The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1898-05-03
PHR Asses OF THE SEA.
the Origin Of Curious and Familiar
Titles Among Seataring Men.

'obS oC8tdElllR wen.
la the early days of English naval
organization, vessels of war had double
crews, Il military one for lighting Dur.
poses ahd another Of mariners for nav
igaIlhg duties. In sequence, a
iarge numoe OF English sea terms
have a military origin.
at that time, the rank M Admiral
was unknown, and the chief officer Of
the squadron was called q constable. ar
JuStlce' The term admiral as now used
Is derived from the Arabic amir" or
remlr, u commander las IA nAmir-al.
6ahr' commander Of the sea.) The
early English forn4 was "amiran and
Is still preserved as such by the
! French. ~ "o
Inc Title captain is not a naval, but
q military one. Originally, the real
captain OF ashlp was master" A mil.
itary oihcer was plac' ID on board,
though ne knew nothing OF the nauti-
ca nnatCGrs' Gradually his Importance
increased, while that OF the master
diminished proportionatcly tin nj The
present day the masters office is
gradually becoming obsolete. Com.
modore comes from the Spanish "co-
mendador."
The title Of lieutenant is borrowed
directly from the French, and Is meant
as a place holder, or one who to * tho
place OF the captain when absent. In
former days There we're not cadets but
volunteers, but with TIE gradual ad.
vance OF ~poIitencss, the term cadet was
appropriated from the French.
Boatswaln is derived from the Saxon
SVEN, aserVant. The term quarter
MASTER, as used In army and navy, ap
pears TO be confusing and Anomalous
In the army it is the title of q commls
stoned officer who performs imp0rtan'
ana responsible duties. In the nav,
ne Is simply a warrant officer directing
suOOrdlnate duties. In old ships, ant
In olden Zines his position was q more
important one; SO much so that he wa
considered to be the fourth part of tn,
master-hence the term uuartermas
ter.
The ships cook was once a grea
man, and there are instances on recor,
OF his being promoted for enicien
preparation OF food. The ships stew
ard was originally caterer.
The terms larboard and sta,hoar
come from the Italian ''Questa boarda
a "quella boarda," which bv rapi
delivery became s~tarboard and la,
ooard but owing to the strong SINH
arlty OF sound they were changed int
t starooard and port (Latin porto, t
= carry, the use OF Uerms in the origins
: form having been the cause of man
accidents.
+ Gapgway hts been handed dow
from the days of the ancient gallery 4,
Inc PLunicians, Carthagenians an
n Romans 1T having been a board wlic
t ran along the whole length serving ;
a passage for the overs to and fro,
the'r seats. 1t vas also used as a res
| mo- 81 IA hN -,a
not in use.
The cockpit, in the lowest part Of TT
a vessel below water, used durinr an a
d tlon Tor tho treatment of the w0undc,
5 Is derived from the old DAYS of IL
Engilsh sport OF cock fighting: but tn
q mas beer m~oderniZed and is now know
as the "hats'-wby, no one can c
plain.
Lubbcr is from the Dutch, meanir
Il lazy, cowardly fellow.
Anchor comes from the Latin "a
. chora or "~ancora," which up TO 600
u, consisted simply Of "a large stoI
); with a hole through it.
The popularity Of so many porto
OF a Ships rigging bearing names d
c. rlVeu nom the trappings Of a horse c;
only be accounted for from the f.
> that the early warships were mann,
by soldiers as we'll Us sailors. the n,
ural consequence being that they, Il
,e sailors, adanted some of their terms
b.. meet thelr lt1 y. Among the yario
Ie ropes, etc will be found brides, whit
pits, stirrups, and the like.
Inc old AID well known sea ter
n g.rog was originated by a term of d
? rlslon and disgust when Admiral Yer
,t on, In l143, introduced the wise innoy
ZION OF making his crew drink the
st splrlt ration diluted with water inste,
OF meat, as they had hitherto don
S, me sailors did not like the waite
IS business, and IN revenge hickman,
n the admiral "Old Grog" and his dilut,
mixture as grog, from the fact IT, at
y generally wore an overcOat of a col
then known as grogram gray.