by Dean King
post chaise A four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a closed body, used to carry mail and passengers.
postern A back or private door or gate, not the main entrance.
postillion One who rides a post-horse; a swift messenger. One who rides the left, leading horse when four or more are used to pull a carriage or POST CHAISE, especially one who rides the near horse when one pair only is used and there is no driver on the box. Also called a post-boy.
post ship In the Royal Navy, a RATEd ship (one having no less than 20 guns), the command of which was held by a POST-CAPTAIN.
potable gold A supposed solution of gold in vinegar (a notion derived from alchemy), but by the 18th century, an aquaeous solution of LENTISK, used occasionally as medicine.
pot-boy An assistant to a publican, or keeper of a pub.
poteen Bootleg whisky distilled in Ireland.
potentate A person of independent power, such as a prince or monarch.
pot-hooks and hangers A children’s name for the strokes—resembling the hooks and chains used to hang kitchen pots—used in writing cursive letters.
pot-house A small, unpretentious, or low tavern or public house, or characteristic of one. Low, vulgar.
pouffe An old form of “puff,” an effeminate or homosexual man.
poulterer A person who sells poultry and often hares and other game.
poultice A soft mixture of bread, meal, bran, linseed, herbs, or the like, usually boiled in water, spread on muslin or linen, and applied to the skin for warmth or moisture, as a counterirritant or as an emollient for a soreness or inflammation.
pound An English unit of currency. Originally, the basic unit of currency was a sterling, equal to 1/240 of a pound of silver, and 240 sterlings became known as a pound sterling. The pound remained convertible into silver until 1717, when Britain changed to the gold standard. The gold sovereign, a coin, represented the pound at 113.001 grains of fine gold or 7.32238 grams. Britain abandoned the gold standard between 1797 and 1816.
pourparler An informal conference prior to a negotiation.
powder-hoy An ORDNANCE vessel specially equipped to carry powder from a land magazine to a ship and signified by a red flag.
powder of Algaroth Antimony oxychloride, used rarely as an EMETIC; also known as “mercury of life.”
powder-room also powder-magazine or magazine A dry room below deck, often in the ORLOP, where the gunpowder and ammunition is stored on board a ship.
pox Pocks or eruptive pustules on the skin. The term usually referred to syphilis, also known as the “great pox,” and was only rarely applied to SMALLPOX.
praecordia The area over the heart.
pram A flat-bottomed boat, or LIGHTER, used primarily in Baltic and North Sea ports to transport cargo between ship and shore. A small flat-bottomed ship with two or three MASTS and mounted with 10 to 20 guns, used by the French as a floating battery in coastal defense. A small ship’s boat.
pratique Permission granted to a ship to proceed into port after being cleared by the health authority (from French).
prayer-books Blocks of sandstone, smaller than HOLYSTONES or BIBLES, and used by sailors to scrub in among the crevices and hard-to-get places.
presbytery Part of a church or cathedral reserved for the clergy. The set of three seats, or sedilia, on the south side of the eastern part of the chancel. The eastern part of the chancel beyond the choir, where the altar is. The sanctuary.
Pressburg, Treaty of In 1491, the treaty by which the Habsburgs secured rights to the Hungarian succession. In 1805 the harsh treaty NAPOLEON imposed on Austria after his victories at Ulm and Austerlitz, in effect ending the Holy Roman Empire and creating a ring of French client states.
press-gang A group of men, commanded by an officer, who IMPRESS men for service in the navy or army.
press-tender See TENDER.
preventer Any rope used as an additional security to aid the standing RIGGING in supporting SPARS during a strong GALE or to prevent further damage caused by their breaking.
Prévost d’Exiles, Antoine-Francois (1697-1763) Known as Abbe Prevost, he was a French novelist and adventurer. Prévost entered the Benedictine order in 1721 but left it in 1728 to travel and write. Among his notable works are Les Mémoires d’un homme de qualité (1728), Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut (1731), and Mémoires d’un honnéte homme (1745). He translated many works into French, including Richardson’s Pamela and Clarissa. His 20-volume Histoire Générate des Voyages (a translation from English), first published in 1745, contains many maps and illustrations. It serves as one of Patrick O’Brian’s most valued sources for geography and natural history.
Priapean A poetic meter associated with poems celebrating PRIAPUS. Extraordinarily sexually active.
Priapus The Greek and Roman god of procreation and also of gardens and vineyards, where his statues, always with a prominent erection, were often placed. A representation of the phallus.
prick the chart To locate one’s position on a chart.
Priddy’s Hard An Ordnance Board station located in the north section of GOSPORT, directly across the harbor from PORTSMOUTH dockyard.
priming The gunpowder in the pan of a firearm to be sparked in firing. Also, the train of powder that connects a fuse with a charge in blasting.
priming-iron or priming-wire A sharp-pointed wire at the end of a wooden handle used in gunnery to clear the touchhole, or vent, and pierce the cartridge before firing.
Primula A genus of herbaceous, mostly hardy, perennial plants, with yellow, white, pink, or purple flowers, especially the primrose. It is found chiefly in Europe and Asia.
primum mobile Literally, first moving thing (Latin). The prime mover.
Prince of Wales A title given to the eldest son of a British sovereign. Originally, the Prince of Wales was the only prince in England, but in the reign of JAMES I, the title “prince” was extended to all the sons of the sovereign, and under Victoria, all children of royal sons became princes and princesses. The Prince of Wales during the reign of GEORGE III was his eldest son and successor, GEORGE IV.
Prince Regent See GEORGE IV.
prion A small saw-billed PETREL found in southern seas.
prior In an abbey, the officer immediately beneath the abbot, appointed by him to oversee certain offices, maintain discipline, and preside in his absence. In a smaller or daughter monastery, the resident superior. In monastic cathedrals, where the bishop took the place of the abbot, the prior was the working head of the abbey.
Priorato A fortified wine of Catalonia, dark in color and naturally very sweet, formerly known as Tarragona Port.
privateer A privately owned vessel of war, furnished with a commission or commissions from the state, called LETTERS OF MARQUE, authorizing it to cruise against the enemy, taking, sinking, or burning their ships. These vessels were generally governed on the same plan as His Majesty’s ships. The commission empowered them to appropriate for their own use whatever PRIZES they took after the prizes vessel had been legally condemned by the ADMIRALTY Court and named a sum to be paid for every man on board an enemy ship taken or destroyed. In case of war with more than one country, the ship had to have a commission authorizing action against each enemy. If a captain carrying a letter of marque only naming the Spanish took a French ship, the prize could not be condemned for him. NELSON, like many in the ROYAL NAVY, had a very low opinion of privateers and once wrote: “The conduct of all privateering is, as far as I have seen, so near piracy that I only wonder any civilized nation can allow them. The lawful as well as the unlawful commerce of the neutral flag is subject to every violation and spoliation.” While a privateer by definition had to carry a letter of marque, some people thought that the term “privateer” implied a pirate and not a legally commissioned vessel. Those who made this distinction preferred to use the term “letter of marque” instead of “privateer.”
privity Private or secret knowledge; participation in something private or s
ecret; personal affairs.
Privy Council In England, the traditional King’s Council. In the 18th century, most of its functions were taken over by the cabinet and it ceased to act as a deliberative body, although it retained authority in areas relating to the powers of the sovereign, for example, in judicial appeals.
prize An enemy vessel and its cargo captured at sea by a warship or a PRIVATEER, later to be condemned by a Court of the ADMIRALTY, or PRIZE COURT. Technically and legally, the prize belonged to the Crown, but as a gift to the captors, the Crown allowed it to be sold after official condemnation and its worth to be shared by a ship’s crew according to a prescribed formula in the case of ships of the Royal Navy or, in the case of PRIVATEERS, as agreed by the owners and crew. See also PRIZE MONEY.
prize-agent An agent hired to sell prizes taken in maritime war and condemned by a Court of the ADMIRALTY, or PRIZE COURT.
prize court A department of the ADMIRALTY court that adjudicated all matters concerning PRIZE.
PRIZE MONEY
The profits accruing from the sale of a PRIZE. Among PRIVATEERS, it was divided according to the agreement between the owners and the crew. According to Falconer’s Marine Dictionary (1815), in the Royal Navy’s ships of war, the prize money was to be divided among the officers and crew according to this proclamation:
The following is the Distribution of Prize-Money for Captures from France, Spain, Holland, and the Italian and Ligurian Republics, and Ships bearing the Flags of Prussia and Pappenburgh, pursuant to the King’s Proclamations of the 7th of July, 1803, 31st of January, 1805, and 5th of June, 1806.
The distribution shall be made as follows: the whole of the nett produce being first divided into eight equal parts:
To captains actually on board at the taking of any prize, three eighth parts: but in case any such prize shall be taken by any ships of war under the command of a flag or flags, the flag officer or officers being actually on board, or directing and assisting in the capture shall have one of the three eighth parts; the said one eighth part to be paid to such flag or flag officers, in such proportions, and subject to such regulations, as are hereinafter mentioned.
Captains of marines and land-forces, sea-lieutenants, and master on board, shall have one eighth part, to be equally divided amongst them; but that every physician appointed to a fleet or squadron of ships of war, shall, in the distribution of prizes taken by the ships in which he shall serve, or in which such ship’s company shall be entitled to share, be classed with the sea-lieutenants with respect to the said one eighth part, and be allowed to share equally with them; provided such physician be actually on board at the time of taking such prizes.
The lieutenants and quarter-masters of marines, and lieutenants, ensigns, and quarter-masters of land forces, secretaries of admirals or commodores, with captains under them, second masters of line of battle ships, boatswains, gunners, pursers, carpenters, master’s mates, chirurgeons, pilots, and chaplains, on board, shall have one eighth part, to be equally divided amongst them.
The midshipmen, captain’s clerks, master sailmakers, carpenter’s mates, boatswain’s mates, gunner’s mates, masters at arms, corporals, yeomen of the sheets, coxswains, quarter masters, quarter master’s mates, chirurgeon’s mates, yeomen of the powder-room, Serjeants of marines and land forces on board, shall have one eighth part, to be equally divided amongst them.
The trumpeters, quarter gunners, carpenter’s crew, steward’s cook, armourers, steward’s mate, cook’s mates, gunsmiths, coopers, swabbers, ordinary trumpeters, barbers, able seamen, ordinary seamen, and marines, and other soldiers, and all other persons doing duty and assisting on board, shall have two eighth parts, to be equally divided amongst them. (pp. 353-54)
proa A MALAY boat powered by sails or oars; specifically, a Malay sailing boat, used frequently by pirates, about 30 feet long with a large LATEEN sail, a sharp STEM and STERN, and an outrigger for steadiness. See illustration.
Malay proas in Coupang Bay In the background is the south side of Coupang Bay and the island of Timor. Fast sailers either by or from the wind, proas had two masts fixed to their sides meeting in a point at the top. They frequently made voyages of 1,000 miles and more and were used throughout the Malacca Islands. Reproduced from The Naval Chronicle, vol. 20. (courtesy of the Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, Virginia).
Procellaria pelagica See STORM PETREL.
proctor Someone who manages the affairs of another, such as an agent, deputy, proxy, or an attorney; an agent for the collection of tithes and other church dues; a supervisor or an administrator.
procuress A madame.
Proddy Slang for Protestant.
prodromus A premonitory symptom of disease.
pro hac vice For this occasion (Latin).
projector A person who plans or designs some project, enterprise, or undertaking; a founder.
protea An evergreen shrub or small tree usually native to southern Africa or Australia and bearing conelike heads of small flowers with prominent bracts.
protection A document guaranteeing protection, exemption, or immunity to a specified person; a safe-conduct, passport, pass. A document from the King granting immunity from arrest or lawsuit to one engaged in his service or venturing abroad with his cognizance. A certificate granting immunity from impressment to certain people, such as masters and mates of merchant ships, those building lighthouses, men over 55, apprentices under 18, harpooners in the Greenland fishery, employees of the Royal Dockyards, and others already strategically employed.
prow The part of the BOW above water. The fore-part of a boat or ship, from where the BOW-CHASERS fire. A type of sailing BARGE found in Bombay.
ptarmigan Also called the white or rock grouse, a bird of the genus Lagopus that inhabits high altitudes in Scotland and Northern Europe. Its plumage changes from dark in summer to white in winter.
Ptolemy or Claudius Ptolemaeus (c. A.D. 90-168) An Egyptian-born mathematician and astronomer of Greek origin who spent most of his life in Alexandria. A pioneer of cartography, he created a system of projections to represent the curved surface of the earth on a flat surface. Ptolemy’s most famous work was the eight-volume Geographical Treatise, which included an atlas of the world and a list of latitudes and longitudes for eight thousand locations.
public schools, England’s great A group of independent secondary schools, typically evolving from charitable institutions founded by benefactors during the late Middle Ages or the Renaissance to prepare local boys from humble backgrounds for Oxford and Cambridge and then public service. From about the 17th century, boys of the upper classes began to attend these schools, where the curriculum placed heavy emphasis on the Greek and Roman classics. But the schools’ impact went beyond the academic: they instilled in their students a class-conscious code of behavior, speech, and appearance that set the standard for conduct in the life of officialdom. The concept of the Old Boy Network is based on these schools; their alumni, “old boys,” were supposed to look out for one another in civil service, in the City, or in the Armed Forces.
The so-called great English public schools, in the order of their founding, include: Winchester College, chartered 1382; Eton College, founded by King Henry VI, 1440; St. Paul’s School, 1509; Shrewsbury School, founded by King Edward VI, 1552; Westminster School, probably a cathedral school, reestablished by Queen Elizabeth I, 1560; Merchant Taylors’ School, 1560; Rugby School, 1567; Harrow School, 1571; Charterhouse School, 1611.
puddening (in the United States, pudding) A thick mat of OAKUM used to prevent chafing. A wreath of cordage around the MAINMAST and FOREMAST of a ship to prevent their YARDS from falling down in case the ropes by which they were suspended were shot away in battle and to prevent unnecessary chafing. Puddening was also used in other areas to prevent chafing.
puffin Seabirds of the genera Fratercula and Lunda, especially the common F. arctica, abundant on the coasts of the North Atlantic, that have a large oddly shaped furrowed and multicolored bill. Onc
e erroneously thought to be wingless, and by some to be a fish.
pule To cry in a thin or weak voice, like a child; the cry of the KITE.
pulmony An affliction of the lungs, usually pneumonia.
Pulo Prabang An equatorial volcanic island in the vicinity of the Lingga Archipelago, east of Sumatra in the South China Sea. The island is fictional.
pulvis Doveri Dover’s powder, introduced by Thomas Dover of Bristol and London in 1732 as a DIAPHORETIC for the treatment of DROPSY and upper respiratory diseases. Its major ingredients were OPIUM and ipecac, an emetic that also stimulates sweating. Used as a FEBRIFUGE.
puma A cougar.
pump On a sailing vessel, an apparatus for removing water that collects in the BILGE. A common hand-pump near the MAINMAST was used for small jobs, while a “burr-pump,” or “bilge-pump,” consisting of a leather SPAR and a scoop lifted by a rope, was used for more serious jobs, as was the preferable “chain-pump,” one similar to a bilge-pump but with a continuous motion. Also, a low-cut lightweight shoe with no fastening; a slipper or a more substantial low-heeled shoe, worn by dancers, couriers, duelists, or others who required freedom of movement.
pump-dale A wooden rube or trough that carries away water, especially from a ship’s PUMP.
pump ship Literally, to pump out bilge water, but also a slang term, to urinate.
puna Any high, cold, arid plateau in the Peruvian Andes. Puna is also the name of the plateau that lies between the two great chains of the Cordilleras at an elevation of more than 10,500 feet.
