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You are welcome to apply any part of this article to your own personal use. Please do NOT publish any part of the article or apply any part of it to any non-personal use without the express written concent of the author.
In the last few columns I asked you a few of the same questions that I've had about Sailor Talk. Why is a storm sail called a trysail? Why is a deck ventilator called a dorade? Why is an empty bottle of wine called a dead soldier? Where does 'caught between the devil and the deep blue sea' come from? Here are the answers to those questions, and a bit more.
Why is an empty bottle of wine called a dead soldier? This is one of the few Sailor Talk that we can actually trace to a specific person on a specific date.
William IV was known as the 'Sailor King'. As the third son of George III, he was born Prince William Henry. In 1789 he became Duke of Clarence. As a youth he joined the navy as a midshipman and rose through the ranks. Someone in his social position might expect to become rear admiral through patronage. The Duke of Clarence made rear admiral through true merit.
Shortly after receiving his promotion to rear admiral in 1790, His Highness was at dinner on board one of his fleet's ships. He ordered the steward to remove the 'dead marines' to make room for new bottles. A marine officer at the table complained. His Highness responded that no offense was intended. The expression was used in the sense "...that, like marines, the bottle had given its life nobly and, given the chance, would do it again."
The story caught the imagination of the army officers. They wanted their soldiers to be held in the same favorable view. They adapted the term for their use, changing it to 'dead soldiers'. Since it's more nautical, I think it's fun to use the original term 'dead marines' when I refer to a freshly emptied wine bottle.
By the way, those of you who have ever been a steward and been ordered to remove the dead marines will get a big chuckle out of this. The original form of steward was Old Saxon stywaard, the keeper of pigs.
While we're on the general subject of dead marines, let's stretch this a little bit and talk about dead sailors. When a shipmate died, the crew spoke of his going to Davy Jones' Locker (lost or buried at sea) or to Fiddler's Green (buried ashore). In either case he has 'unreeved his lifeline'.
The origin of 'unreeved his lifeline' seems so clear that I'll let it stand without comment.
Let's look at Davy Jones and his locker. According to sailors' mythology, Davy was a sea devil. He was the fiend that presided over all the evil spirits of the deep. His locker was the final resting-place for sunken ships, articles lost or thrown overboard and of men drowned or buried at sea.
Davy Jones started appearing in the 17th century. He most likely came into being from West Indian sailors as a corruption of Devil Jonah, or possibly Duffy Jonah. Duffy was a British West Indies African slave word for devil.
About the same time as Davy Jones appeared with his locker, Fiddler's Green also appeared. This was a sensual celestial paradise where the sailors could partake of their favorite earthly delights for as long or as often as they liked. It was a place where 'mates were not allowed and pockets never emptied'.
The closest origin to the celestial Fiddler's Green seems to be real life 17th century village greens. These could be found in Wapping in East London, Portsmouth Point, the naval harbor of Portsmouth and other port towns where sailors with money in their pockets could take their pleasure. Like modern street musicians, 17th century fiddlers would situate themselves about the village greens near the entrances to the surrounding establishments. Their tunes would provide a pleasant ambiance for the sailors as they enjoyed themselves inside.
It's obvious that "caught between the devil and the deep blue sea" is of nautical origin. But where does it originate? There are several thoughts as to the origin of this term, all related to seams on ships that were particularly difficult to caulk. These were all known as devil seams. To caulk any seam required driving (horsing) oakum between the planks with a caulking iron and mallet, then covering (paying) the seam with hot tar (pitch).
One of the devil seams was the outermost seam on the deck. There was hardly any room to hold the caulking iron against the gunnels, and even less room to hit the iron with the mallet hard enough to drive the oakum home. One source suggests this devil seam as the origin, since there was only the thickness of the hull planking between the deck's devil seam and the deep blue sea. I think not. While it might have been the most difficult to horse, it was not the most difficult to pay.
The most difficult devil seams to caulk and pay were those just at or below the waterline that could be worked only while heeled underway. Sailors would be lashed about the waist and ankles, then suspended upside down over the side of the ship to horse and pay these seams. They would often get caught by waves and, not infrequently, get completely dunked as the ship rolled. If being caught caused them to loose any gear, they would have an appointment with the bosun and his cat-o-nine-tails. No one liked being caught between the devil seam and the deep blue sea.
'The devil to pay' is a related term. It started out as 'the devil to pay and no pitch hot'. We can well imagine the frustration of a sailor being suspended upside down to pay a devil seam then finding that there's not enough hot pitch to finish the job. Later he'd have to pick out the old (wet) oakum from the seam, horse in new dry oakum and then pay the seam when the pitch was finally heated up.
Why is a storm sail is called a trysail? Some people believe that trysail is a corruption of 'tri-sail' in reference to the sail's three-sided shape. Its name actually refers to the conditions in which it is used.
An old term for lying hove to is lying a-try. 'Trying times' are very tumultuous times. When the weather got particularly tumultuous, the old ships would lie a-try (lie hove to). The special sail required for this situation was naturally called the trysail.
The root 'try' had a use beyond heavy weather. Whalers used large iron pots to boil the blubber. When the blubber was hot enough it would boil furiously. At that temperature the whale oil would finally separate out. These cauldrons were called try pots, and the process was called trying out the blubber.
Why is a deck ventilator called a dorade? This is a relatively modern invention. Like 'dead marines', we can trace this term to a specific person on a specific date. It was named for the famous racing yacht, the yawl Dorade. She was designed by Olin Stephens in 1929. Her ventilator system was designed by Rod Stephens in 1933.
Wow! I finally caught up with myself and covered all the questions I've asked in the last few columns. Hmmm... I wonder what I can come up with for the next one.
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