Conquest

Glossary

ahoo

awry

assegai

light spear designed for throwing

ayont

beyond

belfry

protective canopy over a ship’s bell

bicorne

two-cornered officer’s hat; originally worn across until Napoleon adopted the style, then worn fore ’n’ aft

Billy Roarer

sailors’ nickname for

L’Aurore

bobotie

baked spicy minced-meat dish, topped with a savoury custard

bredie

spicy slow-cooked stew, usually containing mutton

British East India Company

English chartered company formed for trade with East and South East Asia and India; ‘John Company’

broadsides

opening fire with the battery of guns on each deck the entire length of one side of the ship

calesa

small horse-driven carriage

carronade

short-barrelled, large-calibre gun for use at close range

castellan

administrator/keeper of a castle

’Change

the Royal Exchange in the City of London

cobbs

sailor’s term for Spanish coins

coxswain

in charge of a boat; captain’s coxswain – in charge of the captain’s barge

cuddy

small cabin or compartment

Dutch East India Company

English for the VOC, Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie

field cornet

subordinate to the

landdrost

fo’c’sle

the foremost part of the main deck

gimcrack

cheap, showy object

goose-winged

running with one corner of the sail clewed up to give half the area drawing

Great Karoo

vast semi-desert area in southern Africa beyond the Swartberg range, north of Mossel Bay

gunroom

wardroom of a frigate

howitzer

a gun that lobs an explosive shot in a parabola

Jonkheer

honorific for a person of note or high birth

Khoikhoi

original peoples met by the Dutch in the Western Cape

koeksister

spiced syrup-coated small cake

landdrost

local magistrate, responsible for order and collection of revenues

lee

side opposite to that from which wind is blowing

lobsterbacks

nickname for soldiers, from their red uniforms

loon

slang for lunatic

louring

dark, threatening

Mevrouw

Mrs

Ox-eye

large-scale wind-squall associated with north-east monsoon

pens en pootjies

casserole of beans and trotters

pickets

soldiers detached from the main body to act as lookouts

pinnace

one of the smaller of the ship’s boats

plain sail

when the ship sails with all sail set except extras, such as stuns’ls

quarterdeck brace

authority position adopted by officer-of-the-watch; legs apart, arms thrust down behind

Quarters

after the ship is cleared for battle, the hands go to quarters for action

rijksdaalder

‘royal dollar’, rixdollar, main Cape currency

rooibos

native red bush, leaves of which are used to make a herbal tea

rutter

old term for pilot book in navigational use

Seringapatam, battle of

4 May 1799; final confrontation of the fourth Anglo-Mysore war

shageerijen

pot house frequented largely by sailors

swallowtail

distinctive v-shaped cut in a flag

tarpaulin

officer who has risen from before the mast and doesn’t care who knows it

tie-mate

special friend, helped plait each other’s pig-tail

umngqusho

savoury porridge, a traditional Xhosa dish

vrouw

housewife, woman

Zuurveld

buffer area between the Great Fish river and Sundays river to separate Boers and Xhosa