Maritime Glossary
The sea looms irresistibly large in human history, and has generated a sizeable lexicon of terms and phrases. The following are some of the lesser known words that crop up in the songs we sing. Besides Stan Hugill’s useful lists, see C.W.T. Layton’s Dictionary of Nautical Words and Terms (1955), revised by Peter Clissold (Glasgow: Brown, Son and Ferguson, 1987).
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advance – an order for a month’s wages, paid to sailors when they sign on, the advance-note was intended to purchase necessities for the voyage, but too often ended up in the ale house and the brothel
aloft – retaining a variety of meanings, according to Layton, but mostly referring to the highest part of the upper deck
bar – a bank across the entrance to a harbour, acting as a breakwater
Barbary Coast – the name given by Europeans to the coast of North Africa, comprising parts of modern-day Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. It was home to the ‘Barbary Pirates’ who terrorised the Mediterranean and Atlantic coast between from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries
barque – a word with a complex nautical etymology, but typically refers to a sailing ship with three or more masts
beef-kid – a galley utensil for carrying meat from the coppers
belay – to make fast a rope by tying it off; often used to mean stop or cancel
bilges – spaces by the side of the vessel into which excess water ran, and from which such water could be drained using a ‘bilge pump’
bosun – also bos’n and boatswain; in the merchant navy it refers to a trustworthy and experienced petty officer who is the foreman of the crew
The Bowery – a tough neighbourhood in southern Manhattan, notorious in the latter nineteenth century for vice and violence
bowline – a rope leading from the deck to the edge of a sail when the vessel is underway
bucko – a bullying officer
Callyo – the port of Callao, the port district of Lima, Peru
canny – nicely, shrewd and well-organised
Cape Stiff – alternative sailor name for Cape Horn
capstan – a barrel-shaped machine used for heaving in ropes and chains
crimp – a person who profits from a sailor by robbery (in many forms) or by procuring his labour through trickery or coercion
crossing the line – sailing across the equator
donkey – a small steam engine used for shipboard tasks, thus reducing the number of men required; can also refer to a heavy jacket
flash – fast and smart when applied to the packet ships; a ‘flashman’ usually referred to a pimp, a ‘flash girl’ to a prostitute
flippers – hands
fly – knowing and clever
flying-fish sailor – a mariner who preferred to work the warmer Asiatic routes
fo’c’sle head – the forecastle head; merchant navy name for topgallant forecastle
fore peak – the space between the forward collision bulkhead and the ship’s central wooden spine
Frisco – slang for San Francisco
galley – onboard compartment for the preparation and cooking of food
growl – complain
guano – the accumulated excrement of seabirds and bats, used as fertilizer and for explosives
halyards – ‘halliards’, the ropes by which sails are hoisted
handy – convenient, ready to hand, useful
holystone – white sandstone used to scrub a wooden deck
jamboree – a large boisterous party
Jack – slang name for a sailor
Judy – slang name for a young woman, especially common in Liverpool
jump ship – abscond from one’s contracted duties aboard a ship
knight heads – strong timbers (usually oak) central to the construction of wooden vessels
leach – the edge of a square sail
Limejuice sailor – description of British sailors, following the introduction of citrus fruit onboard British ships in the late eighteenth century to combat scurvy
lubber – clumsy and unskilled person lacking knowledge of the sea
luff – the weather side of any sail or vessel; opposite to ‘lee’
mainsail – the principal sail
mate – senior officer assistant to the captain, responsible for important duties relating to , work rota and navigation
Mobile Bay – important American cotton port on the Gulf of Mexico, one of the principal places for the composition and evolution of shanties
Old Man – fond term for the Captain
packet rat – a ‘packet’ was initially a mail ship that also carried passengers and cargo, but came in time to refer to a passenger vessel on a regular run. A ‘packer rat’ was one of the tough sailors (usually of Irish extraction) regularly employed on one of the early- to mid-nineteenth-century ships running between Liverpool, New York and Boston.
pannikin – a small metal drinking cup
Paradise Street – a street on the edge of Liverpool’s Sailortown,
pawl – a short, pivoted metal bar with a shaped toe used as part of the capstan (and later windlass) function
pumps – device (multi-part and of diverse design) for clearing the vessel of accumulated water
quarterdeck – upper deck running back from the main mast
Rio Grande – not (according to Hugill) the river in Mexico, but the one further south in Brazil, surrounded by sand dunes and the site of an eighteenth-century gold rush
roll and go – a phrase with multiple associations and applications, one of which might be ‘prepare for departure’
rough and tumble – one of countless euphemisms for sex
royal yard – the upper sail of a square-rigged ship
saltpetre – a naturally occurring form of sodium nitrate (sometimes used as a preservative or curing agent) found in regions of Chile and Peru
scuffer - Liverpool slang for policeman
scuppers – holes in a vessel’s bulwark (waterway) allowing water to flow off
shellback – an old and experienced sailor
skyhoot – variation on ‘scoot’?
skysail – high-set square sail
slipped his cable – euphemism for died
tar – colloquial name for a sailor, although rarely applied (according to Layton) to a merchant seaman
tin – generic name for cash
Vallipo – sailor nickname for the port of Valparaiso in Chile
western sea, western ocean – the Atlantic
windlass – a machine used for working cable, powered originally by hand, subsequently by steam or electricity
yardarm – the outer end of a yard (a spar fitted across a mast), from which mutineers were hung
