Tag Archives: seafaring

Archaic Definition of the Week Two'Fer! – Quillon and Quoin

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publishingSince I ran out of the popular weekly Amalgam poems last week, I will compensate by offering two Archaic Definitions:

quillon One of the two arms that form a sword’s cross-guard, the device that protects the swordsman’s hand.

quoin A wooden edge with a handle at the thick end used to adjust the elevation of a [ship’s] gun.

– A Sea of Words : A Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O’Brian’s Seafaring Tales (Third Edition) by Dean King with John B. Hattendorf and J. Worth Estes.

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Archaic Definition of the Week

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publishingjackass 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.

– A Sea of Words : A Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O’Brian’s Seafaring Tales by Dean King with John B. Hattendorf and J. Worth Estes.

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