“Come off it, Daisy. You had a glossary in the first two books.”
“You will use those difficult words,” Daisy told Aunt Effie. “It’s not surprising if the little ones can’t make sense of half of what you say.”
“Watch out for that seagull, Daisy – oops! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
abattoir the place where stock are slaughtered for the butchers’ shops
acetylene old-fashioned headlamps dripped water on carbide making a gas called acetylene which burnt brightly “Isaac put carbide in my inkwell at school, and it bubbled and stunk worse than rotten eggs.” —Jane.
ahoo okay, in its right place “Everything’s ahoo.” —Peter.
backstay a supporting rope from the mast towards the stern “Something to prop your back against.” —David.
beam the breadth of a boat
bend on new canvas to attach new sails
bitts a pair of heavy posts on the deck, for fastening cables and hawsers
boa constrictor a huge snake that crushes and swallows you whole
boom a spar along the bottom of a sail
boot a lining fitted inside a torn tyre to protect the inner tube
borborygm stomach rumbling “I got borborygms from eating too many greasies.” —Jared.
bowsprit a spar that sticks out from the bows
breaker a small cask of drinking water in a lifeboat
bulwarks the sides of a ship above the deck
camomile tea a herbal tea “Poisonous muck that pongs like rotten hay!” —Aunt Effie.
camp oven a round iron pot for cooking over an open fire or in the embers
capstan a vertical drum around which ropes are wound to kedge the ship and raise the anchor; the capstan is turned by the crew heaving on bars
careen to tip a boat on its side for cleaning and painting the bottom
centre-board a moveable keel that lifts and drops
chain an old measurement for about twenty metres “You shake a chain and go ‘Whooo-oooh’ to make people think you’re a ghost.” —Lizzie.
chaperon an older woman who sees that a young woman behaves herself “Like Daisy!” —Casey.
cheroot an Indian cigar
chronometer a very accurate ship’s clock
climbing irons spiked footwear for climbing trees
crank-handle a cranky looking handle for starting cars and lorries
Crimean shirt blue or grey flannel shirt often worn loose
cross-cut a long saw for cutting down trees
crow’s-nest a lookout barrel or platform high on a mast “You can all take six weeks in the crow’s-nest!” —Aunt Effie.
doldrums a place with no winds
dry district a place with no pubs
equator the great circle around the waist of the world “Banana Bob’s belt.” —Alwyn.
fid a pointed tool used to separate strands in splicing rope
Firth, J.C. a famous European settler of the Matamata district (see The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography; www. dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/ )
flake to coil rope flat on deck
flukes an anchor’s sharp ends that dig in “Ann’s got fingernails like flukes.” —Jazz.
forestay a supporting rope going forward from a mast
freeboard the ship’s side between the water and the deck
gun-tackle ropes and blocks (pulleys) for shifting guns and heavy things
gybe (Americans, who don’t know any better, spell it jibe) the sail swinging across to the other side when running before the wind “We gybed, and I got clouted by the boom.” —Jared.
Gypsy Day 1 June, the day when share-milkers shift to new farms
halyard a rope for pulling up a sail or flag
handsomely carefully “Hand me my Old Puckeroo. Handsomely, now!” —Aunt Effie.
harden the sheet tighten the rope controlling a sail
hawser a heavy rope
headsails (heads’ls) sails ahead of the foremast, e.g., jib, staysail
heave to to stop the ship
hibernation sleeping all winter
holystone a block of sandstone used to rub the deck white
honky-tonk a tinny-sounding piano
hove to past tense of heave to “We hove to outside the Auckland Casino.” —Casey.
hundredweight an old weight measurement, about 51 kilograms
inch an old length measurement, about 2.5 centimetres
jib a small triangular headsail
jigger-board a board jammed into a slot in the trunk that a bushman stands on to fell a tree
jill to sail idly to and fro
kahikatea, kike, white pine a very tall New Zealand tree “Kike’s a sinker. It won’t float.” —Jessie.
kauri the biggest New Zealand tree
kedge a light anchor carried out and set so the ship can be pulled (kedged) towards it
Lane’s Emulsion a nasty medicine “It looks like condensed milk and tastes as if it’s gone bad.” — Jared.
latitude and longitude lines across and up and down a map that show sailors where they are
leading dog a responsible dog that leads and controls a mob of sheep or cattle “Peter would make a good leading dog.” —Aunt Effie.
leeward the side of the ship sheltered from the wind
logarithm a clever shortcut to doing arithmetic
long acre the grass along the side of a road “A famous firm of publishers in Dunedin.” —Jack.
loopholes a slit or hole in the wall for firing arrows, spears, and guns through “Every house should have plenty of loopholes.” —Aunt Effie.
mahogany beautiful red-brown tropical hardwood “Mahogany is what my knee does when it hurts.” — Jazz.
mainsheet the rope controlling the boom and mainsail
mangrove a tree that seems to grow out of the water at high tide
maul a bushman’s heavy hammer for driving wedges
mizzen the sail on the mizzen-mast
mizzen-mast the mast nearest the stern
motor spirits petrol
Old Puckeroo Aunt Effie’s favourite tonic “Waipiro…” — Daisy.
Parrish’s Chemical Food a nasty medicine “It tastes like chewing old railway lines.” —Jared. “And it leaves your teeth all furry.” —Casey.
perdition hell
pilot light the little light that stays on for starting the burner on a steam car
pit-saw a long saw used for sawing into planks a log pulled over a pit
pohutukawa the magnificent red-flowered New Zealand coastal tree with the splendid botanical name: metrosideros excelsa “Say it aloud!” —Jessie.
poley a polled or hornless cattle-beast
ponga a New Zealand tree fern
port the left side of a ship looking ahead “Aunt Effie likes a dollop of port in her Old Puckeroo.” —Lizzie.
pound an old weight measurement of about half a kilogram
quoin a wedge for raising and lowering the barrel when aiming a cannon
ratlines (pronounced rattlins) a ladder of ropes tied between the shrouds
rimu, red pine a tall, beautiful, New Zealand tree “Droopy as a rimu.” —Jared.
reaching sailing with the wind abeam, that is, at right angles to the scow “Aunt Effie says it’s important to know the difference between reaching and retching.” — Lizzie.
ringbolt a bolt with a ring through its head
royal topgallant mast the royal is the very high mast above the topgallant mast which is above the topmast which is above the mainmast
running rigging ship’s ropes such as halyards and sheets which run through eyes and blocks when pulled
Sargasso Sea a stagnant sea of weed and confusion
sanctuary a safe place “A dreadful place where you can’t go to school.” —Daisy.
scow flat-bottomed sailing vessels built in New Zealand for the coastal trade from 1873 to the 1920s “If we’d stuck to scows, we wouldn’t need half the roads in New Zealand!” —Aunt Effie.
scuppers openings in the bulwarks that let water run off the deck “We scuppered that Rangi and his red schooner!” —Casey.
scurvy what you get when you don’t eat enough fruit and vegies “And it serves you right!” —Daisy.
send down to lower the masts
sextant an instrument which helps you find latitude and longitude, so telling you where you are on the map
shammy a car polishing cloth made from chamois leather
share-milker somebody who works another’s dairy farm for a share of the profits
shear-legs a tripod of three legs joined at the top for raising and lowering heavy things
sheet a rope controlling a sail
sinker a tree such as kahikatea which doesn’t float
sloven the jagged splintered part of the stump left when a tree is felled
slow-match a slow wick or match which burns slowly without a flame, used for firing cannons
smoke-oh morning and afternoon tea
snarlers sausages
splice the main brace the command to issue a special ration of rum
standing rigging fixed ship’s ropes such as stays and shrouds
starboard the right side of a ship looking ahead
staysail (stays’l) triangular sail set inside the jib
stow your gab shut up!
stringers tree trunks used as main bearers for a bridge
tack to change the direction of a sailing ship
taihoa hold on, take it easy, in a while
tally on take or catch hold of a rope
Tamihana, Wiremu a great 19th Century Maori leader of Ngati Haua (see The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography; www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/)
tampion a plug in the mouth of a cannon, to keep it clean and dry
tawa a New Zealand tree
tea-tree a New Zealand scrub with sharp-tasting berries and leaves “It might be called tea-tree, but it tastes like yuk!” —Casey.
thigh waders very long gumboots
transom part of the stern
truncheon a policeman’s short cudgel
wad a disc of cloth or paper that holds the charge and the cannonball in the barrel
waipiro stinking water, swamp water, or alcohol
weather helm a ship’s tendency to come up into the wind
wharfinger somebody in charge of a wharf
whim a bush winch or windlass like a capstan, used to haul logs and heavy loads
wideawake a broad-brimmed, low-crowned felt hat
Wind in the Willows, The “If you want to know more of messing about in boats, and driving magnificent cars, read The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.” —Jessie.
Zeppelin a German-designed airship “I’m going to fly a Zeppelin when I grow up.” —Lizzie.