The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-07-30
PHYSIOLOGY OF THE SEA.
Some Of the Most Familiar Titles

Some Of the Most Familiar Titles
and Their origin.
! In the early days Of the English ma
val organizations vessels of war had
double crews, a military one for fight
Ing purposes and another Of mariners
tor navigating duties. In consequence.
a large number Of English sea terms
have military origin.
At that time the rank Of admiral
was unknown, and the chief officer of
the squadron was called constable, OF
justice. The term admiral as now
used 10 derived from the Arabic amir"
or "emir." a commander las in Amir
al-Bahr," commander of the sea). The
early English form was "amiral," and
is still preserved as such by the
French.
The title of captain is not a naval,
but military one. Originally, the real
captain Of ship was master" A
military officer was placed on board,
though he knew nothing Of nautical
matters. Gradually his importance In
creased, while that Of The master d.
minished proportionateay till at the
present day the masters Office is gradu-
ally becoming obsolete. Commodore
comes from the Spanish Commentator"
The title Of lieutenant is borrowed
directly from the French. and is meant
as a place holder. or one who took the
place of the captain when absent. In
former days there were no cadets but
volunteers, but with the gradual ad-
vance of politeness. the term cadet was
appropriated from the French.
"Boatswain" is derived from the
Saxon "swein." servant. The term
Quartermaster, as used in both the
army and navy, appears to be confus-
Ing and anomalous. In the army It 10
the title of a commissioned officer who
performs important and responsible
duties. In the navy he is simply a
officer directing subordinate
duties. In the old ships and In olden
times his position was more impor-
tant ono; so much SO that he was con-
sidered to be the fourth part Of the
the term quartermaster.
The ships cook was once great
nan and there are instances ON record
" his being promoted for efficient pre-
,aration Of food. The ships steward
vas originally the caterer.
The terms larboerd and starboard
,ome from the Italian "Questra borda"
md "quelia borda," which by rapid de-
livery became star5oard and larboard:
,ut owing to the strong similarity Of
ound they were changed into star.
'oard and port (IIatin porto, to carry,
he use OF the terms in the original
orm having been the cause Of many
ccidents.
Gangway has been handed down
rom the days OF the ancient galley of
he Phoenicians, Carthaginians and
lomans, 1t having been board which
an along the whole length serving as
passage for the rowers to and from
heir seats. It was also used as
esting place for the mast and sail
hen not In use.
The cockpit, in the lowest part Of the
essel below the water used during an
ction for the treatment of the wound
d, is derived from the old days OF the
'nglish sport Of cock fighting; but this
as been modernized and Is now known
3 the "flats'-why, no one can ex-
lain.
Lubber Is from the Dutch, meaning
lazy, cowardly fellow.
Anchor came from tho Latin IAN
,ora," or "ancora," which up to 600
. @. consisted simply of large stone :
It'll hole through it. ,
The popularity OF so many portions I
ships rigging bearing names de-
we'd from the trappings Of horse
n only be accounted for from the
ct that the early warships were man =
ID by soldiers as we'll as sailors, the
Itural consequence being that they,
Q sailors, adapted some Of their
rms to meet their fancy, among these
ing brides, whips bits. stirrups, and
Q like.