Caribbee

Glossary

a-caper

Dutch; abroad on a warlike mischief

a-taunto

all standing proudly on end, as masts

a-tupping

as on a farm with a ram among the ewes

Abolitionists

the political movement in England that ended with the abolition of slavery

admiral’s pen

the admiral’s residence, after Jamaican term for a holding

aloes

a medicinal plant whose leaf gel relieves skin ailments

avast

stop immediately

belaying pin

a wooden pin set for convenience into a holed rail to which ropes coming from aloft are tied

binnacle

the protective casing around the compass

bonehead

a useless seaman

bower

the most favoured anchor

broadside

the entire side of a ship; in gunnery, all the guns on that side

buckra

term for white man, from Ibo,

mbakara

bugaboo

variant of ‘bogey’

calipash and calipee

the upper and lower shells of a turtle

catblash

nonsense, no content, as in a cat loudly vomiting only a fur-ball

cathead

beam set into the bow of a ship such that when an anchor is heaved in clear of the water a tackle might be attached to swing it in to the ship’s side for stowing

clerk of the cheque

a senior dockyard official who comes aboard to muster the crew before disbursing pay entitlements

cobbs

Spanish dollars, from Gibraltar garrison

cruiser

a lone man-o’-war, usually a frigate, tasked to range the seas looking for prey

Dansker

a Danish national

dit

sea term for a polished story, informally told

fore-bitter

naval song performed by seamen in leisure time forward around the fore-bitts

fried milk

a sweet milk pudding with crunchy top

gunroom

in a large ship, the gunner’s abode; in frigates, the officer’s dining and mess room

gunwale

sides of a ship where strengthened to take gun-port piercing

gyre

a spiral motion or vortex as in a large-scale ocean current or air mass

hugger-mugger

clandestine

invest

to lay siege to

jalousie

louvred window that can be opened to allow airflow but restrict rain entry

jerk

spiced meat dried over a wood fire

keckling

improvised padding around an anchor cable to prevent chafing or damage from sharp coral

kedge

an anchor light enough to be taken to a distance by a boat to allow the ship to haul itself up to it

koonerman

Creole for king’s sailor

lasking

sailing easily downwind

letter of marque

legal document proving the vessel is duly authorised by a state to engage in privateering

lubber

a man hopeless in his nauticals

lubber’s hole

an aperture in the tops that allows a sailor climbing the shrouds to take the easy way through and on up

mauby beer

tree-bark based beer, widely known in the Caribbean, variously spiced and sweetened

mole

long pier usually of stone, set out in a harbour to break the force of the waves

mumchance

to stand tongue-tied

piccaninny

a young child

prame

shallow draft but fully ship-rigged French invasion frigate

prigger

thief

privateer

private man-o’-war; licensed by the state to capture enemy ships

quarters

after the ship is cleared for action the men close up at quarters for battle

quips and quillets

idiosyncrasies, from classical ‘quodlibet’, a polite disputation on nice points

reefer

midshipman, from their part-of-ship for handing sail on the yards

reprisal

legal device to justify a privateer to take action against a state for the purpose of obtaining pecuniary redress

roadstead

the approaches to a harbour where ships may safely anchor

scow

derogatory term for vessel, after flat barge in ports used to discharge waste from anchored ships

scran

food at sea, from northern English for broken victuals, scraps

shab

eighteenth-century term for ill-dressed person, from shabbroon

shaddock

large round fruit with a coarse-grained pulp, after the popularising seventeenth-century Captain Shaddock

soursop

Caribbean fruit with a creamy sour flavour

spithead

area off Portsmouth where the fleet anchors when in port

stingo

the stronger brews of English beer

tack

in order to gain ground against the wind a square-rigged vessel must first take the wind closely on one side then the other

top it the tiger

showing bravery and courage, as a tiger

tuileries

the royal palace of the doomed King Louis, later taken for his own by Emperor Bonaparte

volunteer

opposite of pressed man; also rate of youngster before being made midshipman

yaw

to slew either side of the true course, intentionally or otherwise

younker

affectionate term for youngster

zephyr

a barely perceptible breeze