The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-09-16
PHKASEOLOGY OF THE SEA

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
for 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 a constable or JUS
ticc. The term admiral as now used
is derived from the Arabic "amr" or
''emir", commander Gas "Amiral-
Bahr," commander of the sca) The
early English form was ''amiral'', and
is still preserved by the French.
The title of captain is not naval,
but military one. Originally, the
real captain of Il ship was ''master' y
A military officer was placed on board,
though he knew nothing of nautical
matters. Gradually his Importance in
creased, while that of the master dimin-
lshed proportionatey till at the present
day the masters office is gradually be-
coming obsolete Commodore comes
from the Spanish commentator;
The title Of lieutenant is borrowed
directly from the French, and is meant
as place holder, or one who took the
place of captain when absent. In
former days there were no cadets but
volunteers, but with the gradual adj
vance of politeness, the term cadet was
appropriated from the French.
"Boatswain" is derived from the
Saxon "sweln', servant. The term
l'art"rmastcr. as used in both the army
and navy, appears to be confusing and
anomalous. In the army it is the title
of a commissioned officer who performs
important and responsible duties. In
the navy he is simply warrant officer
directing subordinate duties. In the
old ships and in olden times his position
was a more important one; SO much so
that he was considered to he the fourth
part Of the master-hcnce the term
quartcrmaster.
The ships cook was once great
man and there are instances on record
OF his being promoted for efficient
preparation of f od. The ships stew
ard was originally the caterer
The term larboard came from Italian
"questra borla" and ''quclia bortla''
which by rapid delivery became star
board; but owing to the strong simil-
arity of sound they were changed into
starboard and port Latin porto, to
carry) the use of the terms in the
original form having been the cause of
many accidents.
Gangway has been handed down
from the days of the ancient galley of
the Phmnccians, Carthaginians and
Romans, it having been a board which
ran along the whole length serving as
a passage for the rowcrs to and from
their seats. 1t was also used as rest
ing place for the mast and sail when
not in use.
The cockpit, in the lowest part of
the vessel below the water used dur
ing an action for the treatment of the
wounded, is derived from the old davs
of the English sport of cock fighting;
but this has been motlernized and is
now known as the flats no one
can explain.
The popularity of so many portions
of ships rigging bealing names de-
rived from the trappings of 4 horse can
only be accounted for from the fact that
the early warships were manned by
soldiers as well as sailors, the natural
consequence being that they, the sail
ors, adapted some Of their terms to
meet their fancy, among these being
brides, whips, bits, stirrups. and the
like