“My God, but you’re… you’re… insolent,” stammered Chester, staring Neville in the eyes. You said this wasn’t about you.”
“Well, it’s not; not all of it.”
“I don’t like everything I see, but I do like the cut of your jib and that Stearns fellow has definitely landed himself in the toilet … and I’ve never seen my daughter act this way about anybody, so … I’ll think about it. Now shall we go back and deal with Marcus Brutus? That’s a job I will enjoy finishing.”
25 - “Unfinished Business”
Conversation in the carriage on the way back to the office was more lively than it had been on the way out, but Chester still sat with his daughter protectively on his side of the carriage.
“Trading with the enemy is against the law,” argued Neville, “but if we find Michael to be guilty of the bigger crime of attempting to sell weapons to France, I might just forget your local arms activity if you promise me you’ll give it up.”
“I have never…” Chester began.
“Poppycock!” interrupted Neville. “I myself have seen boxes being carried from your ship to launches at Bahia de Neiba on the south coast of Hispaniola. I wasn’t rum. Rum is in barrels, not boxes. What’s wrong with you, anyway? Isn’t there enough money in rum?”
“And, you must both quit the idea of rum sales to France, if Marion is to marry me, even if you attempt to legitimize it by selling through the United States. I can’t be tied up in any of it, or I will be tied up with all of it and hanged.
“Father hasn’t given his approval yet,” Marion said. Father and daughter looked at each other. In a moment they smiled, and both looked back at him. He wasn’t sure he liked their expressions, which strangely seemed more quizzical than antagonistic. They hadn’t said anything, either, so he couldn’t tell what they were thinking.
The carriage halted in front of The Stillwater Rum Trading Company, where all three disembarked.
“Allow me,” said Neville. He barged through the door with his hand upon the hilt of his sword, and was followed by Chester and then Marion. He saw nobody in the office windows, so he turned to the sales cubicles. Nobody was there, either.
“Oh, hello, Mr. Sykes,” said Chester to the one man remaining in the lobby.
“Just leaving, myself,” said Sykes. “I don’t know what kind of place you’re running here. That salesman you’ve got finished up with the pusser from the Franchise, and that was it for him. He said he’d be right back, but all he did was go in that office over there and write something; then he went out the back. I’m the only one waited this long for him, but I can’t stay longer today. Good Day, Sirs.”
“That’s his office. Let’s go look.”
In the center of a clean desk there was a single note:
Marion, I love you.
I never thought you would join up with the damned Brits.
Take care, Michael
“Whether he’s a double agent or a bumbler,” said Neville, “he’s smarter than we thought, and he certainly tries hard.”
The End
British Money – pre-decimal (pre-1971)
Britain used a system of pounds, shillings and pence, with coins representing various quantities of each, as follows:
Pound: not a coin before 1817 (then as the gold ‘sovereign’) – paper notes in values of 1, 5, 10, etc. were used and represented 240 silver pennies (pence): 1 pound (£1)= 20 shillings = 240 pence
1 guinea (coin, originally made from gold of the Guinea coast of Africa) = 21 shillings (1 pound + 1 shilling)
1 crown (coin) = 5 shillings = 1/4 pound
1 half-crown (coin) = 2 shillings and 6 pence (stopped in 1970)
1 florin (a beautiful medieval English silver coin) = 2 shillings
1 shilling (coin) = 12 pence (1s)
1 sixpence (silver coin; later called a 'tanner') = 6 pence
1 threepence = 3 pence (in sometimes called a ‘threp’ny bit’ or "thrupence")
1 penny (a copper coin) = one of the basic units (1d)
1 half penny (copper coin) (pronounced "hay-p-ny"); to 1969)
1 farthing (least value coin, a ‘fourth-thing’) = 1/4 penny; to 1956
The Prize Sharing system
1/8 to the flag officer
3/8 to the captain (for a private vessel prize)
1/8 each to commissioned, warrant and petty officers
¼ to the crew
British Navy Watch System (The bells)
(most commonly used in the Age of Sail)
The Navy day began at noon: Sights of the sun were taken by the Sailing Master and/ or officers and any navigation students (e.g. Midshipmen) using an astrolabe, the Davis quadrant (or the English quadrant), octant or sextant as such were invented in order to ascertain the sun’s zenith (locally) and determine latitude. When this was done (cloud cover permitting), the one responsible so informed the Officer of the Watch, who then informed the captain. The captain gave the order to “Make it noon and turn the glass”, and the order was transmitted to those who performed various parts of the daily ceremony: the hour-glass was turned, the ship’s bell was rung 8 times to indicated the end of the forenoon watch, and the boatswain blew his whistle (pipe) to summon the ship’s company to dinner.
One bell was rung for each half hour according to the time-keeping device, which was the hour-glass. Two bells were rung on the hour. At one-thirty p.pm. for example, it is 3 bells for the afternoon watch. A watch is 8 bells long (the two dog-watches in the afternoon, which allowed all the men to be fed more easily and rotated the watches for the next day, shared the full 8 bells until after the Spithead-Nore mutinies, when they each have only 4 each).
The speed-log was ‘heaved’ (thrown over the side) hourly.
The Watches:
Afternoon Watch: began at noon, the start of the Navy day, with the striking a 8 bells (the end) of the Forenoon Watch. Dinner began, and lasted one hour, until two bells were struck.
First Dog Watch, the first of two half-length watches
Last Dog Watch, the second of two half-length watches
Evening Watch (4 hours) 8 pm to midnight
First Watch (4 hours) midnight to 4 am, During the night, the sentinels cry ‘All’s Well’ at each bell
Middle Watch (4 hours) 4 am to 8 am; hammocks piped up at 6 bells (7 am)
Morning Watch (4 hours, beginning with 8 bells of the Middle Watch); hands piped to breakfast
Forenoon Watch (4 hours) 8 to noon
Glossary 1.4
aft – The rear or stern of a ship. (the square end, as opposed to the pointy end, called the bow)
abaft – Behind or to the back of, as ‘abaft the mainmast’.
ague – A disease involving a series of severe fevers and chills (often or quite likely malaria, which was not understood before the building of the Panama Canal in the early 1900’s).
beakhead - The small deck in the bow in front of the forecastle where the boom is mounted and where the crew’s lavatories were (from whence followed the term ‘head’ to mean toilet).
bend – A sailing term meaning to attach the sails. When in place and ready to use they are ‘bent’.
blocks - Pulleys.
boatswain – ‘bo’sun’: A highly skilled warrant officer in charge of deck and rigging operations (not sailing) and the supplies for all repairs. He assigns and oversees all deck work. The bo’sun likely had a private cabin and might eat in the gunroom with the commissioned officers. He would only stand watches on a small ship.
bow – The front of a boat or ship. (The ‘pointy end’, to which the bowsprit is attached.) The center wooden beam up the very front of it, to which hull planks are attached, is the ‘stem’.
bower - A ships’ two biggest anchors (‘best-‘ and ‘small-‘), and their cables; carried at the bow.
bloody flux – A disease: dysentery. It is an intestinal disorder that might be caused by numerous infections, resulting in severe diarrhea with blood and mucus in the feces. The
disease is accompanied by with fever and abdominal pain.
Blue Peter – A nickname for a signal flag, letter P (Square of blue with a white square inside it). It was flown in harbor to summon all ship’s crew aboard for departure.
braces - Those ropes of the ‘running rigging’ that were used to turn the yards from perpendicular to a ship’s keel to slanted – as needed for sailing closer to the wind. Square sails hang on the yards.
brail up – To raise the aft corners of a sail to cause it to stop drawing.
broach - This disastrous event for a ship occurs when it turns sidewise to the waves in a storm, whether by human error or magnitude of weather. The next wave that strikes the ship on the side may capsize or flood it causing extreme damage and/or injury, and likely sinking.
burgoo – food; not a seaman’s favorite. Cheap and easy, so served often. Porridge or gruel of oatmeal.
cable – The anchor line. – OR - A measure of length = 200 yards.
capstan – A rotating machine with a vertical axle mounted through the deck. Above deck, men insert poles horizontally and walk in a circle to rotate it. Ropes (e.g. anchor cables) attached to it below decks are wound up on it to pull - to raise the anchor or sails to raise spars aloft.
careen – To set a boat on the beach at high tide. When the tide is out its bottom can be worked on.
catted / cathead – When something is tied to the cathead (e.g. – an anchor) it is ‘catted’. The catheads are beams that protrude sideways from the sides of the ship at the bow and used for jobs like raising the anchors without them hitting the hull.
Cat-o-nine-tails – ‘cat’: A whip with many knotted ends used to serve out punishment (ordered by number of lashes). In the navy, it was kept in a red baize bag.
collops – Bacon fried with eggs.
complete (verb) - “To complete” a ship is to finish everything necessary before going to sea; provisions, arms, men, etc., as: ‘HMS Swan was completing at Plymouth’.
commodore – The man in charge of a small group of ships (an admiral would command an entire fleet). He would almost always be a captain, and might be referred to by either word.
confused seas – A sea state in which wind-driven waves, often from distant storms, approach the ship from different directions simultaneously, usually making the motion very uncomfortable
cor – An English expression of annoyance or exasperation.
coxswain – ‘cox’n’: The man in charge of a small boat: its captain. He orders the men who row or sail it; a petty officer who commands the captain's gig or barge.
crinkum-crankum - Fancy-work.
cracking on - An expression meaning to raise all possible sail and make haste.
demi-culverin – An old tern for a size of cannon: 9- pounder.
farthing – ¼ penny (essentially a ‘fourth-thing’) – see table on English money.
fathom – A measure normally used for depth, equal to six feet.
fiddle – A raised strip of wood around a surface (e.g. table or desk) that keeps objects from falling off when the ship heels (tilts). A fancy desk might have custom fiddles for items like inkwells.
filibusters – A 17th century term for French-biased pirates in the Caribbean.
forecastle - Usually pronounced ‘foc’s’l’. It is the foreward section of a ship where the crews quarters were. In most larger ships it was a raised area forward, the top of which is the foredeck.
fother – To cover a hole in the hull below the waterline by tying a sail or other canvas over it.
‘full and by’ – A sailing condition when the ship ss as close to the wind as she can get and the sails are drawing to the fullest. On a square-rigger this would require “bowlines”, which are sheets (ropes) from the forward bottom corner of the sail to a point forward (i.e. toward the bow).
glass – A word used consistently for three very different things: a telescope, the ship’s timing device, which was an hour-glass, and the barometer. As to timing, the [hour-] glass was reset to local time, if needed, at noon every day when sunsights were taken and the new navy day began. It was then turned every hour, at which time the log was heaved and, if in soundings – the lead line was employed. A ‘half glass’ is half an hour.
gratings – Rectangular wooden frames with criss-crossed wood strips that are used as hatch covers. (They must be covered with tarps if weather-proofing is needed.) Tipped up on end they were used as a place to tie a man for punishment: being lashed with a ‘cat-o-nine-tails’.
gunwale – the top edge of a boat’s side. In ships the hull might extend up above the top deck in the waist and effectively act as a solid railing.
HMS - “His Majesty’s Ship”. Note that Swan (Volume 2) is not referred to thus, because the acronym was not officially used in the British Navy before 1789.
head - (see “beakhead”) The toilet on a ship.
heave / hove – To pull or push, as on a line. – OR - a ship can ‘heave to’, meaning adjust sails and rudder in a manner that causes to ship to stop forward motion and lie quietly in rough water. Hove is past tense, as ‘the ship is hove to.’ Also, come into view, as ‘the man hove into view’.
holystone – A lump of soft sandstone used to scrub decks to ensure the hard oak is smooth with no splinters. The deck is then sluiced with seawater, resulting in an almost whitewashed appearance.
idler – A sailor who always works the “day watch”. He would normally not stand night watch –e.g. Cook, carpenter, the boatswain and purser, sail maker and cooper and their mates.
Jonas – A person who brings bad luck aboard a superstitious ship.
hounds – Protrusions high on a mast onto which blocks are hung for the halyards used to raise the yards.
langridge – cannon ammunition consisting of a tin can filled with angular pieces of iron to cut down men and damage rigging
larboard – The left side of a ship, opposite of ‘starboard’; (now replaced by the term ‘port’).
lay aft – A command meaning: “Go to the back of the ship,” or “Go find the captain on the quarterdeck or in his cabin” or “Go find the officer of the watch,” or similar.
league – 3 statute miles (as opposed to the much shorter distance of a cable, about 200 yards).
lead – (or lead-line): A short lead cylinder into the bottom of which a lump of tallow was set. It is affixed to the end of a line knotted at fathoms and tossed over the side (heaved) to measure depth. The tallow picks up evidence of the bottom – shell, sand, pebbles, etc. as an aid to knowing where the ship is. Two different lengths of line were used: one of about 25 fathoms for shallow areas (in soundings) and one of about 100 fathoms for deeper.
lignum vitae – A type of wood grown in Central America that is used for high-wear components like blocks (pulleys). Very salt-resistant; not prone to cracking under load.
lugger – A smaller ship equipped with lug sails. Lug sails are set on booms that are not symmetrical to the mast and may be turned and tightened in a manner that allows these built-for-speed boats to outrun and out-point any square-rigger. Not surprisingly, they were popular with pirates.
martingale – A permanent rope or cable attached near the waterline at the bow and at the tip of the bowsprit to prevent the bowsprit from breaking by opposing the upward forces of the forestays.
minion – An old term for a size of cannon that throws a 4-pound ball somewhat over 200 yards.
mizzen – The aftmost (rearmost) mast in a sailing ship, and its sails (e.g. Mizzen course)
money system, English – see appendix
neaped – An embarrassing situation for the captain (and dangerous if the enemy arrived) when his ship is stuck on land on a high tide that is unexpectedly lower than normal –The ship must wait for the next high tide to be freed.
ordinary – In addition to its normal meaning, a ship ‘in ordinary’ is out of service; “mothballed”. Also, a rating (rank) of seaman which is below ‘able seaman’ but above ‘landsman’ or ‘w
aister’
ostler – one who takes / cares for horses for those staying at an inn (or rich person’s house)
pease porridge – Food; a dish of boiled, mashed peas.
pinnace – 8-oared ship’s boat, often able to fit a mast and sail
pipe – wine cask, also called a butt, equal to ½ tun (which was 240 gal, though it might vary)
poop – The upper aft deck of a ship under / beneath the mizzen sails.
poldavy – A coarse cloth material used by the British for sails or sacks (or for other uses aboard).
priddy – To organize and clean or shine up, as in “priddy the decks”.
pusser – The spoken version of the warrant officer’s title “Purser”. This man is the ships’ accountant and normally responsible for purchasing supplies. (See also – “slops”).
quoin – a wedge used to manually (and quickly) adjust the elevation of a cannon
reave – To lace a rope though pulleys for whatever its function.
rundlet –small wine cask of about 18 gal = 1/14 tun (which was 240 gal., though it might vary)
saker – An old term for a size of cannon: that throws a 6-pound ball about two hundred yards.
Sham Abraham – An expression meaning those who are happy just to look busy.
sheet / sheet home – Lines (ropes) to the bottom corners of a sail to control it / Sail pulled fully tight & cleated (or belayed).
shilling – A coin of old English money = 12 pennies, or pence. (See English money table)
shot garland – a tube of canvass hung by each cannon to hold its ammunition (cannon balls)
simoom – A dust storm of huge proportion that blows far out into the Atlantic from the Sahara Desert of Africa. Also known in Israel and Saudi Arabia.
skylarking – The game of “follow me if you can” as played by the young boys aboard tall-rigged ships. They would fearlessly climb and swing from rope to rope & mast to mast.
The Stillwater Conspiracy (The Neville Burton 'Worlds Apart' Series Book 4) Page 31
