Here is the glossary compiled from both books.
Articles (Ship’s) – the document sailors were often required to sign with the captain of the ship. It would detail the name of the ship, rank or role of each sailor, any shares or salary, the nature of the voyage, its intended duration, any regulations to be observed aboard ship or in port, and punishments for violating the same.
Bastion – an angular structure projecting out from the corner of a curtain wall, consisting of two faces and two flanks. Normally the same height as the wall.
Beakhead – a structure forward of the hull that served as a working platform under the bowsprit and was often ornately decorated.
Binnacle – the waist-high wooden housing for the ship’s compass and other navigation tools, located in front of the helmsman’s station at the whipstaff or ship’s wheel.
Bloody flux – typically referring to dysentery, a type of gastroenteritis, caused by ingesting certain harmful bacteria, protozoa, or parasitic worms, resulting in fever, stomach cramps, and bloody diarrhoea.
Bota bag – a traditional Spanish leather bag lined with goatskin, tree sap, or other resins; used for carrying liquids. Commonly has a narrow nozzle allowing a person to drink without touching the mouth of the container.
Bowsprit – a spar protruding forward from the ship’s prow to provide anchor points for the sails extending beyond the bow. The bowsprit is held down by a stay running to the ship’s stem or a dolphin striker to counter the upward pull of the jibs and forestays.
Caracara (Crested) – a raptor with a wingspan of over four feet, mostly brown in colouration with a blue beak, bare orange face, and white markings on the neck, wingtips, and tail. It mainly feeds on dead animals, and is aggressive towards black vultures and turkey vultures at carcasses, but it will also take live prey if the possibility arises.
Careen – to beach a ship in order to clean, caulk, and repair the hull. The ship is typically emptied of all cargo, cannons, and other heavy items beforehand.
Cat-o’-nine-tails – also known as “the cat”, this multi-tailed whip is used in floggings. The nine thongs or tails are made by unravelling a thick rope into its three smaller ropes, each of which is unravelled again. Each line is then knotted several times along its length, giving the cat its “claws”.
Chainshot – a type of shot created by connecting two half-balls with a short chain, which spins in the air when fired. Used to cut through masts and rigging of an enemy ship.
Chandlery – a one-stop-shop for ships needing to resupply their stores or to purchase other naval equipment.
Chip log – a wooden board attached to the log line. The chip log is tossed overboard and the number of knots payed out over a certain time interval indicates the ship’s speed.
Cutlass – a short, slashing sword with a hilt featuring a solid basket-shaped guard. Popular during the Age of Sail, it was robust enough to hack through heavy ropes, canvas, and wood, and short enough to use in close quarters during boarding actions or below deck.
Davy Jones’ Locker – the final resting place of shipwrecks and sailors lost at sea; the seabed.
Dead reckoning – a method of navigating using a previously known position, along with records of speed and heading over a period of time, to calculate one’s current location.
Deadeye – a thick, wooden disc with three holes drilled through it, reminiscent of the eyes and nose of a skull, typically used in pairs with a lanyard run between them to function like a block and tackle.
Derrick – named for a type of gallows, a derrick is a hoisting apparatus with a tackle rigged at the end of a boom for lifting and lowering cargo.
Doldrums – an area near the thermal equator where converging trade winds can create windless weather for days or weeks at a time.
Doubloons – a Spanish gold coin worth 128 reales and twice as much as the gold pistole, which in turn was worth two escudo. Common folk may have used doubloon to refer to any of these three gold coins.
En flûte – a French naval expression for a warship sailing without some, or all, of its cannons, taken from the name of the common Dutch cargo-carrier, the fluyt.
Firkin – a small wooden cask for liquids or foodstuffs, defined to be 8.5 ale gallons in 1688. A 1/4 of an ale barrel and 1/6 of a hogshead.
Fishing (the boom) – strengthening where a broken spar (mast, yard, gaff, boom, etc) is being rejoined by using one or more additional pieces of wood set parallel to the spar, and then wrapped, or woolded, together with rope or chain.
Flogging – whipping the bare back of a person, often with a cat-o-nine-tails; a punishment for numerous offences.
Go upon the account – when a sailor turned to piracy, often signing a Ship’s Articles, it was compared to going into business for themselves as no wages would be paid until there was plunder to be shared out.
Granny’s knot – consists of two identical half knots tied one on top of the other making an untrustworthy knot that, according to Admiral W.H. Smyth in The Sailor’s Word-Book of 1867, is “…derided by seamen…”
Grapeshot – unlike a solid cannonball, this ammunition is an arrangement of smaller round shot packed tightly into a canvas bag, looking like a bunch of grapes. When fired, the round shot sprays out in a cone and is effective against people as well as rigging, spars, and sails.
Gunner’s Quoin – a wedge placed under the barrel of a cannon to adjust the elevation of the gun within its carriage.
Gunwale – the top edge of the hull where there is often reinforcement to support firing the guns on a warship. Pronounced “gunnel”.
Gybe – a manoeuvre where a sailing ship turns its stern through the wind, as opposed to a tack, which is when the bow crosses the wind. For a square-rigged ship, gybing, or jibing, is called “wearing ship”.
Hazard (game) – an involved betting game using two dice, where the caster tries to roll a specific series of sums. A precursor to the simplified game of Craps.
Head (Ship’s) – where the ship’s crew relieved themselves. Initially, sailors leaned against or sat upon rails around the bowsprit, hanging out over the water. By the 1800s, ships began using a plank seat with a hole.
Hogshead – a large cask of a specific volume of liquid or foodstuff. In 1688 the volume was set at 51 ale gallons, with an ale gallon being 282 cubic inches.
Hominy – made from corn that has been soaked in diluted lye or slaked lime and ground into grits or flour. The ground corn is boiled into porridge and mixed with butter, cheese, meat, spices, etc. as called for by the recipe.
Hornpipe – an Irish, Scottish and English dance without partners, typically done in hard shoes to help keep time.
Huckster – a food vendor who sells their goods without a stall, approaching customers in a market, on the street, or door-to-door.
Justaucorps – a long, knee-length coat worn by men in the late 17th century and throughout the 18th century. French in origin, it was part of a three-piece ensemble in England, which also included breeches and a waistcoat. This ensemble eventually evolved into the modern-day three-piece suit.
Knot – one nautical mile per hour; indicates a ship’s speed. The term is derived from counting the number of knots that unspool on the log line in a specific amount of time after the attached chip log is dropped into the water.
Landlubber – a person who has little to no experience with the sea, or lacks the skills to sail upon it.
League – originally defined as the distance a person could walk in an hour; at sea, a league is three nautical miles.
Letter of Marque (and Reprisal) – a government commission or license that authorized a private person to attack and capture vessels of a nation at war with the issuer. Captured ships, or prizes, were subject to condemnation and sale under prize law, with the proceeds distributed according to the shares held by each of the privateer’s financers, the captain, the crew, and the issuer of the commission.
Lobscouse – a stew made with salted meat, onions, and other ingredients, using ship’s biscuit to thicken the dish.
Luff – a sail will flap, or luff, when losing wind or when the wind is blowing equally on both sides. For example: the sails will luff when the bow passes through the wind (as the ship tacks).
Lye – obtained by leaching alkaline salts from wood ashes with water to produce caustic lye water, which in turn can be used in curing certain foods and making soap.
Mainbrace – braces control the angle of the yards and the mainbrace is the largest and heaviest of all the rigging. If the mainbrace is shot away in battle, or is otherwise severed, the ship will be at the mercy of the sea, unable to change direction until the rope is repaired.
Magazine (Ship’s) – the storehouse within a ship where powder for the cannons is stored, typically located below the waterline.
Malapertness – being rude and disrespectful in speech or manner; impudently bold; saucy.
Manifest (Ship’s) – a document which officially specifies the nature and quantity of the cargo stowed aboard a ship. Typically used by customs officials, this document helps determine if the cargo placed on board a ship at the beginning of its voyage is still on board upon arrival at its destination.
Mantua – a pleated dress with elbow-length, cuffed sleeves and a high, square neckline worn looped and draped up over a contrasting petticoat and a stomacher.
Marlinspike – a narrow steel or iron spike used as a lever to open strands of rope for splicing, to untie tight knots, and to tighten knots more than could be done by hand alone. Also effective as an improvised weapon.
Marooned – to have been put ashore on a deserted island or coast, intentionally abandoned with little hope of rescue or escape.
Millinery – a place to obtain any manner of fashionable hat, various accessories, and other clothing, including the fabric to make your own. The shop may also offer washing, mending, and starching services.
Mizzenmast – the mast nearest the stern on a ship carrying two or more masts.
Mutiny – the revolt of a ship’s crew against the captain and officers, typically with the aim of taking control of the vessel.
Muttonchops – side-whiskers that are narrow near the ear and become broad and round along the lower jaw.
Nicking the necks – breaking or chopping off the necks of bottles containing wine or spirits; not bothering with the corks.
Pieces of eight – Spanish silver coins worth 8 reales or 1/16 of a doubloon, also referred to as dollars or pesos, and could be cut into eight pieces, or bits, to make change.
Pluff mud – a soft, thick, dark mud formed primarily from decaying salt marsh grasses and oyster shells. Has a distinct rotten-egg smell.
Plunder – to take goods or treasure by force; to loot, pillage, sack, or steal.
Poignard – a small, slender dagger typically worn by the upper classes.
Porgy – bottom-dwelling fish with strong teeth that live in shallow temperate waters, also known as sea breams.
Powder monkey – a member of the gun crew who carried gunpowder to the cannons from the magazine in the hold, but only as needed in order to minimize the risk of fire and explosions.
Pressed (into service) – forcibly recruited into the military or navy. Although the great majority of those pressed were taken from merchant ships, landsmen were also included when the need was great.
Privateer – a private person or ship permitted by a commission, or letter of marque, to attack foreign ships and take them as prizes. This commission was the proof the privateer was not a pirate.
Public house – an establishment that serves alcoholic drinks, nowadays called a pub. The term was used to differentiate between private houses and those open to the public as alehouses, taverns, and inns.
Ratlines – the lines tied between the shrouds of a sailing ship to form a ladder, allowing sailors to go aloft as lookouts, to work with the sails, or to conduct repairs.
Reveille – a musical call on a bugle, fife-and-drum, or pipes to rouse military personnel at sunrise. The name comes from the French for “wake up”.
Salmagundi – a dish of whatever seafood, meat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts the cook has at hand, all dressed with oil, vinegar, and spices.
Scallywag – a rascal; a good-for-nothing; a mischievous or even villainous person.
Scuppers – openings at deck level that allow water to drain off the ship instead of pooling within the gunwales.
Slops – originally referred to wide, puffy trousers popular with seamen because of the ease of movement they afforded. By the late 17th century, slops came to refer to sailors clothing in general, not just the trousers.
Spar – a length of wood used in the rigging of a sailing vessel to carry or support its sails. These poles include yards, booms, masts, and the bowsprit.
Stall board – a protruding board attached to the sill of an open window, acting as a counter from which to serve food and drink to customers standing in the street.
Steerageway – the minimum speed required for a ship to respond to its helm, so it may steer.
Storm-wracked – beset or destroyed by a storm.
Sweep – a long oar used to row or manoeuvre a sailing ship when there is no wind.
Taffrail – the handrail around the weather deck at the stern of a ship.
Trucks (wooden) – the wheels on a gun carriage.
Victualler – an innkeeper, a landlord of a public house, a butcher, or a person who supplies food, beverages, and other provisions.
Weather deck – any deck exposed to the outside air.
Whipstaff – a long, thin pole connected at a right-angle to the rudder, allowing the helmsman to steer the ship. The whipstaff preceded the invention of the more complex ship’s wheel.
Wooding and watering – resupplying a ship with wood and water, and other goods when possible.
Wormer – a double screw, like intertwined corkscrews, fixed to a long handle; used to draw out wadding or bits of cartridge bags left in a cannon after firing.