The Mariner's Jewel

The Mariner's Jewel: or, a Pocket Companion for the Ingenious. Containing Decimal Arithmetick; Extraction of the Square Root; to know the Burthen, and how to Rig a Ship; with an Easy and Exact Method for all Gunners, Carpenters, and Boatswains, whereby to know the Expence of their Stores every Month, and what they have Remaining; with proper Directions for making of Masts and Yards according to Proportion: With a new List of the Royal Navy: A General Pay-Table for all Degrees of Men: An Abstract of Parliament for the Encouragement of Seamen, with Her Majesty's Approbation hereto; A Guide for Pursers and Stewards: The most usual Terms at Sea explan'd, with Directions how to work a Ship at Sea; and a Compendium of Sea-Gunnery: With several other things needful to be understood by all Sorts of Seafaring Men. By James Love, Mathematician.

The Seventh Edition, Corrected and Enlarged.

Printed for A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, R. Ware, J. Hodges, London, 1735.

An Explanation of the most usual Sea Terms.

A

AFT or Abaft,

Fromward the fourpart of the Ship, or towards the Stern, as the Mast hangs aft; that is, towards the Stern.

How chear ye fore and aft;

that is, How fares all your Ship's Company?

Amain,

a Word used by a Man of War to his Enemy, and signifies Yield.

Strike Amain;

that is, lower your Top-sails.

The Anchor is a Peak;

that is, the Anchor is right under their Hawse, (or Hole) thro' which the Cable belonging to the Anchor runs out.

The Anchor is a Cock-bell;

that is, hangs up and down by the Ship side.

The Anchor is foul;

that is, the Cable is got about the Fluke.

An Awning,

a Sail, or the like, supported [p 86] by a Canopy over the Deck, to prevent the scorching Heat of the Sun in hot Climates.

B

To Bale,

is to lade Water out of the Ship's Hold.

French the Ballast;

divide or separate it.

The Ballast shoots;

that is, runs over from the one Side to the other.

To bear with the Land,

&c. to sail towards it.

To bear to;

that is, to sail before or with the Wind, into a Harbour or Channel.

A Piece of Ordinance doth come to bear;

that is, lies r[i]ght with the Mark.

Bear up;

a Term used in conding the Ship, when they would have her sail more before the Wind.

Bear up round,

put her right before the Wind.

To belay,

to make fast any running Rope.

To Bend a Cable,

is to make it fast.

A Birth,

a convenient Place to Moor a Ship in.

A Bight,

any part of a Rope between the Ends.

The Buge,

the breadth of the Place the Ship rests on when she is a ground.

The Ship Billed,

that is, has struck off some of her Timber on a Rock or Anchor, and springs a Leak.

A Binnacle,

that whereon the Compass stands.

A Bitter,

a turn of the Cable about the Bits.

The Bits,

two square Pieces of Timber, to which the Cables are fastened when the Ship rides at Anchor. [p 87]

A Bonnet,

an Addition of another Sail; when they fasten it they say, Lace on the Bonnet, and when they take it off, Shake off the Bonnet.

A Boom,

Board and Board,

a Term used when two Ships come so near as to touch one another.

Board it up,

is to turn to VVindward [sic].

To go a Board,

is to go into a Ship.

To break Bulk,

is to open the Hold, and take Goods out thence.

C.

To Chase,

is to pursue another Ship, and the Ship so pursued is called the Chase.

Careening,

is bringing a Ship to lie down on one side while they Trim and Caulk the other.

Caulking,

is driving of Oakham, Spanhair, and the like, into all the seams of the Ship to keep out Water.

To Cond, or Cun,

is to direct or guide; and to Cun a Ship, is to direct the Person at the Helm to steer her: If the Ship go before the Wind, then he who Cuns the Ships uses these Trems to him at Helm, Starboard, Larboard, Port, Helm a Midships. Starboard, is to to [sic] put the Helm to the Starboard (or right) side; to make the Ship go to the Larboard (or left;) for the Ship always sails contrary to the Helm. In keeping the Ship near the Wind, these Terms are used, Loof, keep your Loof, fall not off; veer no more, keep her to, touch the Winds; [p 88] have a care of the Lee Lach. To make her go more large, they say, Ease the Helm, no near; bear up: To keep her upon the same Point they use, Steady, or as you go, and the like.

The Ship goes Lasking, Quartering, Veering, or Large, are Terms of the same Signification, viz. That she neither goes by a Wind, nor before the Wind, but betwixt both.

The Course,

is that point of the Compass on which the Ship sails: also, the Sails are called Courses.

Cut the Sail;

That is unfurl it, and let it fall down.

D

Dead Water,

the Eaddy Water at the Stern of the Ship.

To Disenbogue,

is to go out of the Mouth of a Gulf.

To Dispert,

is to find out the Difference of Diameters betwixt the Breech and Mouth of the Ordnance.

The Deck is aflush afore and aft;

that is, laid from Stern to Stern without any Falls or Risings.

E

End for End,

a Term used when a Rope runs all out of the Block, so that it is unreved.

F

A Fathom,

a Measure containing six Feet.

A Fack,

is one Circle of any Rope or Cable quoiled up round. [p 89]

To Hand (or Furl) a Sail,

is to rap it up close together, and bind it with little Strings, called Casketts, fast to the Yard.

To Fish a Mast or Yard.

is to fasten a Piece of Timber or Plank to the Mast or Yard to strengthen it, which Plank is called a Fish.

To lower, or strike the Flag,

is to pull it down upon the Cap, and in Fight is a Token of yielding; but otherwise of great Respect.

To heave out the Flag,

is to unrap it from about the Staff.

Free the Boat or Ship,

is to bale or pump the Water out.

G

The Ship's Gage,

is so many Foot as she sinks in the Water; or (which is as Proper) so many Foot as she draws.

Weather Gage,

is when one Ship has the Wind (os is to Weather) of another.

To Grave the Ship,

is to bring her to lie aground, to burn off her old Filth.

The Ship Gripes,

that is, turns her Head to the Wind more than she should.

H

To hale,

is the same as to pull.

To hail a Ship,

is to call her Company to know wither she is bound, and is done after this manner.

Hoa the Ship!

Or only Hoa! To which they answer, Hoa. As also to salute another Ship with Trumpets, or the like, is called Hailing. [p 90]

Fresh the Hawse,

a Term used when that part of the Cable that lies to the Haswe is fretted or chafed, and they would have more Cable veered out. When two Cables that come thro' two several Hawses are twisted, the untwisting of them is called, Clearing the Hawse: Twart the Hawse, and rides upon the Hawse, are Terms used when a Ship lies twart or cross, or with her Stern just before another Ship's Hawse. Note, That the Hawse are the Holes under the Head of the Ship, through which the Cables run whe[n] she lies at Anchor.

To Hitch.

is to make fast.

The Ship Heels;

that is, inclines more to one side than the other, as She heels to Starboard; that is, turns up her Larboard side to lie down on the Starboard.

The Hold of a Ship,

is that part betwixt the Keelson and the Lower Deck, where all Goods, Stores and Victuals do lie. Rumidge the Hold, is used for removing or clearing the Goods and things in the Hold. Stowing the Hold, is when they take Goods into the Hold.

To Hoyse,

is to hawl or lift up, as Hoyse the Water in, Hoyse up the Yards.

Hulling,

is when a Ship at Sea takes in her Sails.

L

The Ship labours;

that is, rouls and tumbles much.

Land Fall,

is a Term used when we expect to see Land. [p 91]

Land-locked

is when the Land lies round about us, so that no Point is open to the Sea.

Land-to,

a ship is said to lie Land to, when she is at so great a Distance as only just to discern Land.

To Lash,

is to bind.

To Launch,

is to put out, as to Launch a Ship, is to put her off the Dock into the Water: but is sometimes likewise used in a Negative sense, as when the Yard is hoisted high enough, they usually cry aloud, Launch hoe that is, hoise no more.

To lay the Land,

is to lose sight of it.

The Leeshore,

is that Shoar against which the Wind blows.

Have a care of the Lee Latch,

that is, take heed the Ship go not out too much the Leeward.

A Ship lies by the Lee;

that is, it has all her Sails lying flat against Mast and Shrouds.

M

Misson Sail

hath several Words peculiar to it, as set the Misson: that is, fit the Misson Sail: Change the Misson; that is, bring the Yard to the other side of the Mast: Speek the Missin, that is, put the Yard right up and down Mast: Spell the Missen, that is, let go the Sheet, and peek it up.

To Moor a Ship,

is to lay out her Anchor in such a manner as is most convenient for her to ride by safely. [p 92]

N

Neap Tides,

are the Tides when the Moon is in the second and last Quurter [sic], and they are neither so haigh, nor so low, nor so swift, as the Spring Tides.

A Ship is beneaped,

A Term used when the Water does not flow high enough to bring a Ship from off the Ground, or out of a Dock or over a Bar.

O

Offward,

is contrary to the Shoar.

The Ship stands for the Offing,

that is, sails from the Shoar into the Sea.

P

To pay a Seam,

is to lay Hot Pitch and Tar on (after Calking without Canvas.

To Parcel a Seam,

is (after the Seam is Caulked) to lay over it a narrow piece of Canvas, and pour thereon hot Pitch and Tar.

To ride a Peek,

is when the Yards are so ordered that they seem to make St. Andrew's Cross.

The Capstain purchase, apace;

that is draws in the Cable apace.

Q

Quarter Winds

are when the Wind comes in Abaft the Main-mast Shrouds, even with the Quarter. [p 93]

A Quail

is a Rope or Cable laid round, one Fack over another, and the Fack is called Quoiling.

R

A Reach,

is the Distance between any two Points of Land that lye in the Right Line one from another.

To Reeve,

is to put a Rope thro' a Block; and to pull a Rope out of a Block is call'd unreeving the Rope.

To Ride,

when the Ship's Anchors holds her fast, so that she does not drive with the Wind or Tide, she is said to ride at Anchor.

To Ride athwart,

is to ride with the Ship's side to the Tide.

To ride betwixt Wind and Tide,

is when the Wind and Tide are contrary, and have equal strength.

To ride Hawse, Fall,

is when in a rough Sea the Water breaks into the Hawses.

A Road,

is any Place near the Land, where Ships may ride at Anchor; and a Ship riding here is called a Roader,

Rowse in;

that is, (hawl in) properly only to the Cable or Hawser, and is used when the Cable or Hawser is slack, to make it taught or strait.

S

To Sarve a Rope,

is to wind something about to keep it from fretting out.

To Seaze,

is to make fast or bind.

The Ship Slees;

that is when on a sudden [p 94] she lies down on her Side, and tumbles from one side to another.

The Ship sonds;

that is, her Head (or Stern) falls deep in a Trough (or Hollow) of the Sea.

To Settle a Deck;

is to lay it lower.

The Ship is sewed;

that is, the Water is gone from her.

The Ship Shares;

that is goes in and out and not right forward.

To Sound,

is to try with a Line, or other thing, how deep the Water is.

The Ship hath spent her Masts;

that is, her Masts have been broke by foul Weather: but if a Ship lose her Masts in Fight, we say, Her Masts have been shot by the Board.

To Splice Ropes,

is to untwist two Ends of Ropes, and then twist them both together, and fasten them, with binding a String about them.

The Sail is split;

that is, blown to pieces.

The Ship Spooms;

that is, goes right before the Wind without any sails.

Spring Tides,

are the Tides at New and Full Moon, which flow highest, and ebb lowest, and run strongest.

The Bowsprit Steeves,

that is, stands too upright.

T

Tack about;

that is, bring the Ships Head about to lie the other Way.

Talle aft the Sheets,

a Term used for hauling aft the Sheets of the Main or Foresail.

A Windward Tide,

when the Tide runs against the Wind.

A Leeward Tide,

When the Wind and Tide go both one Way.

A Tide Gate,

where the Tide runs strong.

To Tide it up,

is to go with Tide against the Wind, and when the Tide alters, to lie at Anchor till it serve again.

It flows Tide and half Tide;

that is, it will high Water sooner by three Hour by the Shore than in the Offing.

To Tow,

is to drag any thing after the ship.

Traverse,

is the Ships Way.

U

To Veer,

is to let out, as Veer more Rope, Veer more Sheet.

W

The Ship is Walt,

that is, wants Ballast.

To Weather a Ship,

is to go to Windward of her.

To Wind a Ship,

is to bring her head about.

How Winds the Ship?

That is, upon what Point of the Compass does she lie with her Head.

To Would,

is to Bind Ropes about the Mast, or the like, to keep on a Fish, or strengthen it.

Y

The Ship Yawns;

that is, goes in and out, and does Steer steady.

Younkers,

are the young Foremast Men.

James Love: The Mariner's Jewel: or, a Pocket Companion for the Ingenious. Containing Decimal Arithmetick; Extraction of the Square Root; to know the Burthen, and how to Rig a Ship; with an Easy and Exact Method for all Gunners, Carpenters, and Boatswains, whereby to know the Expence of their Stores every Month, and what they have Remaining; with proper Directions for making of Masts and Yards according to Proportion: With a new List of the Royal Navy: A General Pay-Table for all Degrees of Men: An Abstract of Parliament for the Encouragement of Seamen, with Her Majesty's Approbation hereto; A Guide for Pursers and Stewards: The most usual Terms at Sea explan'd, with Directions how to work a Ship at Sea; and a Compendium of Sea-Gunnery: With several other things needful to be understood by all Sorts of Seafaring Men. By James Love, Mathematician.
The Seventh Edition, Corrected and Enlarged.
Printed for A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, R. Ware, J. Hodges, London, 1735.

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