Chapter VI: Canto III (2)

_Brails_: a general name given to all the ropes which are employed to haul up, or brail the bottoms, and lower corners of the great sails. A rope is always attached to the edges of the sails, to strengthen and prevent them from rending: those parts of it which are on the perpendicular or sloping edges, are called _leech ropes_, that, at the bottom, the _foot rope_, and that on the top, or upper edge, the _head-rope. Robands_, or _rope bands_, are small pieces of rope, of a sufficient length to pass two or three times about the yards, in order to fix to them the upper edges of the respective great sails: the robands for this purpose are passed through the eyelet holes under the head-rope.

PAGE 70, l. 3-6.

_That task performed, they first the braces slack,_
_Then to the chess-tree drag th’ unwilling tack._
_And, while the lee clue-garnet’s lower’d away,_
_Taught aft the sheet they tally, and belay._

The braces are here slackened, because the lee-brace confining the yard, the tack could not come down until the braces were cast off. The _chess tree_, called by the French _taquet d’amure_, consists of a perpendicular piece of wood, fastened with iron bolts, on each side the ship: in the upper part of the chess-tree is a large hole, through which the tack is passed; and when the _clue_ or lower corner of the sail comes down to it, the tack is said to _be aboard_. _Taught_, the _roide_ of the French, and _dicht_ of the Dutch sailors, implies the state of being extended, or stretched out. _Tally_, is a word applied to the operation of hauling the sheets aft, or toward the ship’s stern. To _belay_ is to fasten.

PAGE 71, l. 21, 22.

_They furled the sails, and pointed to the wind_
_The yards, by rolling tackles then confined._

The rolling tackle is an assemblage of blocks or pullies, through which a rope is passed, until it becomes four-fold, in order to confine the yard close down to leeward when the sail is furled, that the yard may not gall the mast, from the rolling of the ship. _Gaskets_ are platted ropes to wrap round the sails when furled.

PAGE 72, l. 3-8.

_Top-gallant-yards, travellers, back-stays, top-ropes, parrels, lifts, topped, booms._

_Top-gallant-yards_, which are the highest ones in a ship, are sent down at the approach of an heavy gale, to ease the mast-heads. _Travellers_ are iron rings furnished with a piece of rope, one end of which encircles the ring to which it is spliced: they are principally intended to facilitate the hoisting or lowering of the top-gallant yards; for which purpose two of them are fixed on each back-stay; which are long ropes that reach on each side of the ship, from the top-masts (which are the second in point of height) to the chains. _Top-ropes_ are employed to sway up or lower the top-masts, top-gallant-masts, and their respective yards. _Parrels_ are those bands of rope, by which the yards are fastened to the masts, so as to slide up and down when requisite; and of these there are four different sorts. _Lifts_ are ropes which reach from each mast-head to their respective yard-arms. A yard is said to be _topped_, when one end of the yard is raised higher than the other, in order to lower it on deck by means of the top-ropes. _Booms_ are spare masts, or yards, which are placed in store on deck, between the main and foremast, immediately to supply the place of any that may be carried away, or injured, by stress of weather.

PAGE 73, l. 11.

_But here the doubtful officers dispute_—

This is particularly mentioned, not because there was, or could be, any dispute at such a time between a master of a ship, and his chief mate, as the former can always command the latter; but to expose the obstinacy of a number of our veteran officers, who would rather risk any thing than forego their ancient rules, although many of them are in the highest degree equally absurd and dangerous. It is to the wonderful sagacity of these philosophers, that we owe the sea maxims of avoiding to whistle in a storm, because it will increase the wind; of whistling on the wind in a calm; of nailing horse-shoes on the mast to prevent the power of witches; of nailing a fair wind to the starboard cat-head, &c.

PAGE 74, l. 5.

_The tack’s eased off!_

It has been already remarked, that the _tack_ is always fastened to windward; consequently, as soon as it is cast loose, and the clue-garnet is hauled up, the weather clue of the sail immediately mounts to the yard; and this operation must be carefully performed in a storm, to prevent the sail from splitting, or being torn to pieces by shivering.

PAGE 74, l. 7.

_The sheet and weather-brace they now stand by._

To _stand by_ any rope is, in the language of seamen, to take hold of it. Whenever the sheet is cast off, it is necessary to pull in the weather brace, to prevent the violent shaking of the sail.

PAGE 74, l. 13.

_By spilling lines embraced_—

The _spilling lines_, which are only used on particular occasions in tempestuous weather, are employed to draw together, and confine the belly of the sail, when inflated by the wind over the yard.

PAGE 74, l. 18.

_Below, the down-haul tackle others ply;_

The violence of the gale forcing the yard much out, it could not easily have been lowered so as to reef the sail, without the application of a tackle, consisting of an assemblage of the pullies, to haul it down on the mast: this is afterwards converted into rolling tackle, which has been already described in a former note.

PAGE 74, l. 19.

_Jears, lifts, and brails, a seaman each attends,_
_And down the mast its mighty yard descends._

_Jears_, or _geers_, answer the same purpose to the main-sail, fore-sail, and mizen, as _haliards_ do to all inferior sails. The _tye_, a sort of runner, or thick rope, is the upper part of the _jears_.

PAGE 74, l. 23, 24; and Page 75, l. 1-12.

_Reef-lines, shrouds, reef-band, outer and inner turns._

_Reef-lines_, are only used to reef the main-sail and fore-sail. _Shrouds_, so called from the Saxon _scrud_, consist of a range of thick ropes stretching downwards from the mast heads, to the right and left sides of a ship, in order to support the masts, and enable them to carry sail; they are also used as rope ladders, by which seamen ascend or descend to execute whatever is wanting to be done about the sails and rigging. _Reef-band_, consists of a piece of canvass sewed across the sail, to strengthen it in the place where the eyelet-holes of the reefs are formed. The _outer turns_ of the earing serve to extend the sail along its yard; the _inner turns_ are employed to confine its head-rope close to its surface.

PAGE 75, l. 21.

_A Sea, up-surging with stupendous roll._

A sea is the general term given by sailors to an enormous wave; and hence, when such a wave bursts over the deck, the vessel is said to have _shipped a sea_.

PAGE 77, l. 3, 4.

_Too late to weather now Morea’s land,_
_And drifting fast on Athen’s rocky strand._

To weather a shore is to pass to windward of it, which at this time was prevented by the violence of the gale. _Drift_ is that motion and direction, by which a vessel is forced to leeward sideways, when she is unable any longer to carry sail; or, at least, is restrained to such a portion of sail, as may be necessary to keep her sufficiently inclined to one side, that she may not be dismasted by her violent labouring produced by the turbulence of the sea.

PAGE 77, l. 10.

_And try beneath it the sidelong in the sea._

To _try_, is to lay the ship with her side nearly in the direction of the wind and sea, with her head somewhat inclined to windward; the helm being fastened close to the lee-side, or in the sea language, _hard a-lee_, to retain her in that position. See a further illustration in the last note of this Canto.

PAGE 77, l. 12.

_Topping lift, knittle, throt._

A tackle, or assemblage of pullies, which tops the upper end of the mizen-yard. This line, and the six following, describe the operation of reefing and balancing the mizen. The _knittle_ is a short line used to reef the sails by the bottom. The _throt_ is that part of the mizen-yard which is close to the mast.

PAGE 80, l. 13.

_Companion, binacle._

The _companion_ is a wooden porch placed over the ladder that leads down to the cabins of the officers. The _binacle_ is a case, which is placed on deck before the helm, containing three divisions; the middle one for a lamp, or candle, and the two others for mariners’ compasses. There are always two binacles on the deck of a ship of war, one of which is placed before the master, at his appointed station. In all the old sea books it was called _bittacle_.

PAGE 80, l. 19.

_They sound the well._

The _well_ is an apartment in a ship’s hold, serving to inclose the pumps: it is sounded by dropping down a measured iron rod, which is connected with a long line—The _brake_ is the pump-handle.

PAGE 83, l. 3.

_Meanwhile Arion traversing the waist._

The _waist_ is that part of a ship which is contained between the quarter deck and forecastle; or the middle of that deck which is immediately below them. When the waist of a merchant ship is only one or two steps in descent from the quarter deck and forecastle, she is said to be galley built; but when it is considerably deeper, as with six or seven steps, she is then called frigate built.

PAGE 85, l. 13.

_Her place discovered by the rules of art._

The lee-way, or drift, in this passage are synonymous terms.—The true course and distance resulting from these traverses is discovered by collecting the difference of latitude, and departure of each course; and reducing the whole into one departure, and one difference of latitude, according to the known rules of trigonometry: this reduction will immediately ascertain the base and perpendicular; or, in other words, will give the difference of latitude and departure, to discover the course and distance.

PAGE 89, l. 42.

_Yet where with safety can we dare to scud_
_Before this tempest and pursuing flood?_

The movement of _scudding_, from the Swedish word _skutta_, is never attempted in a contrary wind, unless, as in the present instance, the condition of a ship renders her incapable of sustaining any longer on her side, the mutual efforts of the winds and waves. The principal hazards, incident to scudding, are generally a _pooping_ sea; the difficulty of steering, which exposes the vessel perpetually to the risk of broaching-to; and the want of sufficient sea-room: a sea striking the ship violently on the stern may dash it inwards, by which she must inevitably founder; in broaching-to suddenly, she is threatened with being immediately overset; and, for want of sea-room, she is endangered with shipwreck on a lee-shore; a circumstance too dreadful to require explanation.

PAGE 91, l. 9.

_Thus water-logged_—

A ship is said to be _water-logged_, when, having received through her leaks a great quantity of water into her hold, she has become so heavy and inactive on the sea, as to yield without resistance to the efforts of every wave that rushes over the deck. As in this dangerous situation the centre of gravity is no longer fixed, but fluctuates from place to place, the stability of the ship is utterly lost: she is therefore almost totally deprived of the use of her sails, which operate to overset her, or press the head under water: hence there is no resource for the crew, except to free her by the pumps, or to abandon her for the boats as soon as possible.

PAGE 96, l. 3, 4.

_Hatches, lanyard._

_Hatches_, a term which seamen sometimes incorrectly use for _gratings_; a sort of open cover for the hatchways, formed by several small laths, or battens, which cross each other at right angles, leaving a square interval between: these gratings are not only of service to admit the air and light between decks, but also to let off the smoke of the great guns during action.

_Lanyard_, or laniard, is a short piece of line fastened to different things on board a ship, to preserve them in a particular place; such are the lanyards of the gun-ports, the lanyard of the buoy, the lanyard of the cat-hook, &c.; but the lanyards alluded to in the above line, were those by means of which the shrouds were extended; or, as a sailor would express himself, _taught_.

PAGE 99, l. 5.

_Both stay-sail sheets to mid-ships were conveyed._

The fore stay-sail being one of the sails which command the fore part of the ship, is for that reason hoisted at this time, to bear her fore-part round before the wind: for the same reason, after it is split, the foremast yards are braced aback; that is, so as to form right angles with the direction of the wind. For a further illustration of this, see the subsequent note.

PAGE 99, l. 18.

_And hew at once the mizen-mast away!_

“When a ship is forced by the violence of a contrary wind to furl all her sails, if the storm increases, and the sea continue to rise, she is often strained to so great a degree, that, to ease her, she must be made to run before their mutual direction; which, however, is rarely done but in cases of the last necessity: now, as she has no head-way, the helm is deprived of its governing power, as the latter effect is only produced in consequence of the former: it therefore necessarily requires an uncommon effort to wheel, or turn her, into any different position. It is an axiom in natural philosophy, that ‘Every body will persevere in its state of rest, or moving uniformly in a right line, unless it be compelled to change its state by forces impressed; and that the change of motion is proportional to the moving force impressed, and is made according to the right line in which that force acts.’

“By this principle it is easy to conceive how a ship is compelled to turn into any direction, by the force of the wind acting upon her sails in lines parallel to the plane of the horizon: for the sails may be so set, as to receive the current of air either directly, or more or less obliquely; and the motion communicated to the ship must of necessity conspire with that of the wind. As therefore the ship lies in such a situation as to have the wind and sea directly on her side; and these increase to such an height, that she must either founder, or scud before the storm; the aftmost sails are first taken in, or so placed that the wind has very little power on them: and the head-sails, or fore-mast sails, are spread abroad, so that the whole force of the wind is exerted on the ship’s forepart, which must therefore of necessity yield to its impulse. The prow being thus put in motion, its motion must conspire with that of the wind, and will be pushed about so as to run immediately before it; for this reason, when no more sail can be carried, the fore-mast yards are braced aback; that is, in such a position as to receive all the current of air they can contain directly to perform the operation of head-sails; and the mizen-yard is lowered to produce the same effect as furling, or placing obliquely the aftmost sails; and this attempt being found insufficient, the mizen-mast is cut away, which must have been followed by the main-mast, if the expected effect had not taken place.”

NOTES ON THE THIRD CANTO.

PAGE 106, l. 3, 4.

_While round before th’ enlarging wind it falls,_
_‘Square fore and aft the yards,’ the master calls._

The wind is said to _enlarge_, when it veers from the side towards the stern. To square the yards is, in this place, to haul them directly across the ship’s length.

PAGE 106, l. 7.

_So, steady! meet her!_

Steady! is an order to steer the ship according to the line on which she then advances, without deviating to the right or left.

PAGE 106, l. 11.

_Then back to port_—

The left side of a ship is called _port_ in steering, that the helmsmen may not mistake larboard for starboard. In all large ships, the tiller, (or long bar of timber, that is fixed horizontally to the upper end of the rudder), is guided by a _wheel_, which acts upon it with the powers of a crane or windlass.

PAGE 108, l. 3.

_Poop, bow._

_Poop_, from the Latin word _puppis_, is the hindmost and highest deck of a ship. The _bow_ is the rounding part of a ship’s side forward, beginning at the place where the planks arch inwards, and terminating where they close at the stem or prow.

PAGE 108, l. 19.

... _when past the beam it flies._

On the _beam_, implies any distance from the ship on a line with the beams, or at right angles with the keel: thus, if the ship steers northward, any object lying east, or west, is said to be on her starboard or larboard beam.

PAGE 123, l. 20.

... _still they dread her broaching-to._

The great difficulty of steering the ship at this time before the wind, is occasioned by its striking her on the quarter, when she makes the least angle on either side; which often forces her stern round, and brings her broadside to the wind and sea: this is an effect of the same cause which is explained in the last note of the second Canto.

PAGE 127, l. 18, 19.

... _the faithful stay_
_Drags the main top-mast by the cap away:_

The main top-mast stay comes to the fore-mast head, and consequently depends upon the fore-mast as its support. The _cap_ is a strong thick block of wood, used to confine the upper and lower masts together, as the one is raised at the head of the other. The principal caps of a ship are those of the lower masts.

PAGE 129, l. 18.

_For every wave now smites the quivering yard._

The sea at this time ran so high, that it was impossible to descend from the mast-head without being washed overboard.

PAGE 140, l. 6.

_All thoughts of happiness on earth are vain!_

“... _sed scilicet ultima semper_
_Expectanda dies homini; dicique beatus_
_Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet._”

FINIS.

Printed by C. Whittingham, Chiswick.