| Pirate Speak of the 1700s |
| a few words, terms, and phrases used aboard sailing ships during the 18th century |
HALYARDS : The lines (ropes) used to hoist sails.
HAMMOCK : Most sailors did not have bunks, and certainly did not have beds, although the captain of a ship
might. What the crew slept in were usually canvas hammocks slung up between the overhead beams of a lower
deck.
HARDTACK : Biscuits baked sans salt and in a hot oven. This rendered the biscuits more resistant to mouldering,
and hence better suited for taking on sea voyages.
HATCH : Sliding or hinged opening in the deck providing access to a space within the ship.
HATCH COVER : Covers for hatches or hatchways.
HATCHWAY : The large square openings in a ships deck which allows access to the lower decks when loading or
unloading freight.
HAWSER : A very heavy cable or line used for towing a ship or fastening the ship to a dock.
HEAD : A ships lavatory, usually situated at the bow of a ship.
HELL'S BELLS AND BUCKETS O' BLOOD! : A sailors expletive.
HEMPEN HALTER : A hangman's noose.
HIGH AND DRY : A ship that has run aground so that the hull can be seen upon the sand. The ever-shifting
sandbars along the coast were a hazard to ships. Hidden beneath the waves at high tide, a ship might become
lodged upon a bar and when the tide receded the vessel would be left high and dry.
HITCH : A simple knot made to hold fast a line. Also, to get married.
HOGSHEAD : A large cask used mainly for shipment of wines and spirits and depending upon the type of spirit,
would be equal to about 46 to 54 gallons. a hogshead of tobacco was a barrel 48 inches long and thirty inches in
diameter, that when packed with tobacco weighed about 1,000 pounds.
HOLD : The area of a ship where goods are stored, usually above the keel and below the lower decks.
HOLYSTONE : Sandstone used to scrub the decks smooth and clean because sailors had to get to their hands and
knees to use them. Large holystones were called bibles, and smaller holystones called prayer books.
HORNSWAGGLE : To cheat.
HODGEPODGE : A meal made entirely in a single pot, as a stew.
INDIGO : A type of deep blue dye obtained from plants such as woad or dyer's knotweed, which works well with
cotton fiber.
IN HIS BOOTS : Intoxicated.
INTERLOPER : An illegal trading vessel; a smuggler.
IN THE SAME BOAT : Being in the same situation as another; "We're in this boat together."
IRISH APPLE : A potato
IRISH PENNANTS : Loose ends of line hanging about a ship.
JETSAM : Anything thrown overboard.
JETTISON : To cast overboard.
JIB : A triangular sail attached to the bowsprit.
JIMMY BUNGS : A ships cooper.
JOLLY BOAT : A light, general purpose boat carried on a ship.
JURY RIG : To cobble up a temporary repair, as a mast broken at sea. A jury rigged mast would be used until
proper repairs could be made at docking.
KEEL HAUL : Another term made famous by pyrates. This is the act of throwing a man overboard, tied to a rope
that goes beneath the ship, and then dragging him from one side to the other and hauling him out. Besides the torment
of being dragged under water, this would drag the victim across the barnacle studded ship's hull and cause great
pain and injury. This was a serious punishment and not administered lightly.
KEEP A WEATHER EYE OUT : To watch out along the side of the ship where the weather lay. It is said that
trouble will come from the weather side, so a watchman must keep a weather eye open; be ever watchful.
KING OF SPAIN'S DAUGHTER : Wines taken as prize.
KISS THE WOODEN LADY : A minor punishment involving standing at the mast with one's arms lashed about the
shaft.
KITES : The highest and lightest sails on a ship.
KNOT : A term of speed equal to about 1.2 miles per hour. Early ships measured their progress by throwing a chip
log attached to a knotted line out behind the boat. Knots were placed in the line at intervals of 47 feet 3 inches, and
were counted as the line played out behind the vessel against a 30 second sandglass.
KRAKEN : An enormous sea monster the size of a floating island whose real danger was not that it would attack
ships, but that when it ducked below the surface it would create a vortex large enough to sink a ship.
HAMMOCK : Most sailors did not have bunks, and certainly did not have beds, although the captain of a ship
might. What the crew slept in were usually canvas hammocks slung up between the overhead beams of a lower
deck.
HARDTACK : Biscuits baked sans salt and in a hot oven. This rendered the biscuits more resistant to mouldering,
and hence better suited for taking on sea voyages.
HATCH : Sliding or hinged opening in the deck providing access to a space within the ship.
HATCH COVER : Covers for hatches or hatchways.
HATCHWAY : The large square openings in a ships deck which allows access to the lower decks when loading or
unloading freight.
HAWSER : A very heavy cable or line used for towing a ship or fastening the ship to a dock.
HEAD : A ships lavatory, usually situated at the bow of a ship.
HELL'S BELLS AND BUCKETS O' BLOOD! : A sailors expletive.
HEMPEN HALTER : A hangman's noose.
HIGH AND DRY : A ship that has run aground so that the hull can be seen upon the sand. The ever-shifting
sandbars along the coast were a hazard to ships. Hidden beneath the waves at high tide, a ship might become
lodged upon a bar and when the tide receded the vessel would be left high and dry.
HITCH : A simple knot made to hold fast a line. Also, to get married.
HOGSHEAD : A large cask used mainly for shipment of wines and spirits and depending upon the type of spirit,
would be equal to about 46 to 54 gallons. a hogshead of tobacco was a barrel 48 inches long and thirty inches in
diameter, that when packed with tobacco weighed about 1,000 pounds.
HOLD : The area of a ship where goods are stored, usually above the keel and below the lower decks.
HOLYSTONE : Sandstone used to scrub the decks smooth and clean because sailors had to get to their hands and
knees to use them. Large holystones were called bibles, and smaller holystones called prayer books.
HORNSWAGGLE : To cheat.
HODGEPODGE : A meal made entirely in a single pot, as a stew.
INDIGO : A type of deep blue dye obtained from plants such as woad or dyer's knotweed, which works well with
cotton fiber.
IN HIS BOOTS : Intoxicated.
INTERLOPER : An illegal trading vessel; a smuggler.
IN THE SAME BOAT : Being in the same situation as another; "We're in this boat together."
IRISH APPLE : A potato
IRISH PENNANTS : Loose ends of line hanging about a ship.
JETSAM : Anything thrown overboard.
JETTISON : To cast overboard.
JIB : A triangular sail attached to the bowsprit.
JIMMY BUNGS : A ships cooper.
JOLLY BOAT : A light, general purpose boat carried on a ship.
JURY RIG : To cobble up a temporary repair, as a mast broken at sea. A jury rigged mast would be used until
proper repairs could be made at docking.
KEEL HAUL : Another term made famous by pyrates. This is the act of throwing a man overboard, tied to a rope
that goes beneath the ship, and then dragging him from one side to the other and hauling him out. Besides the torment
of being dragged under water, this would drag the victim across the barnacle studded ship's hull and cause great
pain and injury. This was a serious punishment and not administered lightly.
KEEP A WEATHER EYE OUT : To watch out along the side of the ship where the weather lay. It is said that
trouble will come from the weather side, so a watchman must keep a weather eye open; be ever watchful.
KING OF SPAIN'S DAUGHTER : Wines taken as prize.
KISS THE WOODEN LADY : A minor punishment involving standing at the mast with one's arms lashed about the
shaft.
KITES : The highest and lightest sails on a ship.
KNOT : A term of speed equal to about 1.2 miles per hour. Early ships measured their progress by throwing a chip
log attached to a knotted line out behind the boat. Knots were placed in the line at intervals of 47 feet 3 inches, and
were counted as the line played out behind the vessel against a 30 second sandglass.
KRAKEN : An enormous sea monster the size of a floating island whose real danger was not that it would attack
ships, but that when it ducked below the surface it would create a vortex large enough to sink a ship.
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