A Sea of Words

by Dean King

  Victualling Yard In the Royal Navy, a place where provisions, such as SLOP clothing and food, were deposited and held for distribution to the fleet.

  vicuna An undomesticated relative of the llama and alpaca, the vicuna lives in the Andes Mountains in what is now Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Its coat yields a fine, lustrous wool.

  Viennese treatment Antisyphilitic treatment, introduced in 1750, with the strong mercurial drug CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE. See MERCURY.

  Vigo A port and naval station on the northwestern coast of Spain with an excellent sheltered anchorage and a substantial shipbuilding capacity. In British naval history, Vigo is remembered as the site of a battle in 1702, during the War of the Spanish Succession, where a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Sir George Rooke attacked a fleet of Spanish treasure GALLEONS.

  Ville de Paris, H.M.S. The original Ville de Paris was a first-rate prize, De Grasse’s FLAGSHIP, taken at the SAINTES in 1782; she foundered in a hurricane en route to England. In 1795, a second rate.

  Villeneuve, Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre, Comte de (1763-1806) A French Admiral who participated in many fleet actions under Napoleon. Villeneuve commanded the rear division of the French fleet at the Battle of the NILE in 1798, and his FLAGSHIP, Guillaume Tell, and three other French ships were the only ones to escape from the British at that action. In 1804, Villeneuve became commander of the TOULON squadron. Having heard the unwelcome news that he was to be replaced as commander, Villeneuve sailed from CADIZ and met NELSON’S fleet at the Battle of TRAFALGAR on October 21, 1805. Villeneuve was taken prisoner by the English in the battle. Later paroled, he was found stabbed to death at a hotel in Rennes, France, in 1806. It is believed he committed suicide.

  vinolent Tending to drunkenness, especially on wine; a drunkard.

  vinous Like wine, tasting or smelling like wine. Made with wine. Resulting from indulgence in wine.

  violoncello The complete name of the cello, a large four-stringed instrument of the violin class; a bass violin.

  virgoes intactoes Aubrey’s pidgin Latin for “untouched virgins.”

  viscacha Either of two large burrowing rodents of South America, related to the chinchilla, one inhabiting the upper Andes from Chile to Ecuador and the other the southern Argentine pampas.

  Visigothic Of or belonging to the Visigoths, members of the Western branch of the Goths that entered Roman territory toward the end of the fourth century and subsequently established a kingdom in France and Spain that was overthrown by the MOORS in 711.

  visto Vista.

  Vite, vite ... à gauche. Tu l’attraperas.... Allez, allez.... Fouette.... Arré.... Fouette toujours.... A gauche. A gauche, je te dis…. A droite. Quick, quick... to the left. You’ll catch him.... Go, go.... Crack the whip.... Giddyap.... Keep cracking.... To the left. To the left, I said.... To the right (French).

  Vive l’Empereur Long live the Emperor (French).

  Vixi puellis nuper idoneus Until recently I was able to conquer girls (Latin, from Horace, Odes III, 26).

  vitriol Sulfuric acid, or any of various sulphates of metals used as paint pigment or, medicinally, chiefly as stimulating tonics.

  vizier In the Turkish empire, Persia, or other Muslim country, a high state official or minister, often with vice-regal authority. A province’s governor or VICEROY. The sovereign’s chief minister.

  Vlach A Slavic name for a member of the Romani or Roumanians, a Latin-speaking people occupying portions of southeastern Europe, who migrated to various parts of the Balkan Peninsula, including Macedonia, Dalmatia, and Istria.

  vol-au-vent A puff-pastry pie (French).

  voyal-block or viol-block See MESSENGER. A massive SNATCH-BLOCK secured to the MAINMAST and used with the VOYAL in weighing anchor.

  W

  wad A plug of rope-yarn, cloth, or green wood rammed down the barrel of a gun to keep the powder and shot in position. Also, a similar device used in a cartridge.

  wader Long-legged birds that frequently wade in shallow water, such as the HERON, PLOVER, and SNIPE.

  waft A flag, or ENSIGN, used to indicate the direction of the wind or to convey various signals, depending upon where it is hoisted. Also, to convoy, a “wafter” being an escort vessel.

  Wager, H.M.S. This 24-gun sixth rate was purchased in 1739 and wrecked in the South Atlantic on the southern coast of Chile in 1741 during ANSON’S voyage around the world. O’Brian’s novel The Unknown Shore is set on this grim voyage.

  waist The middle part of the upper deck of a ship, between the QUARTERDECK and the FORECASTLE.

  waistcoat A garment worn by men under a doublet, coat, or jacket partly exposed to view. The earliest waistcoats were often very elaborate and expensive. They sometimes had sleeves and reached over the hips.

  waister One who worked in the WAIST of a ship, where the duties were principally unskilled, like hauling on ropes. A LANDSMAN or other person good for only menial labor.

  waiting-woman A female servant or attendant.

  Walcheren A Dutch island at the mouth of the Scheldt River that played a role in a misconceived British enterprise in 1809. The British government dispatched a force of 235 armed vessels with 44,000 troops to divert the French troops fighting the Austrians in the Danube valley. The island of Walcheren was captured, but the Austrian armies failed to defeat the French. All British ships and forces were withdrawn with heavy casualties, among them some 4,000 dead of disease and 11,000 listed as sick.

  wall-eye An eye with an iris that is whitish and barely distinguishable or that is streaked or different in hue from the other eye, presumably because of cataract formation. An eye with a divergent squint.

  wall-knot A knot that acts as a stopper at the end of a rope, made by unlaying and intertwining the strands.

  Walmer Castle One of the three castles (Walmer, Deal, and Sandown) built by King Henry the VIII in 1539 to defend the English coast near the town of Walmer, which is between Dover and Deal. Situated near the shore, it has an uninterrupted view of the DOWNS and the English Channel as far as the French coast.

  wand A fishing rod.

  wardroom The messroom on board ship for the commissioned and WARRANT OFFICERS, who were said to be of “wardroom rank.” As a group, the officers who used the wardroom.

  Ward’s Drops A medicine devised by Joshua Ward, a famous 18th-century London quack, it was an ANTIMONY salt dissolved in wine and promoted as a panacea.

  Ward’s Pill A medicine devised by the maker of WARD’S DROPS, it was made with an ANTIMONY salt and the exotic East Indian extract DRAGON’S BLOOD, and promoted as a panacea. It is unlikely that either of Ward’s medicines was truly helpful in any condition, although any panacea could be credited with the recovery that followed an illness, thanks to what Maturin and his colleagues knew as the vis medicatrix naturae, the “healing power of nature.”

  ware Short for beware, used as a warning cry or call to animals during a hunt.

  wariangle A shrike, especially the red-backed shrike, Lanius collurio. The wariangle nests in thick clumps of brambles or hedgerows and breeds in the late spring.

  warp A rope or light HAWSER attached to a KEDGE ANCHOR or fixed object and used for pulling on in order to move a ship from one place to another in a harbor, road, or river. A rope used to secure a vessel to a QUAY or to another vessel. Of sails, a lengthwise measurement of canvas. Also, the threads along the length of sailcloth. In fishing, a unit equal to four fish, used by herring fishermen on the east coast of England. To warp means to measure and lay out a ship’s RIGGING prior to cutting it. Also, to move a ship along by pulling on a warp, sometimes used with “out.” Of wind, to toss or drive a ship violently around.

  warrant An official certificate of appointment issued to an officer of lower rank than a commissioned officer.

  warrant officer One of a varied group of officers below commissioned rank, holding a WARRANT from an authority such as the NAVY BOARD, the ADMIRALTY, or the Ordnance Board. Among the warrant offices were
the MASTER, Surgeon, PURSER, BOATSWAIN, Gunner, and Carpenter. These were the warrant sea officers, the heads of specialized technical branches of the ships’ company. Below them was a second category of warrant officers who were considered “inferior officers.” These included the Cook, Chaplain, Armorer, Schoolmaster, Master at arms, and Sailmaker. This system remained in effect until the mid-19th century. See also “Sea Officers: Commissioned and Warrant,” page 13.

  washboard or washstrake A thin board attached to the GUNWALE of an open boat to keep out the spray. Also, a board on the SILL of a LOWER DECK port, for the same purpose.

  watch The period of time that each division of a ship’s company alternately remains on deck, usually four hours, except for the DOG-WATCHes, which are two hours each and serve to prevent the same watch being kept by the same men every day. The names of the watches are:

  Middle (graveyard watch): midnight to 0400 hours

  Morning: 0400 to 0800 hours

  Forenoon: 0800 to 1200 hours

  Afternoon: 1200 to 1600 hours

  First dog: 1600 to 1800 hours

  Second, or last, dog: 1800 to 2000 hours

  First: 2000 hours to midnight

  See also SHIP’S BELLS.

  Also, those of the officers and crew, usually half and sometimes a third, who work a vessel during a given watch. When the crew is divided into two parts, they were known as the LARBOARD (or port) and STARBOARD watches, and when the crew was divided into thirds, they were usually known as the red, white, and blue watches.

  watch and watch The arrangement in which the two halves, or watches, of a ship’s crew are on duty alternately every four hours.

  watch-bill A list of the officers, seamen, and Marines of a ship-of-war and their corresponding WATCHes and stations for battle and other purposes.

  watchet A light blue color. A cloth or garment of this color.

  watch-glass An hour-glass used on board ship to measure the remaining time of a WATCH.

  water-butt A large cask with an open top set to receive rainwater.

  WATERLOO, THE BATTLE OF On June 18, 1815, the decisive showdown of the Napoleonic War, in which the allied forces under the duke of WELLINGTON and BLUCHER defeated NAPOLEON. Facing Napoleon’s 72,000 troops, Wellington’s advance position lay a mile south of his headquarters in the village of Waterloo, Belgium, along the ridge Mont Saint-Jean, where he had three outposts: to the west, at Chateau Hougoumont; in the center, at La Haye Sainte, a farm and gravel quarry; and to the east, at the houses and farms of Papelotte and La Haye, beside the Bois de Paris. Behind this ridge and interlaced with these positions were his two main corps under General Sir Rowland Hill and the Prince of Orange (later William II, king of Holland). His main force of cavalry, under Field Marshal Lord Uxbridge, lay in reserve in the center. Wellington’s army numbered 68,000, only a third British and many of the others raw recruits and former French allies.

  Napoleon’s goal was simple: to decimate Wellington’s army and to march on to Brussels, the Belgian capital, by nightfall. Wellington’s was also simple: to hang on until Blucher and his army of 89,000 Prussians arrived. In this, he was aided by heavy rainfall, which delayed Napoleon’s attack. Under the battle command of Marshal Ney, the French bombarded the allied lines, then sent Jerome Bonaparte’s division against Château Hougoumont in the hopes of drawing Wellington’s reserves. The allied forces held without the reserves, resulting in Ney’s first major setback of the day. At 1:30, Ney launched the Comte d’Erlon into his attack in the center, but he was repelled and then routed by Lord Uxbridge’s cavalry charge. Uxbridge advanced too far, however, and was pounded by the French grand battery, losing a third of his men before regaining the allied lines. At around 3:30 Ney sent a cavalry assault against Wellington’s right, which he believed was breaking, but Wellington’s infantry squares stood fast, and Ney’s cavalry were defeated.

  In the meantime, the Prussians, led by Billow’s corps, had arrived, diverting French troops to the village of Plancenoit, where Napoleon was forced to commit the IMPERIAL GUARD. At 6:00, Ney had at last taken La Haye Sainte, and Wellington was in trouble. At this point, the Imperial Guard could have easily delivered the knockout blow, but they were still engaged at Plancenoit. Wellington, on the other hand, learned of the arrival of ZEITEN’S corps on the left, and was able to draw reinforcements from that side to his center. By the time the Imperial Guard arrived to attack Wellington’s center, it was too late, and the Guard’s thrust was not well aimed. Maitland’s Guardsmen met the Imperial Guard with volley after deadly volley, and the Frenchmen reeled back down the hill.

  The allies lost 22,000 men in the fighting and Napoleon 41,000. Politically, he would not recover, and he soon abdicated and was exiled to St. Helena.

  waterman A man working on a boat or among boats, as a boatman, ferryman, or someone who assists in berthing a vessel.

  water sail A small fairweather sail set under a lower STUDDINGSAIL or below the DRIVER BOOM to take advantage of a following wind. A triangular sail set under the BOWSPRIT of a Cornish fishing LUGGER.

  wax-moth A moth whose larvae prey on the honeycomb.

  way The progress of a vessel through water; the rate of progress, velocity. A vessel gathers way as it increases speed and loses way as it slows. It has way on when it is moving. A vessel is under way when it has lifted its anchor from the bottom or left its MOORings, even though it is not moving. See also WEIGH.

  wear or wear round Of a vessel, to come around on the other TACK by turning the head away from the wind, the opposite maneuver being to put a ship about by bringing her head toward the wind, which is to TACK. See illustration.

  This ship is wearing, turning downwind with her main course brailed up to the yard and her foresails braced around to catch the wind to help bring the bow around on a new course. (From Serres’s Liber Nauticus.)

  weather Situated on the side that is toward the wind; to windward. To weather a ship is to get to windward of her, and to weather a shore is to pass it to windward.

  weather-awning See AWNING

  WEATHER GAUGE OR GAGE

  A situation in which a ship or line or ships is WINDWARD of another ship or line of ships. To have or keep the weather gauge of something is to be to windward of it. In a line of battle or single-ship action, the fleet or ship that has the weather gauge is generally considered to have the advantage, although that is arguable. The advantages of having the weather gauge or the lee gauge, as described by Falconer’s (1815):

  Advantages of the Weather-Gage:

  1. The weather-gage is the sooner clear of smoke; and, of course, that line can better observe the signals which are spread, than the ships to leeward can, which must have the continuance of both its own and of the enemy longer.

  2. If the weather-ships are more in number than the enemy’s, they can detach some from their squadron; which, bearing down upon the rear of the enemy, must infallibly throw them into disorder.

  3. The fire-ships of the weather-line can, when they are ordered, more easily bear down upon the enemy than those of the lee can ply to windward, which can never be done against a line in action; but the weather fire-ships can bear down against all the resistance that can be made by the enemy.

  Disadvantage:

  The weather-line cannot decline the action, without the dangerous expedient of forcing through the enemy’s line; and if it keeps the wind, the lee-line may inclose and totally destroy it, especially if it is inferior in number to the latter, or if the ships thereof are in bad condition; for it then can find no other source but in the dexterity of its maneuvers, unless it is favored by the wind, or any oversight of the enemy.

  Advantages of the Lee-Gage:

  1. If one, two, or more of the ships to windward should be disabled, they must inevitably drive to leeward, and become a prey to the enemy.

  2. The ships of the lee-line can more readily bear away before the wind, and have their places supplied by ships from the corps-de-reserve, in case of being disabled
or meeting with any disaster.

  3. The line to leeward can keep their ports longer open in a strong wind with a high sea, when those to windward in all probability, may be obliged to shut the ports of their lower tier of guns, to prevent the water from rushing in between decks, which may be attended with the most fatal consequences.

  4. The lee-line can more easily observe the men on the decks of the ships to windward, as they heel, and when the smoke does not interrupt their sight; at which time the marines and topmen may easily take aim at and destroy them with muskets and carbins.

  Disadvantage:

  It cannot decide the time and distance of the battle, which may commence before it is sufficiently formed; and it will, perhaps, be attacked by an enemy, who bears away upon it in regular order.

  weatherly Capable of sailing close to the direction from which the wind is blowing.

  Wedgwood The bone china and other pottery made by Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) and his successors at Etruria, the factory-village he built in Staffordshire. Their best-known vases, plaques, medallions, and the like are of fine clay lightly glazed, with classical designs in white relief on a blue or black background.

  weevil Any beetle whose larvae, and sometimes the beetles themselves, bore into grain, fruit, nuts, and the bark of trees, causing severe damage. Especially a beetle of a species of the family Curculionoidea, the true weevils.

  weigh To lift; to weigh anchor is to lift or HAUL up a ship’s anchor from the sea floor before sailing. The words “weigh” and “WAY” both derive from the Old English word wegan, “to carry or move,” which later came to mean to lift as well.

  well-found Fully furnished or equipped.

  Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of (1769-1852) The commander of British troops during the Peninsular War (see p. 27), he defeated NAPOLEON at WATERLOO in 1815, ending the Napoleonic wars. Wellington entered the army in 1787 and, aided by his brother Richard (later Earl of MORNINGTON), rose rapidly in rank. After service in India, he returned to England in 1805 and was knighted. The following year, he was elected to Parliament, and he was appointed Irish secretary in 1807.