1) Sports terminology 1) Tars 
Hearties was a term used for athletic students (particularly rowers) at the University of Oxford and elsewhere, especially in the 19th and early 20th century. The term is often used in contrast to the less athletic `aesthetes`. At Christ Church in Oxford there is an ornamental pond with a statue of Mercury in the centre of Tom Quad, the main qua.....
Friends. As in, “Ahoy me harties!”
• (pl. ) of Hearty
A term of familiar address and fellowship among sailors.
Friends, fellow comrades or sailors