Sailor's Word-book, A - C — Bl
BLACK-BIRDS.
A slang term on the coast of Africa for a cargo of slaves.
BLACK-BOOK OF THE ADMIRALTY.
An imaginary record of offences.
Also, a document of great authority in naval law, as it contains the ancient admiralty statutes and ordinances.
BLACK-FISH.
A common name applied by sailors to many different species of cetaceans.
The animal so called in the south seas belongs to the genus _Globiocephalus_.
It is from 15 to 20 feet long, and occurs in countless shoals.
BLACK-FISHER.
A water-poacher: one who kills salmon in close-time.
BLACK-FISHING.
The illegally taking of salmon, under night, by means of torches and spears with barbed prongs.
BLACK-HEAD.
The pewitt-gull (_Larus ridibundus_).
BLACK-HOLE.
A place of solitary confinement for soldiers, and tried in some large ships.
BLACK-INDIES.
Newcastle, Sunderland, and Shields.
BLACKING.
For the ship's bends and yards.
A good mixture is made of coal-tar, vegetable-tar, and salt-water, boiled together, and laid on hot.
BLACKING DOWN.
The tarring and blacking of rigging; or the operation of blacking the ship's sides with tar or mineral blacking.
BLACK-JACK.
The ensign of a pirate.
Also, a capacious tin can for beer, which was formerly made of waxed leather.
In 1630 Taylor wrote-- "Nor or of blacke-jacks at gentle buttry-bars, Whose liquor oftentimes breeds household wars."
BLACK-LIST.
A record of misdemeanours impolitically kept by some officers for their private use--the very essence of private tyranny, now forbidden.
BLACK-LOCK.
A trout thought to be peculiar to Lough Melvin, on the west of Ireland.
BLACK SHIPS.
The name by which the English builders designate those constructed of teak in India.
BLACK SOUTH-EASTER.
The well-known violent wind at the Cape of Good Hope, in which the vapoury clouds called the Devil's Table-cloth appear on Table Mountain.
BLACK SQUALL.
This squall, although generally ascribed to the West Indies, as well as the white squall, may be principally ascribed to a peculiar heated state of the atmosphere near land.
As blackey, when interrogated about weather, generally observes, "Massa, look to leeward," it may be easily understood that it is the condensed air repelled by a colder medium to leeward, and driven back with condensed electricity and danger.
So it is sudden to Johnny Newcomes, who lose sails, spars, and ships, by capsizing.
BLACK'S THE WHITE OF MY EYE.
When Jack avers that no one can say this or that of him.
It is an indignant expression of innocence of a charge.
BLACK-STRAKE.
The range of plank immediately above the wales in a ship's side; they are always covered with a mixture of tar and lamp-black, which not only preserves them from the heat of the sun and the weather, but forms an agreeable variety with the painted or varnished parts above them.
Vessels with no ports have frequently two such strakes--one above, the other below the wales, the latter being also called the diminishing strake.
BLACK-STRAP.
The dark country wines of the Mediterranean.
Also, bad port, such as was served for the sick in former times.
BLACK-TANG.
The sea-weed _Fucus vesicolosus_, or tangle.
BLACKWALL-HITCH.
A sort of tackle-hook guy, made by putting the bight of a rope over the back of the hook, and there jamming it by the standing part.
A mode of hooking on the bare end of a rope where no length remains to make a cat's-paw.
BLACK WHALE.
The name by which the right whale of the south seas (_Balaena australis_) is often known to whalemen.
BLAD.
A term on our northern coasts for a squall with rain.
BLADDER-FISH.
A term for the tetraodon.
(_See_ BALLOON-FISH.
) BLADE OF AN ANCHOR.
That part of the arm prepared to receive the palm.
BLADE OR WASH OF AN OAR.
Is the flat part of it which is plunged into the water in rowing.
The force and effect in a great measure depends on the length of this part, when adequate force is applied.
When long oars are used, the boat is generally single-banked, so that the fulcrum is removed further from the rower.
Also, the motive part of the screw-propeller.
BLAE, OR BLEA.
The alburnum or sap-wood of timber.
BLAKE.
Yellow.
North of England.
BLANK.
Level line mark for cannon, as point-blank, equal to 800 yards.
It was also the term for the white mark in the centre of a butt, at which the arrow was aimed.
BLANKET.
The coat of fat or blubber under the skin of a whale.
BLARE, TO.
To bellow or roar vehemently.
--_Blare_, a mixture of hair and tar made into a kind of paste, used for tightening the seams of boats.
BLARNEY.
Idle discourse; obsequious flattery.
BLASHY.
Watery or dirty; applied to weather, as "a blashy day," a wet day.
In parlance, trifling or flimsy.
BLAST.
A sudden and violent gust of wind: it is generally of short duration, and succeeded by a fine breeze.
--_To blast_, to blow up with gunpowder.
BLAST-ENGINE.
A ventilating machine to draw off the foul air from the hold of a ship, and induce a current of fresh air into it.
BLATHER.
Thin mud or puddle.
Also, idle nonsense.
BLAY.
A name of the bleak.
BLAZE, TO.
To fire away as briskly as possible.
To blaze away is to keep up a running discharge of fire-arms.
Also, to spear salmon.
Also, in the woods, to mark a tree by cutting away a portion of its outer surface, thus leaving a patch of whiter internal surface exposed, to call attention or mark a track.
BLAZERS.
Applied to mortar or bomb vessels, from the great emission of flame to throw a 13-inch shell.
BLAZING STARS.
The popular name of comets.
BLEAK.
The _Leuciscus alburnus_ of naturalists, and the fresh-water sprat of Isaak Walton.
The name of this fish is from the Anglo-Saxon _blican_, owing to its shining whiteness--its lustrous scales having long been used in the manufacture of false pearls.
BLEEDING THE MONKEY.
The monkey is a tall pyramidal kid or bucket, which conveys the grog from the grog-tub to the mess--stealing from this _in transitu_ is so termed.
BLEED THE BUOYS.
To let the water out.
BLENNY.
A small acanthopterygious fish (_Blennius_).
BLETHER-HEAD.
A blockhead.
BLETHERING.
Talking idle nonsense; insolent prate.
BLIND.
A name on the west coast of Scotland for the pogge, or miller's thumb (_Cottus cataphractus_).
BLIND.
Everything that covers besiegers from the enemy.
(_See_ ORILLON.
) BLINDAGE.
A temporary wooden shelter faced with earth, both in siege works and in fortified places, against splinters of shells and the like.
BLIND-BUCKLERS.
Those fitted for the hawse-holes, which have no aperture for the cable, and therefore used at sea to prevent the water coming in.
BLIND-HARBOUR.
One, the entrance of which is so shut in as not readily to be perceived.
BLIND-ROCK.
One lying just under the surface of the water, so as not to be visible in calms.
BLIND-SHELL.
One which, from accident or bad fuze, has fallen without exploding, or one purposely filled with lead, as at the siege of Cadiz.
Also used at night filled with fuze composition, and enlarged fuze-hole, to indicate the range.
BLIND-STAKES.
A sort of river-weir.
BLINK OF THE ICE.
A bright appearance or looming (the iceberg reflected in the atmosphere above it), often assuming an arched form; so called by the Greenlanders, and by which reflection they always know when they are approaching ice long before they see it.
In Greenland blink means iceberg.
BLIRT.
A gust of wind and rain.
BLOAT, TO.
To dry by smoke; a method latterly applied almost exclusively to cure herrings or bloaters.
--_Bloated_ is also applied to any half-dried fish.
BLOCCO.
Paper and hair used in paying a vessel's bottom.
BLOCK.
(In mechanics termed a pulley.
) Blocks are flattish oval pieces of wood, with sheaves in them, for all the running ropes to run in.
They are used for various purposes in a ship, either to increase the mechanical power of the ropes, or to arrange the ends of them in certain places on the deck, that they may be readily found when wanted; they are consequently of various sizes and powers, and obtain various names, according to their form or situation, thus:--A single block contains only one sheave or wheel.
A double block has two sheaves.
A treble or threefold block, three, and so on.
A long-tackle or fiddle-block has two sheaves--one below the other, like a fiddle.
Cistern or sister block for top-sail lifts and reef tackles.
Every block is composed of three, and generally four, parts:--(1. ) The shell, or outside wooden part.
(2. ) The sheave, or wheel, on which the rope runs.
(3. ) The pin, or axle, on which the sheave turns.
(4. ) The strop, or part by which the block is made fast to any particular station, and is usually made either of rope or of iron.
Blocks are named and distinguished by the ropes which they carry, and the uses they serve for, as bowlines, braces, clue-lines, halliards, &c. &c. They are either _made_ or _morticed_ (which see).
BLOCK.
The large piece of elm out of which the figure is carved at the head of the ship.
BLOCKADE.
The investment of a town or fortress by sea and land; shutting up all the avenues, so that it can receive no relief.
--_To blockade a port_ is to prevent any communication therewith by sea, and cut off supplies, in order to compel a surrender when the provisions and ammunition are exhausted.
--_To raise a blockade_ is to discontinue it.
--Blockade is violated by egress as well as by ingress.
Warning on the spot is sufficient notice of a blockade _de facto_.
Declaration is useless without actual investment.
If a ship break a blockade, though she escape the blockading force, she is, if taken in any part of her future voyage, captured _in delicto_, and subject to confiscation.
The absence of the blockading force removes liability, and _might_ (in such cases) overrules _right_.
BLOCK AND BLOCK.
The situation of a tackle when the blocks are drawn close together, so that the mechanical power becomes arrested until the tackle is again overhauled by drawing the blocks asunder.
Synonymous with chock-a-block.
BLOCKHOUSE.
A small work, generally built of logs, to protect adjacent ports.
Blockhouses were primarily constructed in our American colonies, because they could be immediately built from the heavy timber felled to clear away the spot, and open the lines of fire.
The ends were simply crossed alternately and pinned.
Two such structures, with a space of 6 feet for clay, formed, on an elevated position, a very formidable casemated work.
The slanting overhanging roof furnished excellent cover in lieu of loop-holes for musketry.
BLOCK-MAKER.
A manufacturer of blocks.
BLOCKS.
The several transverse pieces or logs of timber, piled in plane, on which a ship is built, or to place her on for repair: they consist of solid pieces of oak laid on the ground-ways.
BLOCKS, FIXED.
_See_ FIXED BLOCKS.
BLOOD-SUCKERS.
Lazy fellows, who, by skulking, throw their proportion of labour on the shoulders of their shipmates.
BLOODY FLAG.
A large red flag.
BLOOM.
A peculiar warm blast of wind; a term used in iron-foundries.
BLORE.
An old word for a stiff gale.
BLOUT.
A northern term for the sudden breaking-up of a storm.
Blout has been misused for blirt.
BLOW.
Applied to the breathing of whales and other cetaceans.
The expired air from the lungs being highly charged with moisture, which condenses at the temperature of the atmosphere, appears like a column of steam.
BLOW.
A gale of wind.
BLOWE.
A very old English word for scold or revile, still in use, as when a man receives a good blowing-up.
BLOW-HOLES.
The nostrils of the cetaceans, situated on the highest part of the head.
In the whalebone whales they form two longitudinal slits, placed side by side.
In the porpoises, grampuses, &c. , they are united into a single crescentic opening.
BLOW HOME.
The wind does not cease or moderate till it comes past that place, blowing continuously over the land and sea with equal velocity.
In a naval sense, it does not blow home when a sea-wind is interrupted by a mountainous range along shore.
BLOWING GREAT GUNS AND SMALL ARMS.
Heavy gales; a hurricane.
BLOWING HARD.
Said of the wind when it is strong and steady.
BLOWING THE GRAMPUS.
Throwing water over a sleeper on watch.
BLOWING WEATHER.
A nautical term for a continuance of strong gales.
(_See_ GALE.
) BLOWN COD.
A split cod, half dried by exposure to the wind.
_Blown_ is also frequently applied to bloated herrings, when only partly cured.
Also, a cod-fish rises to the surface, and is easily taken, if blown.
By being hauled nearly up, and the hook breaking, it loses the power for some time of contracting the air-bladder, and thus dies head out of water.
BLOWN ITSELF OUT.
Said of a falling gale of wind.
BLOW OFF, TO.
To clear up in the clouds.
BLOW-OFF-PIPE, in a steamer, is a pipe at the foot of each boiler, communicating with the sea, and furnished with a cock to open and shut it.
--_Blowing-off_ is the act or operation of using the blow-off-pipe to cleanse a marine steam-engine of its brine deposit; also, to clear the boilers of water, to lighten a ship if grounded.
BLOW-OUT.
Extravagant feasting regardless of consequences.
BLOW OVER, (IT WILL).
Said of a gale which is expected to pass away quickly.
BLOW-PIPE.
An engine of offence used by the Araucanians and Borneans, and with the latter termed _sumpitan_: the poisoned arrow, _sumpit_, will wound at the distance of 140 or more yards.
The arrow is forced through (like boys' pea-shooters) by the forcible and sudden exertion of the lungs.
A wafer can be hit at 30 yards to a certainty, and small birds are unerringly stunned at 30 yards by pellets of clay.
BLOW THE GAFF.
To reveal a secret; to expose or inform against a person.
BLOW-THROUGH VALVE.
A valve admitting steam into the condenser, in order to clear it of air and water before starting the engine.
BLOW UP, TO.
To abuse angrily.
BLOW-VALVE.
A valve by which the first vacuum necessary for starting a steam-engine is produced.
BLUBBER.
The layer of fat in whales between the skin and the flesh, which is flinched or peeled off, and boiled for oil, varying from 10 to 20 inches in thickness.
(_See_ SEA-BLUBBER.
) BLUBBER FORKS AND CHOPPERS.
The implements with which blubber is "made off," or cut for stowing away.
BLUBBER-GUY.
A large rope stretched from the main to the fore mast head of whalers, to which the speck-falls are attached for the operation of flensing.
BLUE.
_Till all's blue_: carried to the utmost--a phrase borrowed from the idea of a vessel making out of port, and getting into blue water.
--_To look blue_, to be surprised, disappointed, or taken aback, with a countenance expressive of displeasure.
BLUE-JACKETS.
The seamen as distinguished from the marines.
BLUE LIGHT.
A pyrotechnical preparation for signals by night.
Also called Bengal light.
BLUE-LIGHTISM.
Affected sanctimoniousness.
BLUE MOON.
An indefinite period.
BLUE-NOSE.
A general term for a native of Nova Scotia.
BLUE PETER.
The signal for sailing when hoisted at the fore-topmast head; this well-known flag has a blue ground with a white square in the centre.
BLUE PIGEON.
A nickname for the sounding lead.
BLUE WATER.
The open ocean.
BLUFF.
An abrupt high land, projecting almost perpendicularly into the sea, and presenting a bold front, rather rounded than cliffy in outline, as with the headland.
BLUFF-BOWED.
Applied to a vessel that has broad and flat bows--that is, full and square-formed: the opposite of lean.
BLUFF-HEADED.
When a ship has but a small rake forward on, being built with her stem too straight up.
BLUNDERBUSS.
A short fire-arm, with a large bore and wide mouth, to scatter a number of musket or pistol bullets or slugs.
BLUNK.
A sudden squall, or stormy weather.
BLUSTROUS.
Stormy: also said of a braggadocio.
