The Sailor's Word-Book Part 82

DROG. A Gaelic term, still in use, to express the agitation of the sea.

DROGHER. A small craft which goes round the bays of the West India Islands, to take off sugars, rum, &c., to the merchantmen.--_Lumber-drogher_ is a vessel built solely for burden, and for transporting cotton and other articles coastwise.

DROGHING. The carrying trade of the West India coasts.

DROITS OF ADMIRALTY. Rights, or rather perquisites, which flowed originally from the king by grant or usage, and now reserved to the crown by commission. They are of two kinds--viz. the civil, or those arising from wrecks of the sea, flotsam, jetsam, and lagan, royal fishes, derelicts, and deodands, ejectamenta maris, and the goods of pirates, traitors, felons, suicides, and fugitives within the admiralty jurisdiction; and the prize droits, or those accruing in the course of war, comprehending all s.h.i.+ps and goods taken without commission, all vessels improperly captured before hostilities have been formally declared, or found or by accident brought within the admiralty, salvage for all s.h.i.+ps rescued, and all s.h.i.+ps seized, in any of the ports, creeks, or roads of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland before any declaration of war or reprisals by the sovereign.

DROM-FISH. A large fish taken and cured in quant.i.ties in the Portuguese harbours of South America, as well for s.h.i.+p's stores as for the times of fast.

DROMON. A Saracen term denoting the large king's s.h.i.+ps from the ninth to the fifteenth century.

DROP, OR DROOP. When a line diverges from a parallel or a curve. It is also a name generally used to the courses, but sometimes given to the depth of the square sails in general; as, "Her main top-sail drops seventeen yards." The depth of a sail from head to foot amids.h.i.+ps.--_To drop anchor_ is simply to anchor:--underfoot, in calms, a kedge or stream is dropped to prevent drift.

DROP ASTERN, TO. To slacken a s.h.i.+p's way, so as to suffer another one to pa.s.s beyond her. Also, distancing a compet.i.tor.

DROP DOWN A RIVER. Synonymous with _falling_ (which see).

DROP-DRY. Completely water-tight.

DROPPING. An old mode of salute by lowering flags or uppermost sails.

DROPS. In s.h.i.+p-building, are small foliages of carved work in the stern munnions and elsewhere. The term also means the fall or declivity of a deck, which is generally of several inches.

DROUD. A fish of the cod kind, frequenting the west coast of Scotland.

DROUGES. Quadrilateral pieces of board, sometimes attached to the harpoon line, for the purpose of checking in some degree the speed of the whale.

DROW. An old northern term for a severe gust of wind accompanied with rain.

DROWNED LAND. Extensive marshes or other water-covered districts which were once dry and sound land.

DROWNING. An early naval punishment; Richard I. enacted that whoever killed a man on s.h.i.+p-board, "he should be bound to the corpse, and thrown into the sea."

DROWNING-BRIDGE. A sluice-gate for overflowing meadows.

DROWNING THE MILLER. Adding too much water to wine or spirits; from the term when too much water has been put into a bowl of flour.

DRUB. To beat. (Captain's despatch.) "We have drubbed the enemy."

DRUDGE. A name truly applied to a cabin-boy.

DRUGGERS. Small vessels which formerly exported fish from Dieppe and other Channel ports, and brought back from the Levant spices and drugs.

DRUM. _See_ STORM-DRUM.

DRUM-CAPSTAN. A contrivance for weighing heavy anchors, invented by Sir S. Morland, who died in 1695.

DRUMHEAD COURT-MARTIAL. Sudden court held in the field for the immediate trial of thefts or misconduct. (_See_ PROVOST-MARSHAL.)

DRUMHEAD OF CAPSTAN. A broad cylindrical piece of elm, resembling a millstone, and fixed immediately above the barrel and whelps. On its circ.u.mference a number of square holes are cut parallel to the deck, to receive the bars.

DRUMLER. An ancient transport. (_See_ DROMON.) Also, a small piratical vessel of war.

DRUMMER. The marine who beats the drum, and whose pay is equivalent to that of a private of fourteen years' standing. Also, a singular fish of the corvinas kind, which has the faculty of emitting musical noises, whence it has acquired the name of _crocros_.

DRUXY. Timber in a state of decay, the condition of which is manifested by veins or spots in it of a whitish tint.

DRY-BULB THERMOMETER. The readings of this instrument, when compared with those of a wet-bulb thermometer, indicate the amount of moisture in the air, and thence the probability of rain.

DRY DOCK. An artificial receptacle for examining and repairing vessels.

(_See_ GRAVING-DOCK.)

DRY DUCKING. Suspending a person by a rope a few yards above the surface of the water.

DRY FLOGGING. Punis.h.i.+ng over the clothes of a culprit.

DRY GALES. Those storms which are accompanied with a clear sky, as the _northers_ of the Gulf of Mexico, the _harmattan_ of Africa, &c.

DRY HOLY-STONING. _See_ HOLY-STONE.

DRY-ROT. A disease destructive of timber, occasioned by a fungus, the _Merulius lachrymans_, which softens wood and finally destroys it; it resembles a dry pithy cottony substance, whence the name dry-rot, though when in a perfect state, its sinuses contain drops of clear water, which have given rise to its specific Latin name. Free ventilation and cleanliness appear to be the best preservatives against this costly evil.

DRY ROWING. "Row dry." Not to dash the spray with the blade of the oar in the faces of those in the stern-sheets.

D.S.Q. Means, in the complete book, discharged to sick quarters.

DUB. A northern term for a pool of deep and smooth water in a rapid river.

DUBB, TO. To smooth and cut off with an adze the superfluous wood.--_To dubb a vessel bright_, is to remove the outer surface of the plank completely with an adze. Spotting to examine planks with the adze is also dubbing.

DUBBAH, OR DUBBER. A coa.r.s.e leathern vessel for holding liquids in India.

DUBHE. A standard nautical star in the Great Bear.

DUCAT. A well-known coin in most parts of Europe; the average gold ducat being nine s.h.i.+llings and sixpence, and the silver three s.h.i.+llings and fourpence.

DUCATOON. A coin of the Dutch Oriental Isles, of seven s.h.i.+llings. Also, a silver coin of Venice, value four s.h.i.+llings and eightpence.

DUCK, TO. To dive, or immerse another under water; or to avoid a shot.

DUCK. The finest canvas (No. 8) for small sails, is sometimes so called; but it is really a lighter cloth than canvas, and is greatly used by seamen and soldiers on tropical stations for frocks and trousers.

DUCKING. A penalty which veteran sailors inflict on those who, for the first time, pa.s.s the tropics, the equator, or formerly even the Straits of Gibraltar; and is usually performed in the grog-tub or half-b.u.t.t, with the a.s.sistance of a few buckets of water; the usual fine, however, always prevents the penalty being inflicted.

DUCKING AT THE YARD-ARM. A marine punishment unknown, except by name, in the British navy; but formerly inflicted by the French for grave offences, thus: the criminal was placed astride a short thick batten, fastened to the end of a rope which pa.s.sed through a block hanging at the yard-arm. Thus fixed, he was hoisted suddenly up to the yard, and the rope being then slackened at once, he was plunged into the sea. This chastis.e.m.e.nt was repeated several times; conformable to the sentence, a gun advertised the other s.h.i.+ps of the fleet thereof that their crews might become spectators. If the offence was very great, he was drawn underneath the keel of the s.h.i.+p, which was called keel-hauling. (_See_ KEEL-HAULING.)

DUCKS. The general name for a sailor's dress in warm climates. Also, the military English of Bombay. _See also_ JEMMY DUCKS, the keeper of the poultry on board s.h.i.+p. Dried herrings, or Digby ducks in N. S.

DUCK-UP! A term used by the steersman when the main-sail, fore-sail, or sprit-sail hinders his seeing to steer by a landmark, upon which he calls out, "Duck-up the clue-lines of those sails," that is, haul the sails out of the way. Also, when a shot is made by a chase-piece, if the clue of the sprit-sail hinders the sight, they call out, "Duck-up," &c.