Sailor's Word-book, A - C — Coo - CP
CONVOY-LIST.
A return of the merchantmen placed under the protection of men-of-war, for safe conduct to their destination.
COOK.
A man of each mess who is caterer for the day, and answerable too, wherefore he is allowed the surplus grog, termed _plush_ (which see).
The cook, _par excellence_, in the navy, was a man of importance, responsible for the proper cooking of the food, yet not overboiling the meat to extract the fat--his perquisite.
The coppers were closely inspected daily by the captain, and if they soiled a cambric handkerchief the cook's allowance was stopped.
Now, the ship's cook is a first-class petty officer, and cannot be punished as heretofore.
In a merchantman the cook is, _ex officio_, the hero of the fore-sheet, as the steward is of the main one.
COOKING A DAY'S WORK.
To save the officer in charge.
Reckoning too is cooked, as in a certain Antarctic discovery of land, which James Ross afterwards sailed over.
COOK-ROOM, OR COOK-HOUSE.
The galley or caboose containing the cooking apparatus, and where victuals are dressed.
COOLIE, COULEY, KOULI, OR CHULIAH.
A person who carries a load; a porter or day-labourer in India and China.
COOMB.
The Anglo-Saxon _comb_; a low place inclosed with hills; a valley.
(_See_ CWM.
) COOMINGS, OR COMBINGS.
The rim of the hatchways.
(_See_ COAMINGS.
) COOM OF A WAVE.
The comb or crest.
The white summit when it breaks.
COON-TRAIE.
A Manx and Erse term for the neap-tide.
COOP, OR FISH-COOP.
A hollow vessel made with twigs, with which fish are taken in the Humber.
(_See_ HEN-COOP.
) COOPER.
A rating for a first-class petty officer, who repairs casks, &c. COOT.
A water-fowl common on lakes and rivers (_Fulica atra_).
The toes are long and not webbed, but bordered by a scalloped membrane.
The name is sometimes used for the guillemot (_Uria troile_), and often applied to a stupid person.
COOTH.
_See_ CUTH.
COP, OR COPT.
The top of a conical hill.
COPE.
An old English word for cape.
COPECK.
_See_ KOPEK.
COPERNICAN SYSTEM.
The Pythagorean system of the universe, revived by Copernicus in the sixteenth century, and now confirmed; in which the sun occupies the central space, and the planets with their attendant satellites revolve about him.
COPILL.
An old term for a variety of the coble.
COPING.
In ship-building, turning the ends of iron lodging-knees, so that they may hook into the beams.
COPPER, TO.
To cover the ship's bottom with prepared copper.
COPPER-BOLTS.
_See_ COPPER-FASTENED.
COPPERED, OR COPPER-BOTTOMED.
Sheathed with thin sheets of copper, which prevents the teredo eating into the planks, or shell and weed accumulating on the surface, whereby a ship is retarded in her sailing.
COPPER-FASTENED.
The bolts and other metal work in the bottom of ships, made of copper instead of iron, so that the vessel may afterwards be coppered without danger of its corroding the heads of the bolts by galvanic action, as ensues when copper and iron are in contact with sea-water.
COPPER-NAILS.
These are chiefly used in boat-building, and for plank nails in the vicinity of the binnacle, as iron affects the compass-needle.
They are not to be confounded with _composition nails_, which are cast.
(_See_ ROOF, OR ROVE and CLINCH.
) COPPERS.
The ship's boilers for cooking; the name is generally used, even where the apparatus may be made of iron.
COQUILLAGE.
Shell-fish in general.
It applies to anchorages where oysters abound, or where fish are plentiful, and shell-fish for bait easily obtainable.
It is specially a term belonging to French and Spanish fishermen.
CORAB.
A sort of boat, otherwise called _coracle_.
CORACLE.
An ancient British truckle or boat, constructed of wicker-work, and still in use amongst Welsh fishermen and on the Irish lakes.
It is covered by skins, oil-cloth, &c. , which are removed when out of use; it is of an oval form; contains one man, who, on reaching the shore, shoulders his coracle, deposits it in safety, and covers it with dried rushes or heather.
The Arctic _baidar_ is of similar construction.
It is probably of the like primitive fabric with the _cymba sutiles_ of Herodotus.
CORACORA.
_See_ KOROCORA.
CORAL.
A name applied to the hard calcareous support or skeleton of many species of marine zoophytes.
The coral-producing animals abound chiefly in tropical seas, sometimes forming, by the aggregated growth of countless generations, reefs, barriers, and islands of vast extent.
The "red coral" (_Corallium rubrum_) of the Mediterranean is highly prized for ornamental purposes.
CORALAN.
A small open boat for the Mediterranean coral fishery.
CORAL-BAND.
_See_ SAND AND CORAL BANK or ISLET.
CORBEILLE [Fr.
basket].
Miner's basket; small gabion used temporarily for shelter to riflemen, and placed on the parapet, either to fire through, or for protection from a force placed on a higher level.
CORBILLARD [Fr.
] A large boat of transport.
CORD.
Small rope; that of an inch or less in circumference.
CORD OR CHURD OF WOOD; as firewood.
A statute stack is 8 feet long, 4 feet broad, and 4 feet high.
CORDAGE.
A general term for the running-rigging of a ship, as also for rope of any size which is kept in reserve, and for all stuff to make ropes.
--_Cable-laid cordage.
_ Ropes, the three strands of which are composed of three other strands, as are cables and cablets.
(_See_ ROPE.
) CORDILLA.
The coarse German hemp, otherwise called _torse_.
CORDLIE.
A name for the tunny fish.
CORDON.
In fortification, the horizontal moulding of masonry along the top of the true escarp.
Also, sometimes used for lines of circumvallation or blockade, or any connected chain of troops or even sentries.
Also, the riband of an order of knighthood or honour, and hence used by the French as signifying a member thereof, as Cordon bleu, Knight of the order of the Holy Ghost, &c. CORDOVAN.
Leather made from seal-skin; the term is derived from the superior leather prepared at Cordova in Spain.
CORDUROY.
Applied to roads formed in new settlements, of trees laid roughly on sleepers transverse to the direction of the road; as suddenly for artillery.
CORKIR, OR CUDBEAR.
The _Lecanora tartarea_, a lichen producing a purple dye, growing on the stones of the Western Isles, and in Norway.
CORMORANT.
A well-known sea-bird (_Phalacrocorax carbo_) of the family _Pelecanidae_.
CORN, TO.
A remainder of the Anglo-Saxon _ge-cyrned_, salted.
To preserve meat for a time by salting it slightly.
CORNED.
Slightly intoxicated.
In Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_, mention is made of "corny ale."
CORNED POWDER.
Powder granulated from the mill-cakes and sifted.
CORNET.
A commissioned officer who carries the colours belonging to a cavalry troop, equivalent to an ensign in the infantry; the junior subaltern rank in the horse.
CORNISH RING.
The astragal of the muzzle or neck of a gun; it is the next ring from the mouth backwards.
(Now disused.
) CORN-SALAD.
A species of Valerianella.
The top-leaves are used for salad, a good anti-scorbutic with vinegar.
CORNS OF POWDER.
The small grains that gunpowder consists of.
The powder reduced for fire-works, quill-tubes, &c. ; sometimes by alcohol.
COROMONTINES.
A peculiar race of negroes, brought from the interior of Africa, and sold; but so ferocious as to be greatly dreaded in the West Indies.
CORONA.
In timber, consists of rows of microscopic cylinders, situated between the wood and the pith; it is that part from which all the branches take their rise, and from it all the wood-threads grow.
--_Corona_ astronomically means the luminous ring or glory which surrounds the sun or moon during an eclipse, or the intervention of a thin cloud.
They are generally faintly coloured at their edges.
Frequently when there is a halo encircling the moon, there is a small corona more immediately around it.
Coronae, as well as halos, have been observed to prognosticate rain, hail, or snow, being the result of snow or dense vapours nearer the earth, through which the object becomes hazy.
CORONER.
An important officer.
Seamen should understand that his duties embrace all acts within a line drawn from one headland to another; or within the body of the county.
His duty is to investigate, on the part of the crown, all accidents, deaths, wrecks, &c. ; and his warrant is not to be contemned or avoided.
COROUSE.
The ancient weapon invented by Duilius for boarding.
An attempt was made in 1798 to re-introduce it in French privateers.
COROWNEL.
The old word for colonel.
CORPHOUN.
An out-of-the-way name for a herring.
CORPORAL, SHIP'S.
In a ship of war was, under the master-at-arms, employed to teach the sailors the use of small arms; to attend at the gangways when entering ports, and see that no spirituous liquors were brought on board without leave.
Also, to extinguish the fire and candles at eight o'clock in winter, and nine o'clock in summer, when the evening gun was fired; and to see that there were no lights below, but such as were under the charge of the proper sentinels.
In the marines or army in general the corporal is a non-commissioned officer next below the sergeant in the scale of authority.
The ship's corporal of the present day is the superior of the first-class working petty officers, and solely attends to police matters under the master-at-arms or superintendent-in-chief.
CORPORAL OATH.
So called because the witness when he swears lays his right hand on the holy evangelists, or New Testament.
CORPOSANT.
[_Corpo santo_, Ital.
] _See_ COMPASANT.
CORPS.
Any body of troops acting under one commander.
CORPSE.
Jack's term for the party of marines embarked; the corps.
CORRECTIONS.
Reductions of observations of the sun, moon, or stars.
CORRIDOR.
_See_ COVERT-WAY.
CORRYNE POWDER.
Corn-powder, a fine kind of gunpowder.
CORSAIR.
A name commonly given to the piratical cruisers of Barbary, who frequently plundered the merchant ships indiscriminately.
CORSELET.
The old name for a piece of armour used to cover the body of a fighting-man.
CORTEGE.
The official staff, civil or military.
CORUSCATIONS.
Atmospheric flashes of light, as in auroras.
CORVETTES.
Flush-decked ships, equipped with one tier of guns: fine vessels for warm climates, from admitting a free circulation of air.
The Bermuda-built corvettes were deemed superior vessels, swift, weatherly, "lie to" well, and carry sail in a stiff breeze.
The cedar of which they are chiefly built is very buoyant, but also brittle.
CORVORANT.
An old mode of spelling _cormorant_.
COSIER.
A lubber, a botcher, a tailoring fellow [_coser_, Sp.
to sew?
] COSMICAL RISING AND SETTING OF THE HEAVENLY BODIES.
Their rising and setting with the sun.
COSMOGRAPHER.
Formerly applied to "too clever by half."
Now, one who describes the world or universe in all its parts.
COSS.
A measure of distance in India, varying in different districts from one mile and a half to two miles.
COSTAL.
Relating to the coast.
COSTEIE.
An old English word for going by the coast.
COSTERA.
A law archaism for the sea-coast.
COSTS AND DAMAGE.
Demurrage is generally given against a captor for unjustifiable detention.
Where English merchants provoke expense by using false papers, the court decrees the captors their expenses on restitution.
(_See_ EXPENSES.
) COT.
A wooden bed-frame suspended from the beams of a ship for the officers, between decks.
It is inclosed in canvas, sewed in the form of a chest, about 6 feet long, 1 foot deep, and 2 or 3 feet wide, in which the mattress is laid.
COTT.
An old term for a little boat.
COTTON, GUN.
_See_ GUN-COTTON.
COTTONINA.
The thick sail-cloth of the Levant.
COUBAIS.
An ornamented Japanese barge of forty oars.
COUD.
An old term used for _conn_ or _cunn_.
COULTER-NEB.
A name of the puffin (_Fratercula arctica_).
COUNCIL-OF-WAR.
The assemblage of officers for concerting measures of moment, too often deemed the symbol of irresolution in the commander-in-chief.
COUNTER.
A term which enters into the composition of divers words of our language, and generally implies opposition, as _counter-brace_, _counter-current_, &c. --_Counter of a ship_, refers to her after-seat on the water: the counter above extends from the gun-deck line, or lower ribbon moulding of the cabin windows, to the water-line (or seat of water); the lower counter is arched below that line, and constitutes the hollow run.
It is formed on the transom-buttocks.
COUNTER-APPROACHES.
Works effected outside the place by the garrison during a siege, to enfilade, command, or otherwise check the approaches of the besieger.
COUNTER-BALANCE WEIGHT, in the marine engine.
(_See_ LEVER.
) Also in many marine barometers, where it slides and is fixed by adjusting screws, so as to produce an even-balanced swing, free from jerk.
COUNTER-BRACE, TO.
Is bracing the head-yards one way, and the after-yards another.
The counter-brace is the lee-brace of the fore-topsail-yard, but is only distinguished by this name at the time of the ship's going about (called tacking), when the sail begins to shiver in the wind, this brace is hauled in to flatten the sail against the lee-side of the top-mast, and increase the effect of the wind in forcing her round.
Counter-bracing becomes necessary to render the vessel stationary when sounding, lowering a boat, or speaking a stranger.
It is now an obsolete term, and the man[oe]uvre is called _heaving-to_.
COUNTER-CURRENT.
That portion of water diverted from the main stream of a current by the particular formation of the coast or other obstruction, and which therefore runs in a contrary direction.
There is also a current formed under the lee-counter of a ship when going through the water, which retains floating objects there, and is fatal to a man, by sucking him under.
COUNTERFORTS.
Masonry adjuncts, advantageous to all retaining walls, but especially to those which, like the escarps of fortresses, are liable to be battered.
They are attached at regular intervals to the hinder face of the wall, and perpendicular to it; having various proportions, but generally the same height as the wall; they hold it from being thrust forward from behind, and, even when it is battered away, retain the earth at the back at such a steep slope that the formation of a practicable breach remains very difficult.
When arches are turned between the counterforts, the strength of the whole structure is much increased: it is then called a _counter-arched revetement_.
COUNTERGUARD.
In fortification, a smaller rampart raised in front of a larger one, principally with the intention of delaying for a period the besieger's attack.
Other means, however, are generally preferred in modern times, except when a rapid fall in the ground renders it difficult to cover the main escarp by ordinary resources.
COUNTER-LINE.
A word often used for _contravallation_.
COUNTERMARCH.
To change the direction of a march to its exact opposite.
In some military movements this involves the changing of front and wings.
COUNTERMINES.
Military defensive mines: they may be arranged on a system for the protection of the whole of a front of fortification by the discovering and blowing up not only the subterranean approaches of the besieger, but also his more important lodgments above.
COUNTER-MOULD.
The converse of _mould_ (which see).
COUNTER-RAILS.
The balustrade work, or ornamental moulding across a square stern, where the counter terminates.
COUNTERSCARP.
In fortification, the outer side of the ditch next the country; it is usually of less height, and less strongly revetted than the escarp, the side which forms the face of the rampart.
COUNTER-SEA.
The disturbed state of the sea after a gale, when, the wind having changed, the sea still runs in its old direction.
COUNTERSIGN.
A particular word or number which is exchanged between sentinels, and intrusted to those on duty.
(_See_ PAROLE.
) COUNTER-SUNK.
Those holes which are made for the heads of bolts or nails to be sunk in, so as to be even with the general surface.
COUNTER-TIMBERS.
Short right-aft timbers for the purpose of strengthening the counter, and forming the stern.
COUNTER-TRENCHES.
_See_ COUNTER-APPROACHES.
COUNTRY.
A term synonymous with _station_.
The place whither a ship happens to be ordered.
COUP DE GRACE.
The finishing shot which brings an enemy to surrender; or the wound which deprives an adversary of life or resistance.
COUP DE MAIN.
A sudden and vigorous attack.
COUP D'[OE]IL.
The skill of distinguishing, at first sight, the weakness of an enemy's position, as Nelson did at the Nile.
COUPLE, TO.
To bend two hawsers together; coupling links of a cable;
coupling shackles.
COUREAU.
A small yawl of the Garonne.
Also, a narrow strait or channel.
COURSE.
The direction taken by anything in motion, shown by the point of the compass _towards_ which they run, as water in a river, tides, and currents; but of the wind, as similarly indicated by the compass-point _from_ which it blows.
Course is also the ship's way.
In common parlance, it is the point of the compass upon which the ship sails, the direction in which she proceeds, or is intended to go.
When the wind is foul, she cannot "lie her course;" if free, she "steers her course."
COURSES.
A name by which the sails hanging from the lower yards of a ship are usually distinguished, viz.
the main-sail, fore-sail, and mizen: the staysails upon the lower masts are sometimes also comprehended in this denomination, as are the main staysails of all brigs and schooners.
A ship is under her courses when she has no sail set but the fore-sail, main-sail, and mizen.
_Trysails_ are courses (which see), sometimes termed _bentincks_.
COURSET.
The paper on which the night's course is set for the officer in charge of the watch.
COURT-MARTIAL.
A tribunal held under an act of parliament, of the year 1749, and not, like the mutiny act, requiring yearly re-enactment.
It has lately, 6th August, 1861, been changed to the "Naval Discipline Act."
At present a court may be composed of five, but must not exceed nine, members.
No officer shall sit who is under twenty-one years of age.
