The Sailor's Word-Book
Chapter 114 : GOW. An old northern term for the gull.GOWDIE. The _Callionymus lyra_, dragonet, or ch

GOW. An old northern term for the gull.

GOWDIE. The _Callionymus lyra_, dragonet, or chanticleer.

GOWK. The cuckoo; but also used for a stupid, good-natured fellow.

GOWK-STORM. Late vernal equinoctial gales contemporary with the gowk or cuckoo.

GOWT, OR GOTE. A limited pa.s.sage for water.

GOYLIR. A small sea-bird held to precede a storm; hence seamen call them _malifiges_. Arctic gull.

GRAB. The large coasting vessel of India, generally with two masts, and of 150 to 300 tons.--_To grab._ In familiar language, to catch or s.n.a.t.c.h at anything with violence.

GRABBLE, TO. To endeavour to hook a sunk article. To catch fish by hand in a brook.

GRAB SERVICE. Country vessels first employed by the Bombay government against the pirates; afterwards erected into the Bombay Marine.

GRACE. _See_ ACT OF GRACE.

GRADE. A degree of rank; a step in order or dignity.

GRAFTING. An ornamental weaving of fine yarns, &c., over the strop of a block; or applied to the tapered ends of the ropes, and termed pointing.

GRAIN OF TIMBER. In a transverse section of a tree, two different grains are seen: those running in a circular manner are called the _silver grain_; the others radiate, and are called _b.a.s.t.a.r.d grain_.--_Grain_ is also a whirlwind not unfrequent in Normandy, mixed with rain, but seldom continues above a quarter of an hour. They may be foreseen, and while they last the sea is very turbulent; they may return several times in the same day, a dead calm succeeding.

GRAIN. In the _grain of_, is immediately preceding another s.h.i.+p in the same direction.--_Bad-grain_, a sea-lawyer; a nuisance.

GRAIN-CUT TIMBER. That which is cut athwart the grain when the grain of the wood does not partake of the shape required.

GRAINED POWDER. That corned or reduced into grains from the cakes, and distinguished from mealed powder, as employed in certain preparations.

GRAINS. A five-p.r.o.nged fish-spear, grains signifying branches.

GRAIN UPSET. When a mast suffers by buckles, it is said to have its grain upset. A species of wrinkle on the soft outer grain which will be found corresponding to a defect on the other side. It is frequently produced by an injudicious setting up of the rigging.

GRAM. A species of pulse given to horses, sheep, and oxen in the East Indies, and supplied to s.h.i.+ps for feeding live-stock.

GRAMPUS. A corruption of _gran pisce_. An animal of the cetacean or whale tribe, distinguished by the large pointed teeth with which both jaws are armed, and by the high falcate dorsal fin. It generally attains a length of 20 to 25 feet, and is very active and voracious.

GRAMPUS, BLOWING THE. Sluicing a person with water, especially practised on him who skulks or sleeps on his watch.

GRAND DIVISION. A division of a battalion composed of two companies, or ordinary divisions, in line.

GRANDSIRE. The name of a four-oared boat which belonged to Peter the Great, now carefully preserved at St. Petersburg as the origin of the Russian fleet.

GRANNY'S BEND. The slippery hitch made by a lubber.

GRANNY'S KNOT. This is a term of derision when a reef-knot is crossed the wrong way, so as to be insecure. It is the natural knot tied by women or landsmen, and derided by seamen because it cannot be untied when it is jammed.

GRAPESHOT. A missile from guns intermediate between case-shot and solid shot, having much of the destructive spread of the former with somewhat of the range and penetrative force of the latter. A round of grapeshot consists of three tiers of cast-iron b.a.l.l.s arranged, generally three in a tier, between four parallel iron discs connected together by a central wrought-iron pin. For carronades, the grape, not being liable to such a violent dispersive shock, they are simply packed in canisters with wooden bottoms.

GRAPNEL, OR GRAPLING. A sort of small anchor for boats, having a ring at one end, and four palmed claws at the other.--_Fire grapnel._ Resembling the former, but its flukes are furnished with strong fish-hook barbs on their points, usually fixed by a chain on the yard-arms of a s.h.i.+p, to grapple any adversary whom she intends to board, and particularly requisite in fire-s.h.i.+ps. Also, used to grapple s.h.i.+ps on fire, in order to tow them away from injuring other vessels.

GRAPNEL-ROPE. That which is bent to the grapnel by which a boat rides, now subst.i.tuted by chain.

GRAPPLE, TO. To hook with a grapnel; to lay hold of. First used by Duilius to prevent the escape of the Carthaginians.

GRASP. The handle of a sword, and of an oar. Also, the small of the b.u.t.t of a musket.

GRa.s.s. A term applied to vegetables in general. (_See_ FEED OF GRa.s.s.)

GRa.s.s-COMBERS. A galley-term for all those landsmen who enter the naval service from farming counties. Lord Exmouth found many of them learn their duties easily, and turn out valuable seamen.

GRATING-DECK. A light movable deck, similar to the hatch-deck, but with open gratings.

GRATINGS. An open wood-work of cross battens and ledges forming cover for the hatchways, serving to give light and air to the lower decks. In nautical phrase, he "who can't see a hole through a grating" is excessively drunk.

GRATINGS OF THE HEAD. _See_ HEAD-GRATINGS.

GRATUITOUS MONEY. A term officially used for bounty granted to volunteers in Lord Exmouth's expedition against Algiers.

GRAVE, TO. To clean a vessel's bottom, and pay it over.

GRAVELIN. A small migratory fish, commonly reputed to be the sp.a.w.n of the salmon.

GRAVELLED. Vexed, mortified.

GRAVING. The act of cleaning a s.h.i.+p's bottom by burning off the impurities, and paying it over with tar or other substance, while she is laid aground during the recess of the tide. (_See_ BREAMING.)

GRAVING BEACH OR SLIP. A portion of the dockyard where s.h.i.+ps were landed for a tide.

GRAVING-DOCK. An artificial receptacle used for the inspecting, repairing, and cleaning a vessel's bottom. It is so contrived that after the s.h.i.+p is floated in, the water may run out with the fall of the tide, the shutting of the gates preventing its return.

GRAVITATION. The natural tendency or inclination of all bodies towards the centre of the earth; and which was established by Sir Isaac Newton, as the great law of nature.

GRAVITY, CENTRE OF. The centre of gravity of a s.h.i.+p is that point about which all parts of the body, in any situation, balance each other.

(_See_ SPECIFIC GRAVITY.)

GRAWLS. The young salmon, probably the same as _grilse_.

GRAY-FISH, AND GRAY-LORD. Two of the many names given to the _Gadus carbonarius_ or coal-fish.

GRAYLE. Small sand. Also, an old term for thin gravel.

GRAYLING. A fresh-water fish of the Salmo tribe. (_See_ OMBRE.)

GRAYNING. A species of dace found on our northern coast.

GRAY-SCHOOL. A particular shoal of large salmon in the Solway about the middle of July.