GlOSSARY OF PIRATICAL TERMSNow, if ye intends ta go on account, thar
be a few phrases that no pyrate'd be
complete without...
TO GO ON ACCOUNT: a pleasant term used by pyrates to describe the act of turning pyrate. The basic idea was that a pyrate was more "free lance" and thus was, more or less, going into business for himself.
ACTS OF PARDON OR GRACE: general amnesty under which a
reformed pirate might surrender in return for a certificate of pardon
"AVAST YE!" : a hailing phrase to indicate that the hailed must "stop" and give attention.
BALLAST: heavy material used to stabilize rying cargo
BARKADEER: a small pier or jetty vessel
BARQUE: a sailing ship of three or more masts having the foremasts
rigged square and the aftermast rigged for fore and aft
BILGE: The lowest part inside the ship, within the hull itself. If any
place on the ship was going to be dank and musty, the bilge was
such a place. It was the first place to show signs of leakage and was
often considered the most filthy, deadspace of a ship. Hence, a "bilge
rat" is a creature considered most lowly by a pyrate. Though, many a
pyrate found himself eating those same rats to survive!
BILGED ON HER ANCHOR: a ship holed or pierced by its own anchor
BLACK SPOT: Tipping the black spot was a way pyrates gave a death
threat. As in the Novel, Treasure Island, a paper was marked with
a black smudge on one side and often a message on the other to make
the threat specific.
BOOMS OR FENDERS: spars to which a sail is fastened to control its
position relative to the wind
BOOT-TOPPING: a hurried, partial careen
BOTTY: Goods obtained illegally. Spoils obtained as a result of war or
battle.
BOUNTY: Reward or payment, usually from a government, for the capture of a
criminal.
BOWSPIRT: the furthest front of the ship is the bowsprit. It is
usually used as a lead connection for a smaller navigational sail. It
was from the bowsprit that Blackbeard's head was hung as a trophy.
BRIG, BRIGANTINE: a two-masted sailing ship, rigged square on the
foremast and fore and aft with square topsails on the mainmast
BROADSIDE: a general term for the vantage on another ship of
absolute perpendicular to the direction it is going. To get along
broadside a ship was to take it at a very vulnerable angle. This is of
course, the largest dimention of a ship and is easyiest to attack with
larger arms. A "Broadside" has come to indicate a hit with a cannon or
similar attack right in the main part of the ship.
BROADSIDE
BROUGHT A SPRING UPON HER CABLE: came round in a different
direction
BRULOT (FRENCH): a fireship
BUCCANEERS: the original "cow killers" who settled illegally on
Hispaniola. The name derives from their method of smoke-curing meat
on a boucan. Later, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they
took to sea and preyed on Spanish colonies and shipping in America and
the Caribbean.
CAPSTAN: a windlass with a vertical drum, used for hauling in ropes,
etc.
CAREEN: to careen a ship is to take it into shallower waters or out
of the water altogether and to remove barnacles and pests from the
bottom. Pests include mollusks (worms), shells, and plant growth.
Often a pyrate needed to careen his ship to restore it to proper speed.
Also, careening was dangerous to pyrates as it left the ship inoperable
while the work was being done.
CAREENAGE: a careening place
CHASE GUNS: cannon situated at the bow of a ship, used during pursuit
CHEQUEEN: sequin, a former Venetian gold coin
CLAPINIRONS: to chain
COME ABOUT: to bring the ship full way around in the wind. Used
in general while sailing into the wind, but also used to indicate a
swing back into the enemy in combat.
CORSAIR: This term was used for Christian and Muslim privateers in the Mediterranean between the 16th and 19th centuries. The Barbary corsairs centered on North African states and were often "hired" by Muslim nations to attack Christian ships. The Christian Corsairs were known as the Maltese corsairs and they took their orders from the Knights of St. John to attack the Turks.
CRIMP: a person who swindled or press ganged sailors
CUTLESS: A short, heavy, single edged sword, once used predominantly by
sailors.
DAVEY JONES'S LOCKER: a fictional place at the bottom of the ocean.
In short, a term meaning death. Davey Jones was said to sink
every ship he ever over took, and thus, the watery grave that awaited all who were sunk by him was given his name. To die at sea is to go to
"Davey Jones's Locker".
DORY: a fisherman's dugout
DOUBLOON: a former Spanish gold coin
DROGER: a West Indian coasting vessel
EXECUTION DOCK: the usual place for pirate hangings, on the Thames, in
London near the Tower
FIRESHIP: a vessel loaded with explosives and used as a bomb by igniting
it and directing it to drift among an enemy's warships
FLOTILLA: a small fleet
FLnNGJ}B: the jib furthest forward on a vessel with two or more jibs
FO'C'S'LE: This is a term used for the Forcastle or frontmost part of
the ship. Usually under the front deck and above the lower deck.
FREEBOOTER OR FILIBUSTER: another name for a buccaneer or pirate
GALLEON: a large sailing ship having three or more masts, lateen-rigged on
the aftermasts and square-rigged on the fore and mainmasts; used as
a warship or for trade
GALLEY: a low, flat-built vessel, propelled partly or wholly by oars
GIBBET: a wooden structure resembling a gallows from which bodies of
executed criminals were hung for public view
GRAPPLE OR GRAPNEL: a hooked instrument thrown with a rope for
gripping and closing with an enemy
GRENADE: these were made from square-faced case bottles, filled with
gunpowder, small shot, bits of old iron thrown by hand
GUARDA COSTA: a vessel fitted out in Spanish or colonial ports and
commissioned by local governors to enforce Spain's trade monopoly
GUINEAMAN: a ship engaged in the slave trade in the Guinea Coast of
West Africa
GUNWALLS: the "sides" of the top deck. These "walls" were the
only thing keeping things on deck from sliding into the water. Of
course, these railings and walls had openings for the heavy arms or
guns.
HEAVE DOWN, TO: to turn a vessel on its side for cleaning
HOGSHEAD: a large cask used mainly for shipment of wines and spirits
INTERLOPER: an illegal trader
JACK: a flag, especially one flown at the bow of a ship to indicate her
nationality
JOLLY BOAT: a light boat carried at the stern of a larger sailing ship. This (probably) Danish Yawl (jol), proved better at high sea when
a larger ship could harldy carry any sail.
JOLLY ROGER: the pirate flag
JURY MAST: a temporary or make-shift mast erected on a sea vessel
after the mainmast has been destroyed. Often, in combat, the mast
was the most damaged (providing the ship didn't sink). Without the
mast, a ship was powerless, so a term grew out of the need to make
masts to power damaged ships.
KEEL HAUL: another term made famous by pyrates. This is the act
of throwing a man overboard, tied to a rope that goes beneath the
ship, and then dragging him from one side to the other and hauling
him out. Besides the torment of being dragged under water, this would
drag the victim across the barnacle studded ship's hull and cause great
pain and injury. This was a serious punishment and not administered
lightly.
LANDLUBBER: a term given to one fond of land as opposed to sea.
The terms doesn't derive from "land lover" but rather from the
root of "lubber" which means clumsy or uncoordinated. Thus, a
landlubber is one who is awkward at sea for familiarity with the land.
Of course, this terms was used to insult the abilities of one at sea.
LARBOARD: the left (or port) side of a vessel when facing the bow
LETTERS OF MARQUE OR REPRISAL: commissions or licenses to fit out
armed vessels to be employed in the capture of enemy merchant shipping
and to commit other hostile acts that would otherwise be condemned as
piracy. a document given to a sailor (privateer) giving
him amnesty from pyracy laws as long as the ships plundered were
of an enemy nation. A large portion of the pyrates began as privateers,
with this symbol of legitimacy. Still, the earnings of a privateer were
significantly better than any given a soldier at sea in any Navy.
LONG BOAT:the largest boat carried by another ship. This was used
to move larger loads, often anchors, chains, or ropes. In the case
of pyrates, the longboats were used to transport the bulk of heavier
treasures.
LONG CLOTHES: Long clothes were a style of clothing best suited to
land. A pyrate, or any sailor, didn't have the luxury of wearing
anything loose that might get in the way while climbing up riggings.
Landsmen, by contrast, could adorn themselves with baggy pants,
coats, and stockings.
LOOT: Gold, money, or other goods obtained illegally
MAINSHEET: the line used to control the angle of the mainsail to
the wind
MAN-OF-WAR: a warship
MARINER: One whose responsibility it is to help in navigating a vessel.
MAROON, TO: to put ashore and abandon a person on a barren island
or cay
MAROONERS: a name sometimes given to pirates because of their use of
marooning as a form of punishment
MAROON TO ISOLATE: Sailors would leave mutinous shipmates on deserted
islands, without any means of survival.
MERCHANT SHIP: A ship that is involved in trade/commerce. A cargo ship.
MIZZEN: a term meaning "middle" on a ship. The Mizzenmast was
usually the largest and, perhaps, most important mast.
MOIDORE: a former Portuguese gold coin
MUTINY: To rise against authority, particularly a naval or military power.
PATARERO: a kind of muzzle-loading mortar that fired scattering shot,
stones, spikes, old nails, broken glass, etc.
PIECE OF EIGHT: a former Spanish coin
PINNACE: any of various kinds of ship's tender
PIRAGUA: a type of native dugout canoe
PLUNDER: The act of pillaging or robbery.
POOP DECK: the deck at the furthest back of a ship. Usually above
the captain's quarters, the poopdeck was usually the highest deck
of the ship.
PRESS(OR FORCE): to recruit for naval or military service by forcible
means
PRIVATEER: a privateer is a sailor with a "letter of marque" (see below) from a governement. This letter "allows" the sailor to plunder any ship of a given enemy nation. Technically a privateer was a self employed soldier paid only by what he plundered from an enemy. In this, a privateer was supposed to be above being tried for pyracy. Tell that to Cap'n Kidd. Most often, privateers were a higher class of criminal, though many turned plain pyrate before all was said and done.
PYRATE: A robber at sea. Any act of theft while on the oceans is pyracy in the most general sense.
QUARTER: mercy shown to a defeated opponent. Deriving from the idea of "shelter", quarter was given
when mercy was offered by the pyrates. To give no quarter was to
indicate that none would be spared. Quarter was often the prize given
to an honourable loser in a pyrate fight. If enraged, however, a pyrate
would deprive the loser any such luxury.
SALMAGUNDI: a dish of chopped meat, eggs, anchovies, onions, etc.; a
pirate favorite
SCHOONER: a sailing vessel with at least two masts with all lower sails rigged
fore and aft
SEA LEGS: after walking on a ship for long periods of time, sailors
became accustomed to the rocking of the ship in the water. So,
early in a voyage a sailor was said to be lacking his "sea legs" when the ship motion was still foreign to him. Often, after a cruise, a sailor would have trouble regaining his "land legs" and would swagger on land.
SHIVER ME TIMBERS: This term was used to express shock or
surprise. The idea of timbers shivering comes from the vibration
set up in the mast (timbers) by either running aground or a solid hit
from a larger gun. The suggestion is that something has shaken the
speaker from a state of less awareness.
SLOOP: a single-masted vessel rigged fore and aft with a long bowsprit,
much favored by the pirates because of its shallow draught and
maneuverability
SMACK: a sailing vessel usually sloop-rigged, used in coasting or
fishing
SNOW: a small sailing vessel, resembling a brig, carrying a main and
foremast and a supplementary trysail mast close behind the mainmast
SPANISH MAIN: the mainland of Spanish America, from the Isthmus of
Panama to the present republics of Colombia and Venezuela
SPIKE(GUNS): to render a gun useless by blocking the vent or touch hole
with a spike, often a soft nail
SPRITSAILYARD: a yard set on the underside of the bowsprit, to carry a
spritsail
STARBOARD: the right side of a vessel when facing the bow
STRIKE(COLORS): to haul down a ship's flag as a signal of surrender
SWEET TRADE: buccaneering or piracy
APPLING THE SWEET TRADE: Another term used for pirating or becoming a pirate
SWING THE LEAD: The Lead was a weight at the bottom of a line
that gave sailors a way to measure depth when near land. To Swing
the Lead was considered a simple job, and thusly came to represent one
who is avoiding work or taking the easy work over the hard. In todays
terms, one who swings the lead is a slacker.
SWIVEL (GUN): a gun mounted on a pivot so that it might be swung from
side to side
TAKE A CAULK: on deck of a ship, between planks, was a thick
caulk of black tar and rope to keep water from between decks.
This term came to mean to "take a nap" either because sailors who
slept on deck ended up with black lines across their backs or simply
because sailors laying down on deck were as horizontal as the caulk of
the deck itself.
TENDER: a small boat, towed or carried by a ship
VICE-ADMIRALTY COURTS: courts established in the British colonies for
trial and decision of maritime questions and offenses
WALK THE PLANK: Perhaps more famous than historically practiced,
walking the plank was the act of being forced off a ship by pyrates
(as punishment or torture) into the watery grave below. History
suggests that this might have happened once that can be vaguely
documented, but it is etched in the image of the pyrates for its clearly dastardly content.
WARP: to move a vessel by hauling on a rope fixed to a stationary
object ashore
WEIGH: to raise a vessel's anchor in preparation for departure
WHERRY: a light rowing boat, used in inland waters and harbors
YARDARM: the main arm across the mast which holds up the sail.
The yardarm was another vulnerable target in combat, and it was
also a favourite place from which to hang prisoners or enemies. Black
Bart hung his governor of Martinique from his yardarm.
YARDS: the spars slung from the masts of a square-rigged vessel and
used for suspending sails
YELLOW JACK: like any "jack" or flag, the yellow jack was used to indicate a particular disposition of a ship. In this case the yellow
was to signify the yellow fever. A yellow flag flying meant that there
was illness aboard. Often this was used to trick pyrates away from
potential targets.
