wad A plug of rope-yarn, cloth, or green wood rammed down the barrel of a gun to keep the powder and shot in position. Also, a similar device used in a cartridge.
wader Long-legged birds that frequently wade in shallow water, such as the HERON, PLOVER, and SNIPE.
waft A flag, or ENSIGN, used to indicate the direction of the wind or to convey various signals, depending upon where it is hoisted. Also, to convoy, a “wafter” being an escort vessel.
Wager, H.M.S. This 24-gun sixth rate was purchased in 1739 and wrecked in the South Atlantic on the southern coast of Chile in 1741 during ANSON’S voyage around the world. O’Brian’s novel The Unknown Shore is set on this grim voyage.
waist The middle part of the upper deck of a ship, between the QUARTERDECK and the FORECASTLE.
waistcoat A garment worn by men under a doublet, coat, or jacket partly exposed to view. The earliest waistcoats were often very elaborate and expensive. They sometimes had sleeves and reached over the hips.
waister One who worked in the WAIST of a ship, where the duties were principally unskilled, like hauling on ropes. A LANDSMAN or other person good for only menial labor.
waiting-woman A female servant or attendant.
Walcheren A Dutch island at the mouth of the Scheldt River that played a role in a misconceived British enterprise in 1809. The British government dispatched a force of 235 armed vessels with 44,000 troops to divert the French troops fighting the Austrians in the Danube valley. The island of Walcheren was captured, but the Austrian armies failed to defeat the French. All British ships and forces were withdrawn with heavy casualties, among them some 4,000 dead of disease and 11,000 listed as sick.
wall-eye An eye with an iris that is whitish and barely distinguishable or that is streaked or different in hue from the other eye, presumably because of cataract formation. An eye with a divergent squint.
wall-knot A knot that acts as a stopper at the end of a rope, made by unlaying and intertwining the strands.
Walmer Castle One of the three castles (Walmer, Deal, and Sandown) built by King Henry the VIII in 1539 to defend the English coast near the town of Walmer, which is between Dover and Deal. Situated near the shore, it has an uninterrupted view of the DOWNS and the English Channel as far as the French coast.
wand A fishing rod.
wardroom The messroom on board ship for the commissioned and WARRANT OFFICERS, who were said to be of “wardroom rank.” As a group, the officers who used the wardroom.
Ward’s Drops A medicine devised by Joshua Ward, a famous 18th-century London quack, it was an ANTIMONY salt dissolved in wine and promoted as a panacea.
Ward’s Pill A medicine devised by the maker of WARD’S DROPS, it was made with an ANTIMONY salt and the exotic East Indian extract DRAGON’S BLOOD, and promoted as a panacea. It is unlikely that either of Ward’s medicines was truly helpful in any condition, although any panacea could be credited with the recovery that followed an illness, thanks to what Maturin and his colleagues knew as the vis medicatrix naturae, the “healing power of nature.”
ware Short for beware, used as a warning cry or call to animals during a hunt.
wariangle A shrike, especially the red-backed shrike, Lanius collurio. The wariangle nests in thick clumps of brambles or hedgerows and breeds in the late spring.
warp A rope or light HAWSER attached to a KEDGE ANCHOR or fixed object and used for pulling on in order to move a ship from one place to another in a harbor, road, or river. A rope used to secure a vessel to a QUAY or to another vessel. Of sails, a lengthwise measurement of canvas. Also, the threads along the length of sailcloth. In fishing, a unit equal to four fish, used by herring fishermen on the east coast of England. To warp means to measure and lay out a ship’s RIGGING prior to cutting it. Also, to move a ship along by pulling on a warp, sometimes used with “out.” Of wind, to toss or drive a ship violently around.
warrant An official certificate of appointment issued to an officer of lower rank than a commissioned officer.
warrant officer One of a varied group of officers below commissioned rank, holding a WARRANT from an authority such as the NAVY BOARD, the ADMIRALTY, or the Ordnance Board. Among the warrant offices were the MASTER, Surgeon, PURSER, BOATSWAIN, Gunner, and Carpenter. These were the warrant sea officers, the heads of specialized technical branches of the ships’ company. Below them was a second category of warrant officers who were considered “inferior officers.” These included the Cook, Chaplain, Armorer, Schoolmaster, Master at arms, and Sailmaker. This system remained in effect until the mid-19th century. See also “Sea Officers: Commissioned and Warrant,” page 13.
washboard or washstrake A thin board attached to the GUNWALE of an open boat to keep out the spray. Also, a board on the SILL of a LOWER DECK port, for the same purpose.
watch The period of time that each division of a ship’s company alternately remains on deck, usually four hours, except for the DOG-WATCHes, which are two hours each and serve to prevent the same watch being kept by the same men every day. The names of the watches are:
Middle (graveyard watch): midnight to 0400 hours
Morning: 0400 to 0800 hours
Forenoon: 0800 to 1200 hours
Afternoon: 1200 to 1600 hours
First dog: 1600 to 1800 hours
Second, or last, dog: 1800 to 2000 hours
First: 2000 hours to midnight
See also SHIP’S BELLS.
Also, those of the officers and crew, usually half and sometimes a third, who work a vessel during a given watch. When the crew is divided into two parts, they were known as the LARBOARD (or port) and STARBOARD watches, and when the crew was divided into thirds, they were usually known as the red, white, and blue watches.
watch and watch The arrangement in which the two halves, or watches, of a ship’s crew are on duty alternately every four hours.
watch-bill A list of the officers, seamen, and Marines of a ship-of-war and their corresponding WATCHes and stations for battle and other purposes.
watchet A light blue color. A cloth or garment of this color.
watch-glass An hour-glass used on board ship to measure the remaining time of a WATCH.
water-butt A large cask with an open top set to receive rainwater.
WATERLOO, THE BATTLE OF On June 18, 1815, the decisive showdown of the Napoleonic War, in which the allied forces under the duke of WELLINGTON and BLUCHER defeated NAPOLEON. Facing Napoleon’s 72,000 troops, Wellington’s advance position lay a mile south of his headquarters in the village of Waterloo, Belgium, along the ridge Mont Saint-Jean, where he had three outposts: to the west, at Chateau Hougoumont; in the center, at La Haye Sainte, a farm and gravel quarry; and to the east, at the houses and farms of Papelotte and La Haye, beside the Bois de Paris. Behind this ridge and interlaced with these positions were his two main corps under General Sir Rowland Hill and the Prince of Orange (later William II, king of Holland). His main force of cavalry, under Field Marshal Lord Uxbridge, lay in reserve in the center. Wellington’s army numbered 68,000, only a third British and many of the others raw recruits and former French allies.
Napoleon’s goal was simple: to decimate Wellington’s army and to march on to Brussels, the Belgian capital, by nightfall. Wellington’s was also simple: to hang on until Blucher and his army of 89,000 Prussians arrived. In this, he was aided by heavy rainfall, which delayed Napoleon’s attack. Under the battle command of Marshal Ney, the French bombarded the allied lines, then sent Jerome Bonaparte’s division against Château Hougoumont in the hopes of drawing Wellington’s reserves. The allied forces held without the reserves, resulting in Ney’s first major setback of the day. At 1:30, Ney launched the Comte d’Erlon into his attack in the center, but he was repelled and then routed by Lord Uxbridge’s cavalry charge. Uxbridge advanced too far, however, and was pounded by the French grand battery, losing a third of his men before regaining the allied lines. At around 3:30 Ney sent a cavalry assault against Wellington’s right, which he believed was breaking, but Wellington’s infantry squares stood fast, and Ney’s cavalry were defeated.
In the meantime, the Prussians, led by Billow’s corps, had arrived, diverting French troops to the village of Plancenoit, where Napoleon was forced to commit the IMPERIAL GUARD. At 6:00, Ney had at last taken La Haye Sainte, and Wellington was in trouble. At this point, the Imperial Guard could have easily delivered the knockout blow, but they were still engaged at Plancenoit. Wellington, on the other hand, learned of the arrival of ZEITEN’S corps on the left, and was able to draw reinforcements from that side to his center. By the time the Imperial Guard arrived to attack Wellington’s center, it was too late, and the Guard’s thrust was not well aimed. Maitland’s Guardsmen met the Imperial Guard with volley after deadly volley, and the Frenchmen reeled back down the hill.
The allies lost 22,000 men in the fighting and Napoleon 41,000. Politically, he would not recover, and he soon abdicated and was exiled to St. Helena.
waterman A man working on a boat or among boats, as a boatman, ferryman, or someone who assists in berthing a vessel.
water sail A small fairweather sail set under a lower STUDDINGSAIL or below the DRIVER BOOM to take advantage of a following wind. A triangular sail set under the BOWSPRIT of a Cornish fishing LUGGER.
wax-moth A moth whose larvae prey on the honeycomb.
way The progress of a vessel through water; the rate of progress, velocity. A vessel gathers way as it increases speed and loses way as it slows. It has way on when it is moving. A vessel is under way when it has lifted its anchor from the bottom or left its MOORings, even though it is not moving. See also WEIGH.
wear or wear round Of a vessel, to come around on the other TACK by turning the head away from the wind, the opposite maneuver being to put a ship about by bringing her head toward the wind, which is to TACK. See illustration.
This ship is wearing, turning downwind with her main course brailed up to the yard and her foresails braced around to catch the wind to help bring the bow around on a new course. (From Serres’s Liber Nauticus.)
weather Situated on the side that is toward the wind; to windward. To weather a ship is to get to windward of her, and to weather a shore is to pass it to windward.
weather-awning See AWNING
WEATHER GAUGE OR GAGE
A situation in which a ship or line or ships is WINDWARD of another ship or line of ships. To have or keep the weather gauge of something is to be to windward of it. In a line of battle or single-ship action, the fleet or ship that has the weather gauge is generally considered to have the advantage, although that is arguable. The advantages of having the weather gauge or the lee gauge, as described by Falconer’s (1815):
Advantages of the Weather-Gage:
1. The weather-gage is the sooner clear of smoke; and, of course, that line can better observe the signals which are spread, than the ships to leeward can, which must have the continuance of both its own and of the enemy longer.
2. If the weather-ships are more in number than the enemy’s, they can detach some from their squadron; which, bearing down upon the rear of the enemy, must infallibly throw them into disorder.
3. The fire-ships of the weather-line can, when they are ordered, more easily bear down upon the enemy than those of the lee can ply to windward, which can never be done against a line in action; but the weather fire-ships can bear down against all the resistance that can be made by the enemy.
Disadvantage:
The weather-line cannot decline the action, without the dangerous expedient of forcing through the enemy’s line; and if it keeps the wind, the lee-line may inclose and totally destroy it, especially if it is inferior in number to the latter, or if the ships thereof are in bad condition; for it then can find no other source but in the dexterity of its maneuvers, unless it is favored by the wind, or any oversight of the enemy.
Advantages of the Lee-Gage:
1. If one, two, or more of the ships to windward should be disabled, they must inevitably drive to leeward, and become a prey to the enemy.
2. The ships of the lee-line can more readily bear away before the wind, and have their places supplied by ships from the corps-de-reserve, in case of being disabled or meeting with any disaster.
3. The line to leeward can keep their ports longer open in a strong wind with a high sea, when those to windward in all probability, may be obliged to shut the ports of their lower tier of guns, to prevent the water from rushing in between decks, which may be attended with the most fatal consequences.
4. The lee-line can more easily observe the men on the decks of the ships to windward, as they heel, and when the smoke does not interrupt their sight; at which time the marines and topmen may easily take aim at and destroy them with muskets and carbins.
Disadvantage:
It cannot decide the time and distance of the battle, which may commence before it is sufficiently formed; and it will, perhaps, be attacked by an enemy, who bears away upon it in regular order.
weatherly Capable of sailing close to the direction from which the wind is blowing.
Wedgwood The bone china and other pottery made by Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) and his successors at Etruria, the factory-village he built in Staffordshire. Their best-known vases, plaques, medallions, and the like are of fine clay lightly glazed, with classical designs in white relief on a blue or black background.
weevil Any beetle whose larvae, and sometimes the beetles themselves, bore into grain, fruit, nuts, and the bark of trees, causing severe damage. Especially a beetle of a species of the family Curculionoidea, the true weevils.
weigh To lift; to weigh anchor is to lift or HAUL up a ship’s anchor from the sea floor before sailing. The words “weigh” and “WAY” both derive from the Old English word wegan, “to carry or move,” which later came to mean to lift as well.
well-found Fully furnished or equipped.
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of (1769-1852) The commander of British troops during the Peninsular War (see p. 27), he defeated NAPOLEON at WATERLOO in 1815, ending the Napoleonic wars. Wellington entered the army in 1787 and, aided by his brother Richard (later Earl of MORNINGTON), rose rapidly in rank. After service in India, he returned to England in 1805 and was knighted. The following year, he was elected to Parliament, and he was appointed Irish secretary in 1807.
In 1808 he led an expedition to assist Portugal in its revolt against the French. In 1809 he returned to the Iberian Peninsula and ultimately assumed command of the British, Portuguese, and Spanish forces in the Peninsular War. Though his campaign received poor support from the British government, he took advantage of the irregular terrain, Portuguese and Spanish nationalism, and Napoleon’s preoccupation with other theaters to drive the French north of the Pyrenees by 1813. He had invaded southern France as far as Toulouse when news of Napoleon’s abdication arrived in April 1814.
Returning to England, he received many honors and was created duke of Wellington. When Napoleon returned from Elba, Wellington took command of the allied armies and, together with the Prussian general, Gebhard Leberecht von BLUCHER, defeated the French at WATERLOO. Wellington then took charge of the army of occupation in France, exerting his influence to restrain harsh treatment of the defeated French.
He served as prime minister (1828-30), foreign secretary (1834-35), and again as minister without portfolio (1841-46). In 1842 he was made commander in chief for life. He is buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
wenching Associating with common women.
were- The first element of, for example, the word “werewolf,” used with names of animals to indicate a human being imagined to be transformed into a beast, as in “were-bear.”
wery Obsolete form of “very.”
West Indies The long chain of islands arcing from the coast of Florida to the coast of South America and separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic, discovered by Columbus and so named because he believed that he had reached India from the west. The West Indies consist of the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico; and the Lesser Antilles, comprising the Windward and Leeward Islands, Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago. Fought over by Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands because of their rich trade, the West Indies were the site in 1782 of a victorious British battle against the French known as the Battle of the SAINTES. NELSON pursued VILLENEUVE here in 1805. Britain’s success in this region helped to establish a decisive maritime and commercial supremacy over France.
wet A drink of an alcoholic beverage.
wether A male sheep, or ram, especially a castrated one.
whale-back A large mound in the shape of the back of a whale; any land mass with an appearance similar to that of the back of a whale.
whale-bird Any of various birds that inhabit the places where whales live, particularly ones that feed on whale oil or offal, including certain PETRELS, the turnstone, the red or gray PHALAROPE, and the ivory gull.
wheatear A small songbird widely found in the Old World, having a blue-gray back, white belly and rump, and blackish wings. It is considered a delicacy.
wherry A wide sailing BARGE with a single MAST and a large MAINSAIL, used to transport freight on the Norfolk Broads in England. Also, a light rowboat used chiefly on rivers to carry passengers. See illustration, below.
A Thames wherry (from Naval Costume by Sir William Symonds, R.N.)
Whig Although there was no clear distinction between Whigs and Tories during the era of O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels, in general terms, a Whig was one who upheld the supremacy of PARLIAMENT and, while acknowledging the King’s theoretical right to appoint his own ministers, in practice wanted to deprive him of it. The Whigs stood for civil and religious liberty all over the world, including Catholic Emancipation at home. In 1792, Charles J. Fox and the Whigs opposed entering the war as an unjustifiable interference by a reactionary power in the rights of an independent country. The Whigs were in opposition for more than 20 years after 1807. Their leaders included Fox, Lord Grey, and Ponsonby. See TORY for general background.
whinchat A small brown and buff European songbird, closely allied to the stonechat and found in grassy meadows.
whip A TACKLE, or pulley, consisting of a single BLOCK and a rope, used on board ship primarily for light hoisting.
whist A card game, played by four people in pairs, in which points are scored according to the number of tricks won. It was a forerunner of bridge.
Whitehall In the district of Westminster in London, Whitehall houses the chief government buildings, including the ADMIRALTY, the Treasury, the Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street, and the HORSE GUARDS. The site was originally the location of the huge, rambling Whitehall Palace, which in 1532 became Henry VIII’s premier royal residence in London. The palace expanded over the years until 1698, when a fire destroyed everything but the Renaissance-style banqueting hall, designed by the architect Inigo Jones in 1619-1622. The ADMIRALTY Office (see also page 4), a brick building with a large Ionic portico built between 1722 and 1726, is on the west side of Whitehall.
white letter In printing, the type of print now called roman.
white pudding A type of sausage made of oatmeal and suet. Also, pudding made of milk, eggs, flour, and butter.
White’s The oldest and grandest of the St. James’s gentlemen’s clubs in London, White’s was infamous as a gambling spot where anything was worthy of a wager. (Legend has it that Lord Arlington bet £3,000 on which of two raindrops would be the first to reach the bottom of a window pane.) By 1814 the club had 500 members and a lengthy waiting list.
white squall A squall or sudden gust of strong wind that is not accompanied by clouds, as opposed to a black squall, which is, and a thick squall, one usually with hail or sleet.
white-tailed eagle The European sea eagle.
wicket A gate for pedestrians, frequently one to be used when an adjacent larger gate is closed.
widdershins In a direction opposite to the usual; in a wrong or contrary direction.
widow’s cruse A supply that, though apparently meager, is or seems to be inexhaustible. It is an allusion to I Kings 17:12-16, in which a widow feeds the prophet Elijah for many days from only a small pot of oil and a handful of meal.
wigeon Either of two wild ducks with brown plumage found in North America, Europe, and northern Asia.
wight A live creature, especially a human being. Brave, valiant.
Wight, Isle of A diamond-shaped island off the southern coast of Hampshire, across the strait known as the SOLENT from PORTSMOUTH and Southampton. It protects the harbor of Portsmouth.
Wilkes and Liberty The rallying cry for the London-born politician and journalist John Wilkes (1727-1797), who became known as a champion of liberty and an upholder of press freedom. An MP, he attacked the ministry in his weekly journal North Briton. In 1762, Wilkes was found guilty of seditious libel, imprisoned, released, then expelled from the House of Commons. He was reelected and expelled on several occasions, his rioting mob of supporters shouting the slogan “Wilkes and Liberty.” Wilkes pushed for parliamentary reform, including the suppression of rotten boroughs and the protection of individual liberty. Supported by London merchants, he became Lord Mayor of London in 1774 and regained admission to Parliament, where he championed colonial rights in the American Revolution.
William, Prince See CLARENCE, Duke of.
William III (1650-1702) See DUTCH WILLIAM.
Willis, Thomas (1621-1675) Physician of Oxford and London who made several important neuroanatomical discoveries.
Winchester A city in the county of Hampshire in southern England. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Wessex and later the seat of the Danish King Canute’s government (1016-1035). Winchester is famed for its cathedral, the longest in England, and Winchester College, a boys’ school founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 to prepare students for New College, Oxford.
Winchester quart A quart (two pints) in Winchester measure; four Imperial pints (80 fluid ounces). Also, a bottle holding four pints.
windage A space between the inner wall of a firearm and the SHOT or shell that it is charged with to allow for the expansion of gas in firing, the size of which is determined by the difference between the diameters of the bore and the shot.
wind-gall A fragment of a rainbow or colorful halo, supposed to presage windy weather.
windlass A mechanism operating on the same principle as the CAPSTAN but on a horizontal axis, used on board merchant ships and some smaller vessels of the Royal Navy for weighing the anchor, hoisting, and hauling.
windsail A long wide tube or funnel of sailcloth with wings at one end that is suspended from a STAY to direct fresh air below deck.
Windsor English city in the county of Berkshire on the Thames River, 20 miles west of London. Location of the principle residence of England’s sovereigns since the time of William the Conquerer, Windsor is the home of St. George’s Chapel, the burial place of many English kings.
wind-suck Of a horse, to noisily draw in and swallow air, often associated with CRIB-BITING.
windward Situated in the direction from which the wind blows; the WEATHER side of a vessel. At sea, the windward side of the QUARTERDECK was reserved for use by the Captain.
wine-cooler A vessel equipped to carry bottles of wine immersed in ice or iced liquid.
wing-transom The uppermost and longest TRANSOM in the stern-frame of a ship.
wireworm A worm that is the slender hard-skinned larva of any of the click beetles, which destroy the roots of plants. Also, similar larvae, especially the leatherjacket grub of the crane fly.
wisent The European bison, Bison bonasus, once found throughout Europe, including Great Britain, and still living in some protected forests on the Continent.
Witch of Endor A medium who can call up the dead; a witch. An allusion to 1 Samuel 28:7, in which King Saul consults with a divining woman.
with a run Rapidly.
Withering, William (1741-1799) Clinician and medical botanist of Birmingham, England. His Account of the Foxglove (1785) introduced DIGITALIS for the treatment of DROPSY.
withy A flexible willow branch used for tying or binding, as in a halter, leash, or hoop.
wizened To be shrunken and dried up, shriveled, as from aging. Also, to have a parched throat.
wombat Any of the stocky burrowing marsupials native to South Australia and Tasmania and resembling small bears.
woodcock A European and British migratory game bird, allied to the SNIPE, with a long bill, large eyes, and brownish variegated plumage. Also, a related American game bird.
wood-louse A small terrestrial isopod crustacean found in old wood and under stones, which often rolls itself up into a ball. Also called cheeselip, hog-louse, pill bug, slater, or sow bug.
Wool A town in the county of Dorset, England, southeast of Dorchester.
woolding Binding a MAST, YARD, or other SPAR with several turns of a rope to strengthen it where it is broken or where, being made of two or more pieces, it is FISHed or SCARFed. Also, the rope used to do this.
worm Any of many species of intestinal worms, but usually the easily visible tapeworm (other species are difficult to see without a microscope, which did not enter common medical usage until the late 19th century). However, MAGGOTS might also be meant, especially in reference to a cadaver. Also, a double or single screw at the end of a rod, used to withdraw the charge or WAD from a muzzle-loading gun. Of a rope, to fill the lay between strands with tarred SPUNYARN or filling to give it a smooth surface or to prevent moisture from getting inside.
wrack Marine vegetation, especially seaweed, cast ashore by waves or growing on the tidal seashore.
wring a mast To bend it beyond its natural position by setting up the SHROUDS too tight.
wryneck Either of two species of woodpeckers, distinguishable by their habit of contorting the neck and head.