine Engine; eccentric, as in a turning-lathe. The bend or knee pinned on the shafts, by which they are moved round with a circular motion. Also, iron handles for working pumps, windlasses, &c. Also, erect iron forks on the quarter-deck for the capstan-bars, or other things, to be stowed thereon. Also, the axis and handle of a grindstone. Also, an old term for the sudden or frequent involutions of the planets in their orbits.
CRANK-SHAFT. In a steamer. (SeeIntermediate Shaft.)
CRAPPO,or General Crapaud. Jack's name for a Frenchman, one whom he thinks would be a better sailor if he would but talk English instead of French.
CRARE,or Crayer. A slow unwieldy trading vessel of olden times. Thus Shakspeare, inCymbeline, with hydrographic parlance:—
"Who ever yet could sound thy bottom? FindThe ooze, to show what coast thy sluggish crareMight easiliest harbour in?"
CRATERof a Mine. Synonymous withfunnel(which see).
CRAVAISE. An Anglo-Norman word for cray-fish.
CRAVEN. An old term synonymous withrecreant(which see).
CRAWL. A sort of pen, formed by a barrier of stakes and hurdles on the sea-coast, to contain fish or turtle. On the coast of Africa, a pen for slaves awaiting shipment.
CRAWLING OFF. Working off a lee-shore by slow degrees.
CRAY-FISH. A lobster-like crustacean (Astacus fluviatilis) found in fresh-water.
CRAZY. Said of a ship in a bad state.
CREAK. The straining noise made by timbers, cabin bulk-heads, and spars in rolling.
CREAR. A kind of Scotch lighter. (SeeCrare.)
CREEK. A narrow inlet of the sea shoaling suddenly. Also, the channels connecting the several branches of a river and lake islands, and one lake or lagoon with another. It differs from a cove, in being proportionately deeper and narrower. In law, it is part of a haven where anything is landed from the sea.
CREEL,or Crue, for fishing.SeeKreel.
CREENGAL.SeeCringle.
CREEPER. A small grapnel (iron instrument with four claws) for dragging for articles dropped overboard in harbour. When anything falls, a dish or other white object thrown immediately after it will greatly guide the creeping.
CREES.SeeKris.
CREMAILLEE. More commonly calledindented(which see), with regard to lines or parapets.
CRENELLE. A loop-hole in a fortress.
CRENG.SeeKrang.
CREOLE. This term applies in the West Indies and Spanish America, &c., to a person of European and unmixed origin, but colonial born.
CREPUSCULUM.SeeTwilight.
CRESPIE. A northern term for a small whale or a grampus.
CRESSET. A beacon light set on a watch-tower.
CRESSIT. A small crease or dagger.
CREST. The highest part of a mountain, or range of mountains, and the summit of a sea-wave.
CREW. Comprehends every officer and man on board ship, borne as complement on the books. There are in ships of war several particular crews or gangs, as the gunner's, carpenter's, sail-maker's, blacksmith's, armourer's, and cooper's crews.
CRIB. A small berth in a packet.
CRICK. A small jack-screw.
CRIMPS. Detested agents who trepan seamen, by treating, advancing money, &c., by which the dupes become indebted, and when well plied with liquor are induced to sign articles, and are shipped off, only discovering their mistake on finding themselves at sea robbed of all they possessed.
CRINGLE. A short piece of rope worked grommet fashion into the bolt-rope of a sail, and containing a metal ring or thimble. The use of the cringle is generally to hold the end of some rope, which is fastened thereto for the purpose of drawing up the sail to its yard, or extending the skirts or leech by means of bowlinebridles, to stand upon a side-wind. The word seems to be derived from the old Englishcrencled, or circularly formed. Cringles should be made of the strands of new bolt-rope. Those for the reef and reef-tackle pendant are stuck through holes made in the tablings.
CRINKYL. The cringle or loop in the leech of a sail.
CRIPPLE,To. To disable an enemy's ship by wounding his masts, yards, and steerage gear, thereby placing himhors de combat.
CRISS-CROSS. The mark of a man who cannot write his name.
CROAKER. A tropical fish which makes acris-crisnoise.
CROAKY. A term applied to plank when it curves much in short lengths.
CROCHERT. A hagbut or hand cannon, anciently in use.
CROCK [Anglo-Saxon,croca]. An earthen mess-vessel, and the usual vegetables were called crock-herbs. In theFaerie QueeneSpenser cites the utensil:—
"Therefore the vulgar did aboute him flocke,Like foolish flies about an honey-crocke."
CROCODILES. A designation for those who served in Egypt under Lord Keith.
CROJEK. The mode of pronouncingcross-jack(which see).
CRONNAG. In the Manx and Erse, signifies a rock that can be seen before low-water.
CROOKED-CATCH. An iron implement bent in the form of the letterS.
CROOKS.Crooked timbers.Short arms or branches of trees.
CROONER. The gray gurnard (Trigla gurnardus), so called on account of the creaking noise it makes after being taken.
CROSS-BARS. Round bars of iron, bent at each end, used as levers to turn the shank of an anchor.
CROSS-BAR-SHOT. The famed cross-bar-shot, or properlybar-shot, used by the Americans: when folded it presented a bar or complete shot, and could thus be placed in the gun. But as it left the muzzle it expanded to a cross, with four quarters of a shot at its radial points. It was used to destroy the rigging as well as do execution amongst men.
CROSS-BITT. The same ascross-piece(which see).
CROSS-BORED. Bored with holes alternately on the edges of planks, to separate the fastenings, so as to avoid splitting the timbers or beams.
CROSS-BOW. An ancient weapon of our fleet, when also in use on shore.
CROSS-CHOCKS. Large pieces of timber fayed across the dead-wood amidships, to make good the deficiency of the heels of the lower futtocks.
CROSS-FISH. A northern name for theasteriasor star-fish; so called from the Norwegiankors-fisk. Also, theUraster rubens.
CROSS-GRAINED. Not straight-grained as in good wood; hence the perverse and vexatious disposition of the ne'er-do-wells. As Cotton'sJuno—
"That cross-grained, peevish, scolding queen."
CROSS-HEAD. In a steamer's engine, is on the top of the piston-rod athwart the cylinder; and there is another fitted to the air-pump, both having side-rods. (SeeCylinder Cross-head.)
CROSSING A SHIP'S WAKE. When a ship sails over the transient track which another has just passed,i.e.passes close astern of her.
CROSSING THE CABLES IN THE HATCHWAY. A method by which the operation of coiling is facilitated; it alludes to hempen cables, which are now seldom used.
CROSS IN THE HAWSE. Is when a ship moored with two anchors from the bows has swung the wrong way once, whereby the two cables lie across each other.—To cross a vessel's hawseis to sail across the line of her course, a little ahead of her.
CROSSJACK-YARD [pronouncedcrojeck-yard]. The lower yard on the mizen-mast, to the arms of which the clues of the mizen top-sail are extended. The term is applied to any fore-and-aft vessels setting a square-sail, flying, below the lower cross-trees. It is now very common in merchant ships to set a sail called a cross-jack upon this yard.
CROSS-PAWLS.SeeCross-spales.
CROSS-PIECE. The transverse timber of the bitts. Also, a rail of timber extending over the windlass of some merchant-ships from the knight-heads to the belfry. It is furnished with wooden pins to fasten the running-rigging to, as occasion requires.—Cross-pieces.Short pieces laid across the keel of a line-of-battle ship, and scarphed to the lower ends of the first futtocks, as strengtheners.
CROSS-SEA. A sea not caused by the wind then blowing. During a heavy gale which changes quickly (a cyclone, for instance), each change of wind produces a direction of the sea, which lasts for some hours after the wind which caused it has changed, so that in a part of the sea which has experienced all the changes of one of these gales, the sea runs up in pyramids, sending the tops of the waves perpendicularly into the air, which are then spread by the prevailing wind; the effect is awfully grand and dangerous, for it generally renders a ship ungovernable until it abates.
CROSS-SOMER. A beam of timber.
CROSS-SPALESor Spalls. Temporary beams nailed across a vessel to keep the sides together, and support the ship in frame, until the deck-knees are fastened.
CROSS-STAFF.SeeFore-staff.
CROSS-SWELL. This is similar to a cross-sea, except that it undulates without breaking violently.
CROSS-TAIL. In a steam-engine, is of the same form as the cylinder cross-head: it has iron straps catching the pins in the ends of the side-levers.
CROSS-TIDE. The varying directions of the flow amongst shoals that are under water. (SeeCurrent.)
CROSS-TIMBERS.SeeCross-piece.
CROSS-TREES. Certain timbers supported by the cheeks and trestle-trees at the upper ends of the lower and top masts, athwart which they are laid to sustain the frame of the tops on the one, and to extend the top-gallant shrouds on the other.
CROTCHED-YARD. The old orthography forcrossjack-yard(which see).
CROTCHES.SeeCrutch.
CROW,or Crow-bar. An iron lever furnished with a sharp point at one end, and two claws on a slight bevel bend at the other, to prize or remove weighty bodies, like pieces of timber, to draw spike-nails, &c. Also, to direct and manage the great guns.
CROWDIE. Meal and milk mixed in a cold state; but sometimes a mere composition of oatmeal and boiled water, eaten with treacle, or butter and sugar, as condiment.
CROWD SAIL,To. To carry an extraordinary press of canvas on a ship, as in pursuit of, or flight from, an enemy, &c.
CROW-FOOT. A number of small lines spreading out from an uvrou or long block, used to suspend the awnings by, or to keep the top-sails from striking violently, and fretting against the top-rims. (SeeEuphroe.) Also, a kind of stand, attached to the end of mess-tables, and hooked to a beam above.—Crow-footorbeam-armis also a crooked timber, extended from the side of a beam to the ship's side, in the wake of the hatchway, supplying the place of a beam.—Crow's-footis the name of the four-pointed irons thrown in front of a position, to hamper the advance of cavalry, and other assailants, for in whatsoever way they fall one point is upwards. The phrase ofcrow's-feetis also jocularly applied to the wrinkles spreading from the outer corner of the eyes—a joke used both by Chaucer and Spenser.
CROWN. A common denomination in most parts of Europe for a silver coin, varying in local value from 2s.6d.sterling to 8s.(See alsoPrerogative.)—Crown of an anchor.The place where the arms are joined to the shank, and unite at the throat.—Crown of a gale.Its extreme violence.—In fortification, to crown is to effect a lodgment on the top of; thus, the besiegercrownsthe covered way when he occupies with his trenches the crest of the glacis.
CROWN,or Double Crown. A knot; is to pass the strands of a rope over and under each other above the knot by way of finish. (SeeKnot.)
CROWNING. The finishing part of some knots on the end of a rope, to prevent the ends of the strands becoming loose. They are more particularly useful in all kinds of stoppers. (SeeWall-knotandCrown.)
CROWN-WORK. In fortification, the largest definite form of outwork, having for its head two contiguous bastioned fronts, and for its sides two long strait faces, flanked by the artillery fire of the place. Or a detachedwork, according to the circumstances of the ground, requiring such advanced occupation.
CROW-PURSE. The egg-capsule of a skate.
CROW-SHELL. A fresh-water mussel.
CROW'S NEST. A small shelter for the look-out man: sometimes made with a cask, at the top-gallant mast-head of whalers, whence fish are espied. Also, for the ice-master to note the lanes or open spaces in the ice.
CROY. An inclosure on the sea-beach in the north for catching fish. When the tide flows the fishes swim over the wattles, but are left by the ebbing of the water.
CRUE.SeeKreel.
CRUE-HERRING. The shad (Clupea alosa).
CRUER.SeeCrare.
CRUISE,or Cruize. A voyage in quest of an enemy expected to sail through any particular tract of the sea at a certain season,—the seeker traversing the cruising latitude under easy sail, backward and forward. The parts of seas frequented by whales are called the cruising grounds of whalers.
CRUISERS. Small men-of-war, made use of in the Channel and elsewhere to secure our merchant ships from the enemy's small frigates and privateers. They were generally such as sailed well, and were well manned.
CRUIVES. Inclosed spaces in a dam or weir for taking salmon.
CRUMMY. Fleshy or corpulent.
CRUPPER. The train tackle ring-bolt in a gun-carriage.
CRUSADO.SeeCruzado.
CRUTCH,or Crotch. A support fixed upon the taffrail for the main boom of a sloop, brig, cutter, &c., and a chock for the driver-boom of a ship when their respective sails are furled. Also, crooked timber inside the after-peak of a vessel, for securing the heels of the cant or half-timbers: they are fayed and bolted on the foot-waling. Also, stanchions of wood or iron whose upper parts are forked to receive masts, yards, and other spars, and which are fixed along the sides and gangways. Crutches are used instead of rowlocks, and also on the sides of large boats to support the oars and spars.
CRUZADO. A Portuguese coin of 480 reis, value 2s.71⁄4d.sterling in Portugal; in England, 2s.to 2s.2d.
CUBBRIDGE HEADS. The old bulk-heads of the forecastle and half-decks, wherein were placed the "murderers," or guns for clearing the decks in emergency.
CUBE. A solid body inclosed by six square sides or faces. A cubical foot is 12 inches square every way, of any solid substance.
CUB-HOUSE,or Cubboos.SeeCaboose.
CUBICULATÆ. Roman ships furnished with cabins.
CUCKOLD'S-KNOTor Neck. A knot by which a rope is secured to a spar—the two parts of the rope crossing each other, and seized together.
CUDBEAR. (SeeCorkir.) A violet dye—archil, a test.
CUDBERDUCE. The cuthbert-duck, a bird of the Farne Isles, off Northumberland.
CUDDIC,Cuddy, or Cudle. All derived from cuttle-fish varieties of sepia used for baits.
CUDDIE,or Cuddin. One of the many names for the coal-fish, a staple article of the coast of Scotland. TheGadus carbonariusis taken nearly all the year round by fishing from the rocks, and by means of landing nets. If this fish be not delicate, it is at least nutritious, and as it contains much oil, it furnishes light as well as food.
CUDDING. A northern name for the char.
CUDDY. A sort of cabin or cook-room, generally in the fore-part, but sometimes near the stern of lighters and barges of burden. In the oceanic traders it is a cabin abaft, under the round-house or poop-deck, for the commander and his passengers. Also, the little cabin of a boat.
CUDDY-LEGS. A name in the north for large herrings.
CUIRASS. Armour or covering for the breast, anciently made of hide.
CUIRASSIERS. Horse soldiers who wear the cuirass, a piece of defensive armour, covering the body from the neck to the waist.
CUISSES. Armour to protect the thighs.
CULAGIUM. An archaic law-term for the laying up of a ship in the dock to be repaired.
CULCH.SeeOyster-bed.
CULLOCK. A species of bivalved mollusc on our northern shores, theTellina rhomboides.
CULMINATION, in nautical astronomy, is the transit or passage of any celestial body over the meridian of a place.
CULRING. An old corruption ofculverin.
CULTELLUS.SeeCoutel.
CULVER. A Saxon word for pigeon, whence Culver-cliff, Reculvers, &c., from being resorted to by those birds. [Latin,columba;bandvare often interchanged.]
CULVERIN. An ancient cannon of about 51⁄4inches bore, and from 9 to 12 feet long, carrying a ball of 18 pounds, with a first graze at 180 paces. Formerly a favourite sea-gun, its random range being 2500 paces. The name is derived from a snake (coluber), or a dragon, being sculptured upon it, thus forming handles.
CULVER-TAIL. The fastenings of a ship's carlings into the beams.
CULVER-TAILED. Fastened by dove-tailing—a way of letting one timber into another, so that they cannot slip asunder.
CULWARD. The archaic term for a coward.
CUMULO-CIRRO-STRATUS. A horizontal sheet of cloud, with cirrus above and cumulus beneath; it is better known as thenimbusorrain-cloud.
CUMULO-STRATUS. This is the twain-cloud, so called because the stratus blends with the cumulus; it is most frequent during a changeable state of the barometer.
CUMULUS. A cloud indicative of fair weather, when it is small: it is sometimes seen in dense heaps, whence it obtained the name ofstacken cloud. It is then a forerunner of change.
CUND,To. To give notice which way a shoal of fish is gone.
CUNETTE.SeeCuvette.
CUNN,or Con.SeeConn.
CUNNENG. A northern name for the lamprey.
CUP. A solid piece of cast-iron let into the step of the capstan, and in which the iron spindle at the heel of the capstan works. Also, colloquially used for come, as, "Cup, let me alone."
CUPOLA-SHIP. Captain Coles's; the cupola being discontinued, now calledturret-ship(which see).
CUR. An east-country term for the bull-head.
CURE,To. To salt meat or fish.
CUR-FISH. A small kind of dog-fish.
CURIET. A breast-plate made of leather.
CURL. The bending over or disruption of the ice, causing it to pile. Also, the curl of the surf on the shore.
CURL-CLOUD. The same ascirrus(which see).
CURLEW. A well-known coast bird, with a long curved bill, theNumenius arquatus.
CURRACH. A skiff, formerly used on the Scottish coasts.
CURRA-CURRA. A peculiarly fast boat among the Malay Islands.
CURRENT. A certain progressive flowing of the sea in one direction, by which all bodies floating therein are compelled more or less to submit to the stream. Thesettingof the current, is that point of the compass towards which the waters run; and thedriftof the current is the rate it runs at in an hour. Currents are general and particular, the former depending on causes in constant action, the latter on occasional circumstances. (SeeDirection.)
CURRENT SAILING. The method of determining the true motion of a ship, when, besides being acted upon by the wind, she is drifting by the effect of a current. A due allowance must therefore be made by the navigator.
CURRIER. A small musketoon with a swivel mounting.
CURSOR. The moving wire in a reading microscope.
CURTAIN. In fortification, that part of the rampart which is between the flanks of two opposite bastions, which are thereby connected.
CURTALL,or Curtald. An ancient piece of ordnance used in our early fleets, apparently a short one.
CURTATE DISTANCE. An astronomical term, denoting the distance of a body from the sun or earth projected upon the ecliptic.
CURTLE-AXE. The old term for cutlass or cutlace.
CURVED FIRE. A name coming into use with the increasing application of the fire of heavy and elongated shells to long-range bombardment and cannonade. It is intermediate between horizontal and vertical fire, possessingmuch of the accuracy and direct force of the former, as well as of the searching properties of the latter.
CURVE OF THE COAST. When the shore alternately recedes and projects gradually, so as to trend towards a curve shape.
CUSEFORNE. A long open whale-boat of Japan.
CUSHIES. Armour for the thighs. The same ascuisses.
CUSK. A fine table-fish taken in cod-schools.SeeTuskorTorsk.
CUSPS. The extremities of a crescent moon, or inferior planet.
CUSSELS. The green-bone, or viviparous blenny.
CUSTOM. The toll paid by merchants to the crown for goods exported or imported; otherwise called duty.—Custom of the country, a small present to certain authorities in the less frequented ports, being equally gift and bribe.
CUSTOM-HOUSE. An office established on the frontiers of a state, or in some chief city or port, for the receipt of customs and duties imposed by authority of the sovereign, and regulated by writs or books of rates.
CUSTOM-HOUSE AGENT. He who transacts the relative business of passing goods, as to the entries required for the ship's clearance.
CUSTOM-HOUSE OFFICERS. A term comprehending all the officials employed in enforcing the customs.
CUT. A narrow boat channel; a canal.—To cut, to renounce acquaintance with any one.
CUT AND RUN,To. To cut the cable for an escape. Also, to move off quickly; to quit occupation; to be gone.
CUT AND THRUST. To give point with a sword after striking a slash.
CUT A STICK,To. To make off clandestinely.—Cut your stick, be off, or go away.
CUTE. Sharp, crafty, apparently fromacute; but some insist that it is the Anglo-Saxon wordcuth, rather meaning certain, known, or familiar.
CUTH. A name given in Orkney and Shetland to the coal-fish, before it is fully grown; perhaps the same aspiltock(which see).
CUTLAS,or Coutelas. A sabre which was slightly curved, but recently applied to the small-handled swords supplied to the navy—thecutlashof Jack. By Shakspeare called a curtle-axe; thus Rosalind, preparing to disguise herself as a man, is made to say,
"A gallant curtle-ax upon my thigh."
CUT-LINE. The space between the bilges of two casks stowed end to end.
CUT OFF. A term used to denote a vessel's being seized by stratagem by the natives, and the crew being murdered. Also, to intercept a retreat.
CUT OF THE JIB. A phrase for the aspect of a vessel, or person.
CUT OUT,To. To attack and carry a vessel by a boat force; one of the most dashing and desperate services practised by Nelson and Cochrane, of which latter that of cutting out theEsmeraldaat Callao stands unequalled.
CUTTER. A small single-masted, sharp-built broad vessel, commonlynavigated in the English Channel, furnished with a straight running bowsprit, occasionally run in horizontally on the deck; except for which, and the largeness of the sails, they are rigged much like sloops. Either clincher or carvel-built, no jib-stay, the jib hoisting and hanging by the halliards alone. She carries a fore-and-aft main-sail, gaff-topsail, stay-foresail, and jib. The name is derived from their fast sailing. The cutter (as H.M.S.Dwarf) has been made to set every sail, even royal studding-sails, sky-scrapers, moon-rakers, star-gazers, water and below-water sails, that could be set by any vessel on one mast. One of the largest which has answered effectually, was theViper, of 460 tons and 28 guns; this vessel was very useful during the American war, particularly by getting into Gibraltar at a critical period of the siege.
CUTTER-BRIG. A vessel with square sails, a fore-and-aft main-sail, and a jigger-mast with a smaller one. (SeeKetch.)
CUTTERS of a ship are broader for their length, deeper and shorter in proportion than the barge or pinnace; are fitter for sailing, and commonly employed in carrying light stores, passengers, &c., to and from the ships; some are clench-built. They generally row ten oars; others of similar build only four, which last are termed jolly-boats. The cutters for ships of the line are carvel-built of 25 feet, and fit for anchor work.
CUTTER-STAY FASHION. The turning-in of a dead-eye with the end of the shroud down.
CUT THE CABLE,To. A manœuvre sometimes necessary for making a ship cast the right way, or when the anchor cannot be weighed.
CUTTIE. A name on our northern coasts for the black guillemot (Uria grille).
CUTTING. The adjusting of a cask or spar, or turning it round.
CUTTING A FEATHER. It is common when a ship has too broad a bow to say, "She will not cut a feather," meaning that she will not pass through the water so swift as to make less foam or froth.
CUTTING DOWN. Taking a deck off a ship; as ships of the line are converted into frigates, theRoyal Sovereigninto a turret ship, &c.—Cutting downis also a dangerous midshipman's trick, and sometimes practised by the men: it consists in cutting the laniard of a cot or hammock in which a person is then asleep, and letting him fall—lumpus—either by the head or the feet.
CUTTING-DOWN LINE. An elliptical curve line used by shipwrights in the delineation of ships; it determines the depth of all the floor timbers, and likewise the height of the dead-wood fore and aft. It is limited in the middle of the ship by the thickness of the floor timbers, and abaft by the breadth of the keelson, and must be carried up so high upon the stern as to leave sufficient substance for the breeches of the rising timbers.
CUTTING HIS PAINTER. Making off suddenly or clandestinely, or "departed this life."
CUTTING IN. Making the special directions for taking the blubber offa whale, which is flinched by taking off circularly ribbons of the skin with blubber attached; the animal being made to turn in the water as the purchases at the mast-heads heave it upwards.
CUTTING-OUT. A night-meal or forage in the officer's pantry.
CUTTING OUTor In. In polar phraseology, is performed by sawing canals in a floe of ice, to enable a ship to regain open water.
CUTTING RIGGING. This includes the act of measuring it.
CUTTLE-FISH. A common marine animal of the genusSepia, and classCephalopoda. It has ten tentacles or arms ranged around the mouth, two being of much greater length than the others. When in danger it ejects a black inky substance, darkening the water for some distance around. The oval internal calcareous shell, "cuttle-bone," often found lying on the beach, was formerly much used in pharmacy.
CUTTS. Flat-bottomed horse-ferry boats of a former day.
CUTTY-GUN. A northern term for a short pipe.
CUT-WATER. The foremost part of a vessel's prow, or the sharp part of the knee of a ship's head below the beak. It cuts or divides the water before reaching the bow, which would retard progress. It is fayed to the fore-part of the main stem. (SeeKnee of the Head.)
CUVETTE, called alsoCunette. A deeper trench cut along the middle of a dry moat; a ditch within a ditch, generally carried down till there be water to fill it.
CWM,or Comb. A British word signifying an inlet, valley, or low place, where the hilly sides round together in a concave form; the sides of aglynbeing, on the contrary, convex.
CYCLE. A term generally applied to an interval of time in which the same phenomena recur.
CYCLE OF ECLIPSES. A period of about 6586 days, which is the time of a revolution of the moon's node; after the lapse of this period the eclipses recur in the same order as before, with few exceptions. This cycle was known to the ancients under the name of Saros.
CYCLOID. A geometrical curve of the higher kind.
CYCLONE.SeeTyphoon.
CYLINDER. The body of a pump; any tubular part of an engine.—Charge cylinderof a gun, is the part which receives the powder and ball, the remaining portion being styled thevacant cylinder. Especially in marine steam-engines, the cylindrical metal tube, with a diameter proportionate to the power of the engine, of which it may be termed the chief part, since it contains the active steam. Also, a cartridge box for the service of artillery. (SeeCartridge-box.)
CYLINDER-COVER. In the steam-engine, is a metal lid with a hole in the centre for the piston-rod to work through.
CYLINDER CROSS-HEAD. An adaptation on the top of the piston-rod, stretching out athwart the cylinder, from the ends of which the side-rods hang.
CYLINDER ESCAPE-VALVES. Small conical valves at each end ofthe cylinder, for the purpose of letting off any water that may collect above or below the piston.
CYLINDER POWDER. That made upon the improved method of charring the wood to be used as charcoal in iron cylinders. All British government gunpowder is now made thus.
CYPHERING. A term in carpentry. (SeeSyphered.)
D. In theComplete Book, D means dead or deserted; Dsq., discharged from the service, or into another ship.
DAB. The sea-flounder. An old general term for a pleuronect or flat fish of any kind, but usually appropriated to thePlatessa limanda. The word is familiarly applied to one who is expert in anything.
DABBERLACK. A kind of long sea-weed on our northern coasts.
DAB-CHICK. The little grebe,Podiceps minor. A small diving bird common in lakes and rivers.
DACOITS.SeeDekoyts.
DADDICK. A west-country term for rotten-wood, touch-wood, &c.
DAGEN. A peculiar dirk or poignard.
DAGGAR. An old term for a dog-fish.
DAGGER-KNEE. A substitute for the hanging-knee, applied to the under side of the lodging-knee; it is placed out of the perpendicular to avoid a port-hole. Anything placed aslant or obliquely, now generally termed diagonal, of which, indeed, it is a corruption.
DAGGER-PIECE,or Dagger-wood. A timber or plank that faces on to the poppets of the bilge-ways, and crosses them diagonally, to keep them together. The plank securing the head is called the daggerplank.
DAGGES. An old term for pistols or hand-guns.
DAHLGREN GUN. A modification of the Paixhan gun, introduced into the United States service by Lieut., now Admiral, Dahlgren, of that navy; having, in obedience to the results of ingenious experiment on the varying force of explosion on different parts of a gun, what has been called the soda-water bottle or pear-shaped form.
DAHM. An Arab or Indian decked boat.
DAILY PROGRESS. A daily return when in port of all particulars relative to the progress of a ship's equipment.
DAIRS. Small unsaleable fish.
DALE. A trough or spout to carry off water, usually named from the office it has to perform, as a pump-dale, &c. Also, a place forward, to save the decks from being wetted, now almost abolished.
DALLOP. A heap or lump in a clumsy state. A large quantity of anything.
DAM. A barrier of stones, stakes, or rubble, constructed to stop or impede the course of a stream. (SeeInundationsandFloating Dam.)
DAMASCENED. The mixing of various metals in the Damascus blades, the kris, or other weapons; sometimes by adding silver, to produce a watered effect.
DAMASCUS BLADE. Swords famed for the quality and temper of the metal, as well as the beauty of thejowhir, or watering of the blades.
DAMASK. Steel worked in the Damascus style, showing the wavy lines of the different metals; usually termed watered or twisted.
DAMBER. An old word for lubberly rogue.
DAMELOPRE. An ancient flat-floored vessel belonging to Holland, and intended to carry heavy cargoes over their shallow waters.
DAMMAH. A kind of turpentine or resin from a species of pine, which is used in the East Indies for the same purposes to which turpentine and pitch are applied. It is exported in large quantities from Sumatra to Bengal and other places, where it is much used for paying seams and the bottoms of vessels, for which latter purpose it is often mixed with sulphur, and answers admirably in warm climates.
DAMPER. The means by which the furnace of each boiler in a steamer can be regulated independently, by increasing or diminishing the draught to the fire.
DAMSEL. A coast name for the skate-fish.
DANCERS. The coruscations of the aurora. (SeeMerry Dancers.)
DANDIES. Rowers of the budgerow boats on the Ganges.
DANDY. A sloop or cutter with a jigger-mast abaft, on which a mizen-lug-sail is set.
DANGER. Perils and hazard of the sea. Any rock or shoal which interferes with navigation.
DANK. Moist, mouldy: a sense in which Shakspeare uses it; also Tusser—