| Piratical
Term |
Meaning |
Aft |
- |
The rear or back end of a vessel, known to land lubbers as "the blunt end". |
Anchor |
- |
A heavy iron hook used for mooring a vessel to the sea bed. the slang name for the anchor was "the mud'ook" |
Anchor watch |
- |
A watch kept when the vessel is at anchor as a precaution against dragging etc: |
Backstays |
- |
Ropes from the mast heads to the sides of a ship, to help support the mast when under the strain of the sails in a strong breeze. |
Belaying pin |
- |
A large wooden pin inserted into the ship's rail to which can be tied off parts of the rigging. But as anyone who has watched a pirate film will know they make excellent weapons for knocking the film's hero over the head. |
Bilge |
- |
Dirty stinking water found slopping about in the lowest parts of a vessel, a mixture of rain and sea spray that has worked it's way down through the vessel. In pirate slang "bilge" can be used to mean rubbish, and also to mean lies for example, "Arrgh!, he be talking nothing but bilge!". |
Blue Peter |
- |
The masthead lookout in Arctic waters. |
Boot topping |
- |
A hurried or partial careening, by only scraping the parts that could be reached without beaching the vessel. |
Bowsprit |
- |
The long pointy thing that sticks out from the bows of a ship |
Brace |
- |
Rope attached to the yards, for trimming sail. |
Broadside |
- |
The simultaneous firing of all the cannons down one side of a vessel was known as a broadside. Despite what you may have seen in pirate films, pirates did not do this very often, because if they sank an enemy vessel all the treasure she may be carrying would go down with her. Pirates preferred to spray an enemy vessel with musket fire and swivel guns to clear their upper decks in preparation to boarding her. |
Cable |
- |
Arope or chain. |
Cable's length |
- |
100 fathoms, or one tenth of a nautical mile. |
Capstan |
- |
A revolving post worked by men walking around and pushing on horizontal levers, used for winding in an anchor cable of hoisting heavy sails. |
Careening |
- |
The waters of the Caribbean are very warm, and weed grows quickly on the bottoms of boats, making them slow and difficult to steer. The sea is also infested with the Teredo worm, a shellfish which attaches itself to the hull of a vessel and eats through the wood. therefore every month or two the ships had to be careened, that is they were run ashore on a sandy beach, the guns and stores taken out, and then by means of ropes attached to the masts and to trees
onshore or the ships anchor on the beach, the vessel would be hauled over onto it's side. Most pirates could not afford to sheath their ships with lead or copper plates, so they had to scrape and patch the hull and then paint it with pitch or tallow. This was a job that was universally hated by all seamen but for pirates it also left them very vulnerable to attack while their ships lay beached like this. |
Cat of nine tails |
- |
Since ancient times ships have always carried a cat on board to control the vermin on board. However on some ships the cat was also used as a form of punishment for the crew. The cat was swung by it's tail across the victims back, it's claws leaving deep cuts. By the 17th century this practice was banned by law as being too cruel to the cat. From then on a type of whip was used instead, with nine leather thongs studded with iron, which left deep wounds across the back. |
Chase Guns |
- |
Most guns on board a vessel would be mounted so as to fire out of the side of the vessel in a "broadside", however many vessels especially pirates had a pair of cannon mounted in the bows of a ship to fire forward. these were called "chase guns" or "bow chasers", as they were used while pursuing an enemy vessel to try and put a shot into her rigging and slow her down. |
Clove Hitch |
- |
a sailor's knot, by which one rope is connected to another or round a pole. |
Colours |
- |
The flags worn by a vessel to show her nationality or allegiance, the colour for most pirates was black. |
Cutting a feather |
- |
A ship moving at speed is said to cut a feather in allusion to the shape of the ripple set up by the bow wave. |
Dead Eye |
- |
A round wooden block with three holes used to lengthen a rope in the rigging, also a term used to describe a pirate with one eye. |
Derrick |
- |
A type of crane used for hoisting heavy objects, so called from Derrick, the Tyburn hangman of the early 17th century, and also from it's simalarity in shape ot a gibbit. |
Fathom |
- |
A measure of six feet used to describe the depth of water. |
Flogging |
- |
On merchant and naval ships this was the main form of entertainment for sadistic officers, crewmen were often flogged for the most trivial of crimes. Pirates had a deep hatred for this type of punishment as many of them had been on the receiving end at one time or another. |
Fore |
- |
The opposite of aft, the front end of a vessel, or as landlubbers put it, "the sharp end". |
Fore and Aft Rig |
- |
A style of rigging having mainly sails set lengthways and not at right angles to the ships hull, as is the case with square rigged sails. Also known as lateen rigged. |
Fore Mast |
- |
On a vessel with more than one mast, the foremast is the one nearest to the front of the vessel. |
Foretop men |
- |
Sailors who worked aloft in the rigging, hoisting and lowering the sails. |
Foul anchor |
- |
When the ship's cable has taken a turn around the anchor. It was used as a seal by Charles Howard Earl of Nottingham (1536-1626), while Lord High Admiral, later it became the Admiralty crest. |
Foul Bottom |
- |
A vessel badly in need of careening is said to have a foul bottom, also a term used to describe a particularly flatulent pirate. |
Gunwale or Gunnel |
- |
The upper planking along the sides of a vessel where the guns are sited. |
Halyard |
- |
A rope for hoisting or lowering a sail, yard or flag. |
Handspike |
- |
A long bar used as a lever on a capstan. |
heave To |
- |
A nautical expression, to pull in your sails and come to a halt. also used in pirate slang to mean "stop". |
Helm |
- |
The wheel or tiller by which the vessel is steered. |
Irons |
- |
Chains or fetters, used to bind prisoners. Due to many pirates having experience of being on the wrong side of the law at one time or another, they felt a great affinity with prisoners of the law. They had a tradition of giving a round of applause to anyone they saw bound in chains, hence the expression "clap him in irons". |
Jib Boom |
- |
The extension of the bowsprit on which the triangular jib sail is set. |
Jolly Rodger |
- |
Generic name for the pirates skull and crossbones flag, pirates themselves would often call it "the old flaggy waggy". |
Keel hauling |
- |
This started as an experiment into a faster way of careening a ship without beaching her. However the crewmen found they could not hold their breath for long enough to do any serious scraping. From there it developed into a way of torturing prisoners. Who by means of ropes attached to their hands and feet would be dragged beneath the ship "until the barnacles rips open their belly and death comes as a merciful release". |
Larboard |
- |
Old name for the left hand side of a vessel, later changed to "Port" to avoid confusion with starboard. |
Lateen Rig |
- |
See: Fore and Aft Rig. |
Luff |
- |
To turn a ship towards the wind |
Mainmast |
- |
On a three masted vessel the main mast was the one in the middle, on a two masted vessel it was the one at the rear. |
Mizzenmast |
- |
The aftermost mast on a three masted vessel, so called because it carries the mizzen sail. |
Mutiny |
- |
This was the way in which many pirate crews started, very much like a workers takeover, but much more violent and bloody |
Port |
- |
Nautical term for left, i.e. the opposite of right (starboard). Also a favourite drink for pirates. |
Press Gang |
- |
A Royal Navy recruiting party. In the 18th century it was perfectly legal for the Royal Navy to "kidnap" men and force them into service with the fleet. Press gangs were allowed to operate in coastal towns, and also at sea a captain of a naval ship was allowed to stop a merchant vessel and "press" up to a third of it's crew. |
Quarter |
- |
Mercy, for example to give quarter to a beaten opponent. A concept little understood by many pirates. |
Red flag |
- |
Most pirate captains had two versions of the skull and crossbones flag, a black one was a signal for a victim to surrender, whereas the red version of the flag signified that no quarter would be given or expected. |
Ropes end |
- |
A short length of rope used for beating someone, a common disciplinary weapon used on naval ratings. |
Scuppers |
- |
Gutter along the edge of a ships deck leading to holes in the gunwale, to drain off rain and sea spray. Also a convenient place to place drunken pirates to keep them out of the way.
|
Scurvy |
- |
A wasting disease caused by a lack of vitamin C from fresh fruit and vegetables. Characterised by loss of hair, bleeding gums and loss of teeth, staggering and loss of balance. Until ships started to carry supplies of lemon or lime juice, scurvy was a common disease suffered by seamen on long voyages. It affected pirates more than merchant or naval seamen as they did not always have access to supplies of fruit juice, also in pirate crews there was nobody to force the men to take fruit or vegetables regularly. "Scurvy" was also a common insult in pirate slang, e.g. "Arr ye scurvy dog!". |
Shackle |
- |
A measure of twelve and a half fathoms. |
Starboard |
- |
A nautical term for right, the opposite of left (port). |
Stay Rope |
- |
running from one masthead to another. |
Stern |
- |
Another name for the blunt end of a vessel. |
Stern Chasers |
- |
The part of a rowing boat between its stern and the
rowers.
|
Stern Sheets |
- |
The part of a rowing boat between its stern and the
rowers.
|
Swab the decks |
- |
An activity seldom carried out on a pirate vessel, except occasionally by prisoners. However on board a naval vessel this activity was carried out daily, and for the crew was often the only bright spot in an otherwise dull and demeaning life.
|
Sweep |
- |
Old name for an oar. |
Tack |
- |
To change the direction of a sailing vessel's course by turning her bows into the wind until the wind blows on her other side. |
The anchor comes home |
- |
When the anchor breaks out of the seabed by dragging. In slang it means the enterprise has failed despite any precautions employed. |
Vapouring |
- |
Once a pirate vessel came within hailing distance of it's victim, the pirate crew would start "vapouring" as they called it. Which meant that they would dance around growling and chanting war cries, waving their weapons and clashing their cutlasses, a chilling sound. If they spied the captain of the other vessel, they often singled him out for special abuse, " you dog!, you son of a bitch! we will drub you, you dog, within an inch of your life, and that inch
too!". On some pirate ships the vapouring took a much more sinister form, a rhythmic pounding on the ships rails, as the pirates chanted "death, death, death". Pirates were masters of psychology, and captured ship after ship without a blow being struck, just by frightening their prey into submission. |
Warp |
- |
To warp a vessel is to move it by means of a rope to the shore, for example many vessels would be warped into harbour or up a river. |
Yard |
- |
A long spar suspended from the mast of a vessel, used to extend the sails. |
