The Sailor's Word-Book Part 132

HOWKER. _See_ HOOKER.

HOWLE. An old English word for the hold of a s.h.i.+p. When the foot-hooks or futtocks of a s.h.i.+p are scarphed into the ground-timbers and bolted, and the plank laid up to the orlop-deck, then they say, "the s.h.i.+p begins to howle."

HOY. A call to a man. Also, a small vessel, usually rigged as a sloop, and employed in carrying pa.s.sengers and goods, particularly in short distances on the sea-coast; it acquired its name from stopping when called to from the sh.o.r.e, to take up goods or pa.s.sengers. In Holland the hoy has two masts, in England but one, where the main-sail is sometimes extended by a boom, and sometimes without it. In the naval service there are _gun-hoy_, _powder-hoy_, _provision-hoy_, _anchor-hoy_, all rigged sloop-fas.h.i.+on.

HOYSE. The old word for hoist.

HUBBLE-BUBBLE. An eastern pipe for smoking tobacco through water, which makes a bubbling noise.

HUDDOCK. The cabin of a keel or coal-barge.

"'Twas between Ebbron and Yarrow, There cam on a varry strong gale; The skipper luicked out o' th' huddock, Crying, 'Smash, man, lower the sail!'"

HUDDUM. The old northern term for a kind of whale.

HUER. A man posted on an elevation near the sea, who, by concerted signals, directs the fishermen when a shoal of fish is in sight.

Synonymous with _conder_ (which see). Also, the hot fountains in the sea near Iceland, where many of them issue from the land.

HUFFED. Chagrined, offended, often needlessly.

HUFFLER. One who carries off fresh provisions to a s.h.i.+p; a Kentish term.

HUG, TO.--_To hug the land_, to sail as near it as possible, the land however being to windward.--_To hug the wind_, to keep the s.h.i.+p as close-hauled to the wind as possible.

HUGGER-MUGGER. In its Shakspearian bearing may have meant secretly, or in a clandestine manner, but its nautical application is to express anything out of order or done in a slovenly way.

HUISSIERS. The flat-bottomed transports in which horses were embarked in the Crusades.

HULc.o.c.k. A northern name for the _Squalus galeus_, or smooth hound-fish.

HULK. Is generally applied to a vessel condemned as unfit for the risks of the sea, and used as a store-vessel and housing for crews while refitting the vessels they belong to. There are also hulks for convicts, and for masting, as _sheer-hulk_. (_See_ SHEERS.)

HULL. The Gothic _hulga_ meant a husk or external covering, and hence the body of a s.h.i.+p, independent of masts, yards, sails, rigging, and other furniture, is so called.--_To hull_, signifies to hit with shot; to drive to and fro without rudder, sail, or oar; as Milton--

"He looked and saw the ark hull on the flood."

--_To strike hull_ in a storm, is to take in her sails and lash the helm on the lee side of the s.h.i.+p, which is termed _to lie a-hull_.

HULL-DOWN. Is said of a s.h.i.+p when at such a distance that, from the convexity of the globe, only her masts and sails are to be seen.

HULLING. Lying in wait at sea without any sails set. Also, to hit with shot.

HULLOCK OF A SAIL. A small part lowered in a gale.

HULL-TO. The situation of a s.h.i.+p when she is lying a-hull, or with all her sails furled.

HULLY. A long wicker-trap used for catching eels.

HUMBER-KEEL. A particular clincher-built craft used on the Humber.

HUMLA-BAND. A northern term for the grommet to an oar-pin or thole.

HUMMOCK. A hill with a rounded summit or conical eminence on the sea-coast. When in pairs they are termed _paps_ by navigators (which see).

HUMMOCKS OF ICE. Protuberant lumps of ice thrown up by some pressure upon a _field_ or _floe_, or any other frozen plane. The pieces which rise when large fragments come in contact, and bits of pack are frozen together and covered with snow.

HUMMUMS. From the Arabic word _hammam_, a bagnio or bath.

HUMP-BACKED WHALE. A species of whalebone whale, the _Megaptera longimana_, which attains to 45 or 50 feet in length, and is distinguished by its low rounded dorsal fin.

HURD. The strand of a rope.

HURDICES. Ramparts, scaffolds, fortifications, &c.

HURDIGERS. Particular artificers employed in constructing the castles in our early s.h.i.+ps.

HURLEBLAST. An archaic term for _hurricane_.

HURRICANE. _See_ TYPHOON.

HURRICANE-DECK. A light deck over the saloon of some steamers.

HURRICANE-HOUSE. Any building run up for temporary purposes; the name is occasionally given to the round-house on a vessel's deck.

HURRICANO. Shakspeare evidently makes King Lear use this word as a water-spout.

HURRY. A staith or wharf where coals are s.h.i.+pped in the north.

HURST. Anglo-Saxon to express a wood.

HURT. A wound or injury for which a compensation can be claimed.

HURTLE, TO. To send bodily on by a swell or wind.

HUSBAND, OR s.h.i.+P'S HUSBAND. An agent appointed by deed, executed by all the owners, with power to advance and lend, to make all payments, to receive the prices of freights, and to retain all claims. But this office gives him no authority to insure or to borrow money; and he is to render a full account to his employers.

HUSH. A name of the lump-fish, denoting the female.

HUSSAR, OR HUZZAR. A Hungarian term signifying "twentieth," as the first hussars were formed by selecting from various regiments the ablest man in every twenty; now generally a light-cavalry soldier equipped somewhat after the original Hungarian fas.h.i.+on.

HUT. The same as _barrack_ (which see).

HUTT. The breech-pin of a gun.

HUZZA! This was originally the _hudsa_, or cry, of the Hungarian light horse, but is now also the national shout of the English in joy and triumph.

HUZ-ZIF. A general corruption of _housewife_. A very useful contrivance for holding needles and thread, and the like.

HYDRAULIC DOCK. _See_ CAISSON.