Pasha (44 page)
Authors: Julian Stockwin
G
LOSSARY
LOSSARY
| amain | with intent of force and vigour |
| apoplexy | a stroke |
| arabesque | in the ornamental Arab style of Baghdad, Samarkand, etc. |
| baldric | leather sling over the shoulder to suspend the scabbard |
| Balkans | southeast Europe; the general geographic area lying between Italy and Turkey |
| barge | boat of slight and spacious construction for use of the captain or admiral |
| becket | small piece of rope with a knot in one end and an eye in the other to keep an item confined |
| belfry | ornamental shelter for the ship's bell forward |
| blashy | dirty weather, miserable and wet, not strong enough to be called a storm |
| broadside | the entire side of a ship; in gunnery, all the guns on that side |
| bulwark | the raised edge of the upper deck |
| capstan | rotating device operated with long bars to lift heavy weights |
| coach | a frigate captain's quarters consist of a great cabin, with a bedplace and coach where ship's administration was performed |
| convoy | ships sailing in company provided with an escort |
| corvette | flush-decked, three-masted armed vessel smaller than a frigate |
| cuirass | soldier's breastplate |
| cutter | a ship's boat, broader and deeper than a pinnace |
| devoir | an act of civility and respect due another |
| Divan | highest council of state under the sultan; courtly poetry |
| Dons | the Spanish |
| dragoman | an interpreter and adviser of Levantine languages |
| earnest, an | money in advance as a goodwill gesture |
| encomium | formal expression of warm praise for services completed |
| escritoire | writing desk with compartments for accessories, often highly ornamental |
| escutcheon | a shield or other containing armorial bearings |
| fo'c'sle | forecastle: upper deck above the bow section; in the merchant service the enclosed space below where seamen mess |
| gregale | northeasterly gale in the Mediterranean; St Paul was wrecked by one on his way to Rome |
| guardo | an unfair move on a landman; as in a guardship for receiving press-gang victims |
| gun-room | in a large ship, the gunner's abode; in a frigate, the officers' dining and mess room |
| hospodar | vassal Slavic ruler in the Ottoman Empire |
| instanter | that very moment; schoolboy Latin |
| Janissaries | sultan's elite household troops |
| kedge | an anchor light enough to be taken to a distance by a boat to allow the ship to haul itself up to it |
| knittles | the small clew-lines from the edge of the canvas converging in an eye for slinging the hammock |
| landau | graceful open carriage with facing seats |
| loom | the shaft of an oar |
| luff | the edge of the sail closer to the wind; also, slang for lieutenant |
| magazines | storeplace for gunpowder |
| Nizam-i Cedid | new army established following reforms of Sultan Selim III |
| ostler | one employed at a hostelry or stable to look after horses |
| Pasha, Bey, Efendi | Ottoman honorifics in descending order |
| Peace of Amiens | peace that separated the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic war that followed |
| pennant | a long narrow flag; not to be confused with pendant |
| pilot | one with local nautical knowledge as an adviser; also an authoritative printed guide |
| piping the eye | crying, as in a child |
| poilu | term of endearment for French infantryman similar to “Tommy” |
| posset | spiced drink of hot milk curdled with ale |
| post-chaise | fast horse-drawn closed four-wheeled carriage |
| posy ring | ring with inscribed words |
| preventer tackles | rigged to prevent a spar taking charge in a blow |
| quarters | after the ship is cleared for action, the men close up at quarters for battle |
| reefer | midshipman |
| Reis-ül Kuttab | essentially the Ottoman foreign ministry |
| riband | ornate ribbon used in military decorations |
| scabbard | the sheath of a sword or bayonet |
| seraglio | strictly, the living quarters of the harem (wives and concubines), generalised to harem today |
| sextant | navigational instrument with a 60° arc, used for determining latitudes |
| shab | shabaroon; disreputable and unreliable |
| sky hook | mythical device for hoisting higher than the masthead |
| slasher | cutlass; barkers and slashersâpistols and cutlasses |
| spar | general term for mast, yard, boom, etc. |
| staysail | a triangular sail hoisted on the stays between the masts |
| stopper | to check or hold fast one rope by means of another |
| Sublime Porte | term for the state apparatus for receiving foreign envoys in the Ottoman Court |
| tarpaulin officer | officer who started as a common seaman |
| Tobias Smollett | early picaresque novelist of the sea; see Roderick Random |
| trusties | those men trusted to return to the ship if given liberty |
| Ulema | body of Islamic scholars in counsel to the sultan |
| victuals | provisions for the ship's company |
| weigh anchor | to raise it clear of the seabed, metaphorically to start a voyage |
| yamak | auxiliary soldier in the Ottoman Army |
| zindīq | infidel, heretic |
J
ULIAN
S
TOCKWIN
was sent at the age of fourteen to TS
Indefatigable
, a tough sea-training school. He joined the British Navy at fifteen, transferred to the Australian Navy when his family emigrated, and saw active service in Vietnam. A teacher and an educational psychologist, he was commissioned into the Royal Naval Reserve and awarded the MBE. Retired from the RNR with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, he now lives in Devon, England.
McBooks P
RESS
, I
NC
.
I
THACA
, N
EW
Y
ORK
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