by Dean King
Topmen working on the yard as they reef a sail. They are hauling up the REEF-POINTS to secure bundles of sail to the yard (from Darcy Lever’s Young Sea Officer’s Sheet Anchor).
reeve To pass a rope through a hole, ring, eye, THIMBLE, or the throat of a BLOCK. Afterward the rope is said to be rove through it.
regimentals The dress of any particular regiment; military uniform.
regrediar I shall return (Latin).
regulator A clock or watch that keeps accurate time, by which other timepieces may be regulated.
Regulus A bright star in the northern constellation Leo, called also Cor Leonis.
reinforce The part of a gun next to the BREECH, and specially strengthened to withstand the explosive force of the powder.
Reis Captain (Arabic).
relict A widow.
relieving tackle A set of two powerful TACKLES used when a ship was CAREENed on a beach for cleaning or repairs. They allowed her to be HEELed over at an angle sufficient for the work to be performed but kept her from overturning and also aided in righting her again when the work was finished. Also, a tackle hooked to the TILLER in bad weather to help in steering when the pressure was too great to steer with the wheel, or in action when the wheel or TILLER-ROPE was broken or shot away.
relievo Relief; the projection or apparent projection of a figure or form from a flat background; a work of art that contains such a projection.
remigium alarum Winged oars (Latin).
remittents Fevers characterized by temporary abatements of symptoms.
remora The sucking-fish, which clings to other fish and to ships, believed by the ancients and some sailors to have the power to halt a ship to which it is attached.
remove The act of taking away a dish or dishes at a meal in order to put others in their place; a course of a meal.
remue-ménage A commotion, disturbance, hubbub (French).
rencontre An encounter (French).
rencounter A hostile meeting or encounter. A duel, sometimes specifically an unpremeditated one.
Rendez vous.... Jé mé rendre ... Parola.... Capitaine, cessez effusion sang. Rendez-vous. Hommes desertés Jamais, monsieur.... Capitaine, en bas, dessous, s’il vous plait. Toutes officiers dessous. Surrender.... I surrender.... Word of honor.... Captain, stop the bloodshed.... Surrender.... Men deserting.... Never, sir.... Captain, below, beneath, please. All officers beneath. (French—more or less—except parola, Italian.)
rent-roll A list of lands and tenements and the rents paid on them. The income shown by such a list.
repique In the game of PIQUET, the winning of 30 points on cards alone before play begins (and before the adversary begins to count), entitling the player to begin his score at 90.
requies Nicholai Literally, Nicholai’s rest (Latin); a sleeping medicine made with OPIUM, MANDRAGORA, and hyoscyamus (black hellebore), invented in the 13th century but archaic by the 18th century.
Requisite Tables A volume used in conjunction with the NAUTICAL ALMANAC to aid a sailor in fixing his position at sea, devised by English astronomer Nevil Maskelyne in 1766. A second and improved edition appeared in 1781, adding several useful tables, among which were logarithmic solar tables and a table of latitudes and longitudes of places around the world. A third edition was published in 1802, and an appendix was added to that in 1809, containing tables of natural sines and cosines and an extended table of logarithms.
res angusta Straitened circumstances (Latin).
resection The operation of cutting out or paring away part of a bone or organ.
Resolution, H.M.S. The most famous vessel by this name was a 562-ton COLLIER launched as the Marquis of Granby in 1770 that was bought by the Royal Navy renamed the Drake, and then renamed again in 1771 the Resolution. Captain COOK sailed her on his second and third voyages around the world, from 1772 to 1775 and from 1776 to 1779. In 1781, she became an armed TRANSPORT, serving under Admiral de Suffren in the EAST INDIES, until she was captured by the French ship Sphinx in June 1782.
resurrector An exhumer and thief of corpses.
reticule A small ladies’ bag, usually woven, carried on the arm or in the hand.
retractor A bandage or other appliance used in various operations to pull back parts that would otherwise impede the operator.
retsina A Greek resinated wine.
Revenge, H.M.S. The most famous ship by this name was Sir Francis Drake’s FLAGSHIP, which battled in 1588 against the Spanish Armada and was later immortalized in Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Revenge,” which tells of her last fight in 1591, when, under Sir Richard Grenville, she fought a hopeless battle with a Spanish SQUADRON in the AZORES in which she held out for 15 hours. The ninth ship of the name was a third rate of 74 guns built in 1805 that fought at TRAFALGAR under the command of Captain Robert Moorsom. She served until 1842 and was finally broken up in 1849. She was one of the first vessels to be painted with Nelson’s checker pattern, which later became standard for British warships.
revenue cutter A single-masted CUTTER carrying up to ten LONG NINES and employed by the customs authorities for the prevention of smuggling.
Rhadamanthine An inflexible judge or a rigorous or severe master who resembles Rhadamanthus, in Greek mythology the son of Zeus and Europa and one of the judges in the lower world.
Rhazes (860-932) Persian physician and philosopher, and encyclopedist of medicine whose work was based on the sixth-century B.C. writings of Hippocrates. He is remembered chiefly for the first clinical descriptions of measles and smallpox.
Rhea A genus of birds that includes the South American or three-toed ostrich. Also, the bird itself.
rhubarb The root of various species of the genus Rheum, used in medicine as a mild cathartic. Although the best grade was thought to come from China, trade barriers encouraged the substitution of European varieties.
rick-yard A farmyard or enclosure containing stacks of hay, wood, or other commodities.
ride A rope is said to ride when one of the turns by which it is wound around the CAPSTAN or WINDLASS lies over another, thus interrupting HAULing.
riding-bitts Usually two sets of two upright oak timbers in the FORE of the ship forming BITTS to which the CABLE is hitched by the STOPPERS when the vessel rides at anchor. Each unit was composed of two posts, two KNEES, a cross-piece, and bolster.
rifle To form spiral grooves in the barrel of a gun or the bore of a cannon.
rig The general way in which the MASTS and sails of a vessel are arranged, with the two main categories being SQUARE-RIGGED and FORE-AND-AFT rigged. These can be subdivided into specific types of vessels, such as CUTTERS, BARQUES, or BRIGS. Sometimes used in slang to refer to a uniform.
Riga Seaport and city in the Hanseatic League in Livonia, modern-day Latvia. It was held by Sweden from 1621 to 1710; then taken by Russia after the Battle of Poltava. It was a major trading source for timber and naval stores.
Rigel Kent or Rigil Kentaurus One of the bright, first-magnitude stars visible in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located to the east of the Southern Cross. A line drawn eastward from the star CRUX, then curving slightly to the south, leads first to Hadar, then to Rigel Kent, and continues on to the southern triangle, Triangulum Australe.
rigger One who rigs ships, fitting and repairing the standing and running RIGGING of a ship.
rigging The general term for the lines used on a vessel. Standing rigging are the lines that support the masts and yards and the BOWSPRIT. Running rigging are the lines used to move and control sails.
right sailing Sailing a course along one of the four cardinal POINTS, so as to alter only the latitude or longitude of the ship.
right whale or baleen whale A whalebone whale, especially of the genus Balaena, having instead of teeth plates of whalebone developed from the palate that aid in filtering plankton from the water.
rigor Rigor mortis, the stiffening of muscles after death.
ring-bolt A bolt with an EYE at one end to which a rope or TACKLE is
secured.
ringtail A small triangular sail extended on a short MAST on top of a ship’s STERN in light, favorable winds. An extension for a FORE-AND-AFT MAINSAIL, hoisted beyond the after-edge of the sail to provide more canvas.
riot During a hunt, a hound’s indiscriminate chasing of scents other than that of the quarry.
risus sardonicus An involuntary or spasmodic grin caused by disease.
River Plate The English name for Rio de la Plata, the estuary formed by the Paranà and Uruguay rivers at the Atlantic Ocean and lying between Uruguay and Argentina. Its name in Spanish means river of silver, and it was named by the explorer Sebastian Cabot for a legendary mountain of silver believed to exist somewhere upstream. On the river’s southern shore lies Buenos Aires, Argentina.
rivière A necklace of diamonds or other precious stones, from the French rivière de diamants (literally, river of diamonds).
roadstead A convenient or safe anchorage near the shore but outside a harbor, for example, SPITHEAD in England.
roast beef dress Full uniform, probably from its resemblance to that of the beefeaters, yeomen of the royal guard in England.
roban or rope-bands A piece of small rope ROVE through an eyelet-hole in the HEAD of a square sail and used to secure it to the YARD above.
Robinson, William A LANDSMAN who volunteered and fought at TRAFALGAR before deserting the Royal Navy and writing a critical book about his years in the service, life on the lower deck, and conditions in the British Navy. Published in 1836 and entitled Nautical Economy, or Forecastle Recollections of Events during the last War, dedicated to the Brave Tars of Old England, by a Sailor politely called by the Officers of the Navy, Jack Nasty-face, the book depicts Navy officers negatively. The name “Jack Nasty-face” became used as an epithet for someone with a constant grievance.
roborate To strengthen, invigorate, or fortify.
roc An enormous, powerful bird of Eastern myth.
Rochefort An important French naval dockyard and base on the west coast of France at the mouth of the Charente River that was involved in many struggles between the British and French in the 18th century. Following Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo and his abdication, he surrendered to the commander ofH.M.S. Bellerophon at Rochefort on July 15, 1815.
rock-dove or rock-pigeon A species of dove (Columba livia) that inhabits rocks and is believed to be the source of the domestic pigeon.
rod A measure of length equal to 5½ yards, or 16½ feet. A perch or pole.
Rodgers, Commodore John (1773-1838) The dominant figure in the U.S. Navy for the quarter century that included the War of 1812. In 1811 Rodgers, in U.S.S. President, defeated H.M.S. Little Belt.
Rodney, George Brydges (1728-1792) The first Baron Rodney was a daring but controversial ADMIRAL who won inspiring victories for the Royal Navy while keeping one step ahead of his creditors. In 1749 he was made governor of NEWFOUNDLAND. As COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF of the Leeward Islands station, he battered MARTINIQUE and took from the French the islands of St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent. He was made governor of GREENWICH Hospital in 1765 but gave up the post for a command in Jamaica. For a period of time he lived in Paris to escape creditors, but in 1780 he returned to the Navy, intercepting a SQUADRON of Spanish ships near Cape St. Vincent in an engagement called the Moonlight Battle, in which one Spanish ship was sunk and six captured without British loss. This achievement was rewarded with a knighthood. The crowning moment of his career was the 1782 victory with his second in command, Samuel Hood, over Admiral de Grasse off Dominica when, in the Battle of the SAINTES, his fleet broke through the French line and captured four enemy ships, garnering a much-needed moral victory for the British.
rodomontade Arrogant boasting or bragging.
Rogue’s March The tune drummed in the Royal Navy to signal the ceremony for dismissal from the Navy of a person guilty of some offense committed on board the ship or for a FLOGGING AROUND THE FLEET. Originally the tune was used in the Army for drumming out of the regiment a soldier guilty of a serious crime.
roi des trente-six parapluies, et três illustre seigneur de mille êlêphants King of 36 umbrellas and very illustrious lord of a thousand elephants (French).
rolling-tackle A PURCHASE set up between the YARDARM and the MAST to steady a YARD in heavy weather and to relieve strain.
roly-poly pudding A pudding made of a sheet of pastry covered with jam or preserves, rolled, and boiled or steamed.
Roman fish A reddish-skinned marine fish, Chrysoblephus laticeps, found chiefly in tropical and subtropical waters.
Romanist A member of the Church of Rome, a Roman Catholic. Romish Belonging, pertaining, or adhering to Rome with regard to religion. Roman Catholic (usually with negative connotations).
rood A unit for measuring land, properly containing 40 square RODS, or about a quarter of an acre, but varying locally. A plot of land of this size. A length varying from 5½ to 8 yards.
ropewalk A very long shed or stretch of ground where a ropemaker makes ropes by means of a spinning machine that twists the fibers (usually HEMP) into strands and the strands into ropes.
rostrum A beak or snout.
Rothschild, Nathan (1777-1836) A German-born British banker of the famous Rothschild family. He opened a business house in London in 1805 and acted as a vital agent of the British government in supplying subsidies to the powers opposing NAPOLEON. He was aided in his transactions by a very efficient information service. Notified of the allied victory at WATERLOO by carrier pigeons, he made a fortune in a single day and prevented the collapse of the London stock exchange by buying up all the shares sold by frightened investors.
rough-tree One of the stanchions supporting a ROUGH-TREE RAIL. Also, an unfinished SPAR.
rough-tree rail Any spare SPAR used as a rail or fence along the ship’s WAIST.
rouleau A number of gold coins secured in a cylindrical packet. One 1796 dictionary gives the number as from 20 to 50 or more.
round-house A square cabin or set of cabins on the afterpart of the QUARTERDECK of an EAST INDIAMAN, the roof of which is formed by the POOP deck. Lavatories or a privy.
round jacket A short jacket cut circularly at the bottom and worn by MIDSHIPMEN.
round shot Balls of cast iron or steel for firing from smooth-bore cannon.
rouse in To HAUL in the slack part of a CABLE to keep it from FOULing the anchor.
rout A large and fashionable evening party or reception in vogue in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Also, rabble.
rout-cake A rich cake originally served at ROUTS.
rove Past tense of REEVE.
rowed of all The order for the rowers to stop rowing and boat their oars simultaneously, in naval style.
row-port Ports cut through the side of a small vessel for the use of SWEEPS during calm weather.
royal A small sail hoisted above the TOPGALLANT sail, originally called the topgallant royal, and used in light and favorable winds.
Royal Exchange Located near the intersection of Threadneedle Street and Cornhill in the CITY, London’s chief marketplace was opened in 1570 by Queen Elizabeth I. It remained a bustling center of commerce until 1939.
Royal George, H.M.S. The most famous ship of this name was the 100-gun first rate launched at Woolwich in 1756. She had the tallest MASTS (114 feet, 3 inches) of any ship yet built in England, and she participated in the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759. In disrepair, she foundered at SPITHEAD in 1782. Over 900 men, women, and children, including Admiral Kempenfelt, went down with the ship. The loss was commemorated in William Cowper’s poem “The Loss of the Royal George.” Another Royal George, launched in 1788, took part in the Battles of the GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE, in 1794, and of Groix Island, in 1795. Three ships named Royal George also sailed for the EAST INDIA COMPANY between 1737 and 1825.
A first-rate ship of the line, H.M.S. Royal George (from Serres’s Liber Nauticus)
royal pole A tapered extension of the ROYAL MAST rising above the highest part of the RIG
GING.
Royal Society An organization incorporated by Charles II (1630-1685) in 1662 for the pursuit and advancement of the physical sciences, including those important to navigation. Sir Joseph BANKS served as President of the Royal Society from 1778 to 1820. From 1780 to 1857 the members met at SOMERSET HOUSE.
royal yacht A vessel used by a sovereign for pleasure or for formal state occasions. The early royal yachts of England were associated with Charles II (1630-1685).
rubor Redness, ruddiness.
rudder A movable flat fin attached to a vessel vertically below the water line at the STERN by means of PINTLES and GUDGEONS. Directed by the HELM, the rudder turns the vessel using the pressure of the water.
ruff The male of certain species of the sandpiper family, having a ruff around the neck and ear-tufts during the breeding season. The female is known as a reeve, or ree.
rule of three Given three numbers, a method of finding a fourth, when the first number is in the same proportion to the second as the third is to the unknown fourth.
rum Odd, strange, or queer. Bad or spurious. Stupefied or incapacitated through drink. Also, stupid.
rumbowline Canvas, rope, or the like, well past its prime and used for temporary purposes not demanding strength.
runner Any line ROVE through a single BLOCK, often with an EYE at one end to which a TACKLE is attached.
running-horse A racehorse.
rupee The monetary unit of India. The silver rupee was introduced by Shir Shah in 1542 and varied in weight at different times and places between 170 and 192 grains. Also, the monetary unit of various other countries.
Rüppell, Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon (1794-1884) German zoologist and explorer who went on major expeditions to the Sudan (1821-27) and Ethiopia (1830-34) and published maps and scientific accounts of his travels, including the monumental Travels in Abyssinia (1838-40). Rüppell’s warbler is named after him.
rasa Either of two deer native to southern Asia.
Russell, Edward, Earl of Orford (1653-1727) A nephew of the first duke of Bedford, Russell was a supporter of William III and commanded the joint Anglo-Dutch fleet in the victory over the French fleet at Barfleur-La Hougue in 1692. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty for three terms (1694-1699, 1709-1710, 1714-1717).
