Sentence:  The gun is discharged by means of a lock screwed on to the side of a vent-patch near the touch-hole, and its recoil is limited by a stout piece of rope called a <WSD>breechen</WSD>, which is rove through a ring at the breech, the ends being secured to bolts on each side of the port-hole. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (historical) A rope used to limit the recoil of a cannon on a ship