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ReservationsBVI - Pirate glossary Category: History and Culture > Pirate vocabulary Date & country: 30/07/2018, USA Words: 202

jury mast
a temporary or makeshift mast erected on a sea vessel after the mainmast has been destroyed. Often, in combat, the mast was the most damaged (providing the ship didn't sink). Without the mast, a ship was powerless, so a term grew out of the need to make masts to power damaged ships.

keel
The underside of a ship which becomes covered in barnacles after sailing the seas.

keelhaul
To punish someone by dragging them under a ship, across the keel, until near-death or death. Both pirates and the Royal Navy were fond of this practice.

killick
A small anchor, especially one made of a stone in a wooden frame.

lad
A way to address a younger male.

lanyard
(or laniard) A short rope or gasket used for fastening something or securing rigging.

lass
A way to address a younger female.

lateen sail
A triangular sail set on a long sloping yard.

league
A unit of distance equal to three miles.

lee
The side away from the direction from which the wind blows.

Letter of Marque
a document given to a sailor (privateer) giving him amnesty from piracy laws as long as the ships plunders are of an enemy nation. A large portion of the pirates begin as privateers with this symbol of legitimacy. The earnings of a privateer are significantly better than any of a soldier at sea. Letters of marque aren't always honored, however, even by the government that issues them. Captain Kidd had letters of marque and his own country hanged him anyway.

line
A rope in use as part of the ship's rigging, or as a towing line. When a rope is just coiled up on deck, not yet being used for anything, it's all right to call it a rope.

list
To lean or cause to lean to the side.

loaded to the gunwalls
To be drunk.

long boat
the largest boat carried by a ship which is used to move large loads such as anchors, chains, or ropes. pirates use the boats to transport the bulk of heavier treasures.

long clothes
A style of clothing best suited to land. A pirate, or any sailor, doesn't have the luxury of wearing anything loose that might get in the way while climbing up riggings. Landsmen, by contrast, could adorn themselves with baggy pants, coats, and stockings.

lookout
A person posted to keep watch on the horizon for other ships or signs of land.

loot
Stolen goods; money.

lugger
A two-masted sailing vessel with a lugsail rig.

lugsail
A quadrilateral sail that lacks a boom, has the foot larger than the head, and is bent to a yard hanging obliquely on the mast.

main sheet
The rope that controls the angle at which a mainsail is trimmed and set.

man-of-war
A vessel designed and outfitted for battle.

maroon
To abandon a person on a deserted coast or island with little in the way of supplies. It is a fairly common punishment for violation of a pirate ship's articles, or offending her crew because the victims death cannot be directly connected to his former brethren.

marooned
To be stranded, particularly on a desert isle.

matey
A piratical way to address someone in a cheerful, if not necessarily friendly, fashion.

me
My.

measured fer yer chains
To be outfitted for a gibbet cage.

mizzen
A fore-and-aft sail set on the mizzenmast.

mizzenmast
The largest and, perhaps, most important mast located in the mizzen; the third mast or the mast aft of a mainmast on a ship having three or more masts.

mutiny
To rise against authority, especially the captain of a ship.

Nelsons folly
Rum.

nipper
A short length of rope used to bind an anchor cable.

nipperkin
A small cup or drink.

no prey, no pay
A common pirate law meaning a crew received no wages, but rather shared whatever loot was taken.

overhaul
(1) To slacken a line. (2) To gain upon in a chase; to overtake.

parrel
(also parral) A sliding loop of rope or chain by which a running yard or gaff is connected to, while still being able to move vertically along, the mast.

pillage
To rob of goods by force, especially in time of war; plunder.

pink
A small sailing vessel with a sharply narrowed stern and an overhanging transom.

pinnace
A light boat propelled by sails or oars, used as a tender for merchant and war vessels; a boat for communication between ship and shore.

piracy
Robbery committed at sea.

pirate
One who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without commission from a sovereign nation; the opposite of a privateer.

Pirate Round
Route from North America to the Indian Ocean.

Plate Fleet
Fleet of Spanish ships used to carry silver and gold to Europe.

plunder
To take booty; rob.

poop deck
The highest deck at the stern of a large ship, usually above the captains quarters.

port
(1) A seaport. (2) The left side of the ship when you are facing toward her prow.

pressgang
A company of men commissioned to force men into service such as on a vessel, specifically a pirate ship.

provost
The person responsible for discipline on board a ship.

quarterdeck
The after part of the upper deck of a ship.

red ensign
A British flag.

reef
An underwater obstruction of rock or coral which can tear the bottom out of a ship.

reef sails
To shorten the sails by partially tying them up, either to slow the ship or to keep a strong wind from putting too much strain on the masts.

rigging
The system of ropes, chains, and tackle used to support and control the masts, sails, and yards of a sailing vessel.

rum
An intoxicating beverage, specifically an alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented molasses or sugar cane.

run a rig
To play a trick.

run a shot across the bow
A command to fire a warning shot.

rutters
Detailed instructions listing all that is known about a place or rout.

Sail ho!
An exclamation meaning another ship is in view. The sail, of course, is the first part of a ship visible over the horizon.

salmagundi
A salad usually consisting of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, and onions, often arranged in rows on lettuce and served with vinegar and oil.

scallywag
A villainous or mischievous person.

schooner
A fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel having at least two masts, with a foremast that is usually smaller than the other masts.

scourge of the seven seas
A pirate known for his extremely violent and brutal nature.

scuttle
(1) A small opening or hatch with a movable lid in the deck or hull of a ship. (2) To sink by means of a hole in a ships hull.

sheet
A line running from the bottom aft corner of a sail by which it can be adjusted to the wind

Shiver me timbers!
An expression of surprise or strong emotion.

shrouds
One of a set of ropes or wire cables stretched from the masthead to the sides of a vessel to support the mast.

Sink me!
An expression of surprise.

six pounders
Cannons.

skysail
A small square sail above the royal in a square-rigged vessel.

sloop
A single-masted, fore-and-aft-rigged sailing boat with a short standing bowsprit or none at all and a single headsail set from the forestay. This boat was much favored by the pirates because of its shallow draught and maneuverability.

snow
A square-rigged vessel, differing from a brig only in that she has a trysail mast close abaft the mainmast, on which a large trysail is hoisted.

Spanish Main
Lands taken by Spain from Mexico to Peru including the Caribbean islands.

spike
To render (a muzzleloading gun) useless by driving a spike into the vent.

spirits
An alcoholic beverage, especially distilled liquor.

splice the main brace
To have a drink or perhaps several drinks.

spyglass
A telescope.

square-rigged
Fitted with square sails as the principal sails.

squiffy
Somewhat intoxicated; tipsy.

starboard
The right side of the ship when you are facing toward her prow.

stern
The rear part of a ship.

sutler
A merchant in port, selling the various things that a ship needs for supplies and repairs.

swing the lead
The lead was a weight at the bottom of a line that gave sailors a way to measure depth when near land. To Swing the Lead was considered a simple job, and thus came to represent one who is avoiding work or taking the easy work over the hard. In today's terms, one who swings the lead is a slacker.

tack
(1) The lower forward corner of a fore-and-aft sail. (2) The position of a vessel relative to the trim of its sails or the act of changing from one position or direction to another.

tackle
A system of ropes and blocks for raising and lowering weights of rigging and pulleys for applying tension.

take a caulk
To take a nap. On deck of a ship, between planks, was a thick caulk of black tar and rope to keep water from between decks. This term came about either because sailors who slept on deck ended up with black lines across their backs or simply because sailors laying down on deck were as horizontal as the caulk of the deck itself.

tender
A vessel attendant on other vessels, especially one that ferries supplies between ship and shore; a small boat towed or carried by a ship.

topgallant
Of, relating to, or being the mast above the topmast, its sails, or its rigging.

topmast
The mast below the topgallant mast in a square-rigged ship and highest in a fore-and-aft-rigged ship.

topsail
A square sail set above the lowest sail on the mast of a square-rigged ship or a triangular or square sail set above the gaff of a lower sail on a fore-and-aft-rigged ship.

transom
Any of several transverse beams affixed to the sternpost of a wooden ship and forming part of the stern.

trysail
A small fore-and-aft sail hoisted abaft the foremast and mainmast in a storm to keep a ship's bow to the wind.

walk the plank
Perhaps more famous than historically practiced, walking the plank is the act of being forced off a ship by pirates as punishment or torture. The victim, usually blindfolded or with bound hands or both, is forced to walk along a plank laid over the ship's side and fall into the water below. The concept first appeared in nineteenth century fiction, long after the great days of piracy. History suggests that this might have happened once that can be vaguely documented, but it is etched in the image of the pirates for its dastardly content.

warp
To move (a vessel) by hauling on a line that is fastened to or around a piling, anchor, or pier.

weigh anchor
To haul the anchor up; more generally, to leave port.

wench
A young woman or peasant girl, sometimes a prostitute.

wherry
A light, swift rowboat built for one person usually used in inland waters or harbors.

yard
A long tapering spar slung to a mast to support and spread the head of a square sail, lugsail, or lateen.

yardarm
The main arm across the mast which holds up the sail; Either end of a yard of a square sail. The yardarm is a vulnerable target in combat, and is also a favorite place from which to hang prisoners or enemies. Black Bart hung his governor of Martinique from his yardarm.

yawl
(or dandy) A two-masted fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel similar to the ketch but having a smaller jigger- or mizzenmast stepped abaft the rudder; a ships small boat, crewed by rowers.

ye
You.