jabot A ruffled or pleated fall of cloth or lace, worn by men, attached to the front of a neckband and descending along the front and center of a shirt. Also, a similar fall in drapery.
jack A ship’s flag, consisting only of the canton (upper left-hand quarter) of the national flag, sometimes used at sea as a signal or mark of distinction. Specifically, the small flag flown from the JACK-STAFF on the BOWSPRIT of a vessel, as in the British Union Jack, Dutch Jack, French Jack. Also, a British naval seaman (originally, only ABLE SEAMEN and men whose station was on the MASTS and YARDS of SQUARE-RIGGED warships).
jackass A kind of heavy rough boat used in NEWFOUNDLAND. Also, U.S. Navy name for a HAWSE-bag, a canvas bag filled with OAKUM used to plug the HAWSE-HOLES to keep seawater out.
jackass rig Any RIG of a sailing ship that substantially differs from the one normally associated with that type of ship.
jack-crosstree The CROSSTREE at the head of the TOPGALLANT MAST.
jackeen Contemptuous term for an obnoxious, self-assertive person of little talent or knowledge.
Jack-in-the-dust or Jack of the dust Slang term for the PURSER’S Assistant, who worked in the BREADROOM, where the flour was stored.
Jack-in-the-green In May Day dances and the like, a man or boy who participates in the festivities, enclosed in a wooden or wicker pyramidal framework covered with leaves.
Jack-pudding A buffoon, clown, or MERRY-ANDREW.
jack-staff A short staff, usually set on the BOWSPRIT or at the BOW of a ship, on which the flag called the JACK is HOISTED when the ship is at anchor.
Jacobin A friar of the order of St. Dominic, a Dominican. Originally, the term referred to the French members of the order, so called for the church of Saint Jacques, which was near their first convent, in Paris. A member of a French political society founded in 1789 in the old convent of the Jacobins to support the principles of extreme democracy and absolute equality. A sympathizer with the Jacobins of the French Revolution; a radical. About 1800, a nickname for any political reformer.
Jacobite A supporter of James II (1633-1701), who left the English throne in 1688; a supporter of the Stuart pretenders to the English throne.
jactitation Extreme restlessness; tossing from side to side.
J’ai failli attendre I almost had to wait (French).
Jain A member of a non-Brahminical East Indian sect, established about the sixth century B.C., whose main doctrines are similar to those of Buddhism.
jakes A privy.
jalap A mild cathartic.
James I (1566-1625) Successor to Elizabeth I and the first Stuart King, James I is often considered to have had a negative effect on the Navy. He made peace with Spain soon after he ascended the throne and allowed Elizabeth’s fleet to fall into decay. However, this fleet began to revive after 1618, and James’s 64-gun Prince Royal of 1610, the largest ship of its time, pointed the way toward the three-decker.
James’s powder Invented by Dr. Robert James (1703-1776), a diaphoretic and cathartic mixture of ANTIMONY and calcium phosphate that was a popular fever reducer in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
janissary A soldier of an elite Turkish infantry that formed the Sultan’s guard and was the most potent part of the standing army. First organized in the 14th century its ranks were filled mainly with Christian slaves, who remained unmarried and lived in barracks. After a long decline in the corps’s viability, it was finally abolished by Mahmud II after he massacred many of its members in 1826. By extension, any Turkish soldier, especially one involved in escorting travelers in the East.
J’arrive, mon capitaine ... qu’est-ce que ce remue-mênage?... Vous êtes un officier anglais, monsieur?... Chez le colonel. I’m coming, captain ... what is this hullabaloo? ... Are you an English officer, sir? ... With the colonel (French).
jaunting-car In Ireland, a light two-wheeled carriage pulled by a single horse, usually having back-to-back seats hung over the two wheels.
jeer or jear Heavy TACKLE for hoisting and lowering the lower YARDS, the former a procedure known as “swaying up the yards.” The “jeer CAPSTAN,” between the FOREMAST and MAINMAST, was used by the sailors to assist in hoisting the yards.
jelly-bag A bag used for straining the fruit when making jelly.
Jersey The largest of the Channel Islands, on the south side of the English Channel. Also, the stockings, sweaters, and other knitted articles that the islanders produced.
Jersey, Frances, Countess of (1753-1821) Mistress of the Prince of Wales, later GEORGE IV, c.1795-96, until the return of Mrs. FITZHERBERT. She continued to make difficulties for Prince George, who later referred to her as that “infernal Jezabel.”
Jervis, Admiral Sir John (1735-1823) First Earl St. Vincent. Born at Meaford, Staffordshire, Jervis ran away from home and entered the Navy at age 13. He served with distinction in the American Revolutionary War and afterward became a Member of Parliament. He commanded an expedition to the WEST INDIES, capturing Martinique and Guadeloupe from the French in 1793 and 1794. At the Battle of CAPE ST. VINCENT in 1797, Jervis, with the help of NELSON, captured four Spanish ships and disabled many others off the southwest tip of Portugal, for which he was made an earl. Nicknamed Hanging Jervis for his strict disciplinarian nature, he was deeply religious and known to be of high integrity and sound judgment. He served as First Lord of the ADMIRALTY from 1801 to 1804. Kindhearted and generous in his personal relations, Jervis was given to vehement reproofs for unprofessional conduct and was often undiplomatic in his approach; nevertheless, he made substantial improvements to the administration and organization of the Navy.
Admiral Sir John Jervis, Earl of St. Vincent (reproduced from Alfred Mahan’s Life of Nelson, courtesy of the Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, Virginia)
Jesuit A member of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1533 and sanctioned by Paul IV in 1540. The object of the society was to support the Roman Church in its struggle with the 16th-century reformers and to propagate the faith among the heathen. Hated and feared by Protestants, the order, with its authoritarian constitution and its principle of total obedience to papal commands, became suspect to many in Roman Catholic countries, too, as Jesuit schools and confessionals came to exercise great influence on rulers and high society. Enemies accused the Jesuits of teaching that the end justifies the means, and the lax principles of casuistry put forward by a few Jesuit moralists were ascribed to the Society as a whole, giving rise to the second sense, a dissembling person; a prevaricator.
Jesuits’ bark or Peruvian bark See BARK.
Jew’s ear An edible, cup-shaped fungus that grows on the roots and trunks of trees.
jib A triangular HEADSAILthat stretches from the outer end of the JIB-BOOM to the FORE TOPMAST head in large ships, and from the BOWSPRIT to the MASTHEAD in smaller craft. Introduced in smaller craft around 1705, the jib became standard in larger ships by 1719. As a verb, a variant of GYBE. Also, of a horse or other animal in harness, to stop and refuse to proceed, to balk stubbornly.
jib-boom A SPAR run out from the end of the BOWSPRIT, to which the TACK of the JIB is LASHed, and beyond which is sometimes extended the flying jib-boom.
jib of jibs In a clipper ship, a sixth JIB on the BOWSPRIT, the sequence being storm, inner, outer, flying, SPINDLE, jib of jibs. A light-weather sail only set in a gentle breeze. In the Royal Navy, the single jib was the rule, and rarely would anything have been set outside the FLYING JIB.
jinn In Muslim demonology, an order of spirits lower than the angels and said to have the power of appearing in human and animal forms and of exercising supernatural influence over men.
jobber One who does odd jobs, a HACK. One employed and paid by the job, rather than continuously engaged and paid wages.
job captain An officer temporarily in command of a ship while its Captain was otherwise employed. The situation occurred not infrequently during the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly with naval officers, including RODNEY, JERVIS, PELLEW, and HOWE, among others, who were also Members of Parliament.
joe or johanne, also jo The name in the British American Colonies for a Portuguese gold coin worth 6,400 reis, or about 36 SHILLINGS sterling.
John Company See EAST INDIA COMPANY.
John o’ Groats Point on the north coast of Scotland, often considered the most northerly point in Great Britain. However, the most northerly point is actually Dunnet’s Head, some miles to the west.
Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784) Born at Lichfield and educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, Dr. Johnson was the leading literary scholar and critic of his day, making a profound contribution to English letters. He is remembered as the compiler of the first comprehensive lexicon in English, The Dictionary of the English Language (1755). His brilliant conversation, wit, and aphorisms were documented by his friend and biographer, James Boswell. Maturin’s opinion of Dr. Johnson is expressed in Master and Commander (p. 147): “ ‘The most respectable, the most amiable of the moderns. I disagree with all he says, except when he speaks of Ireland, yet I honour him; and for his life of Savage [Life of Savage, 1744] I love him.’ ” About Ireland, Boswell records Johnson: “ ‘There is no instance, even in ten persecutions, of such severity as that which the Protestants of Ireland have exercised against the Catholicks. Did we tell them we have conquered them, it would be above board: to punish them by confiscation and other penalties, as rebels, was monstrous injustice. King William was not their lawful sovereign: he had not been acknowledged by the Parliament of Ireland, when they appeared in arms against him.’ ”
joiner A craftsman who constructs things by joining pieces of wood and does finer work than a carpenter, such as the furniture and fittings of a ship.
jolly A Navy nickname for a Royal MARINE.
jolly boat A ship’s boat, smaller than a CUTTER, with a BLUFF BOW and a wide STERN, used chiefly for small work and usually HOISTED at the STERN of the vessel. See illustration, page 72.
Jonah The name of a Hebrew prophet, the subject of the Book of Jonah. A person who brings bad luck.
Jones, John Paul (1747-1792) The “Paul Jones” taunt of the British by the Americans refers to John Paul Jones, the American naval hero of the Revolutionary War. Jones’s raids on British warships earned him the French Merite Militaire, making him the only officer in the American armed services to be so decorated. Born in Scotland as John Paul, he apprenticed in ships sailing to America and adopted it as his new home, where he changed his name to John Paul Jones. He was loathed in Britain for attacking the ships of his native country and considered a pirate.
Jones, Tom The boisterous hero of Henry Fielding’s novel The History of Tom Jones (1749).
judas A small lattice or aperture in a door found in some old houses and in prison cells, through which a person can look without being noticed from the other side. A peep-hole.
Judas-coloured Of the hair or beard, red, from the medieval belief that Judas Iscariot had red hair and a red beard.
judas-hole See JUDAS.
judicial combat A duel.
judy A woman or girl, from the female character in Punch and Judy shows.
jug To stew or boil in a jug or jar, especially a hare or rabbit.
jumped-up Something of new and sudden self-importance, implying conceit or arrogance.
junk An old or inferior CABLE or rope or old cable or rope material cut up into short lengths and used for making such things as FENDERS, REEF-POINTS, GASKETS, and OAKUM. Also, junk or jonk, a flat-bottomed native sailing vessel in China and the EAST INDIES having a square PROW, prominent STEM, and a full STERN, carrying LUG-SAILS frequently made of cane or bamboo mats, and using wooden anchors.
Juno, H.M.S. The 32-gun FRIGATE, built on the Thames in 1780 and named for the goddess Juno, the wife of Jupiter, is probably best known for its amazing escape in the winter of 1794 when, her Captain, Samuel Hood, unaware that the British had left TOULON, sailed her into the French Republican-held port. The French did their best to conceal their identity and even caused the ship to run hard aground. However, the crew soon caught on to the deception and managed to maneuver into clear water. Although guns from the surrounding ships and the forts battled her, the Juno managed to gain the open sea and escape without a man lost.
Jupiter, H.M.S. Named after the Roman supreme god of heaven and earth, this 50-gun fourth-rate ship was launched in 1778 and saw action at the Cape of Good Hope (see CAPE OF STORMS) in 1795. She was wrecked in 1808 at Vigo Bay on the Atlantic coast of Spain.
jury-mast A temporary MAST put up in place of one that has been broken or carried away. Thus, jury FOREMAST, jury MAINMAST, etc.