The Sailor's Word-Book Part 162

MARQUE. _See_ LETTERS OF MARQUE.

MARQUEE. An officer's oblong tent; has two poles, and curtains all round; it is often a.s.signed to various staff purposes.

MARROT. A name for the guillemot.

MARRY, TO, THE ROPES, BRACES, OR FALLS. To hold both together, and by pressure haul in both equally. Also so to join the ends of two ropes, that they will pa.s.s through a block.

MARS. One of the ancient superior planets, the next to the earth in order of distance from the sun.

MARSH [Anglo-Saxon _mersc_, a fen]. Low land often under water, and producing aquatic vegetation. Those levels near the sea coast are usually saturated with salt water.

MARSILIANA. A Venetian ship of burden, square-sterned.

MART. A commercial market. Also a colloquialism for marque, as a letter of _mart_ or _marque_.

MARTELLO TOWER. So named from a tower in the Bay of Mortella, in Corsica, which, in 1794, maintained a very determined resistance against the English. A martello tower at the entrance of the bay of Gaeta beat off H.M.S. _Pompee_, of 80 guns. A martello is built circular, and thus difficult to hit, with walls of vast thickness, pierced by loop-holes, and the bomb-proof roof is armed with one heavy traversing gun. They are 30 to 40 feet high, surrounded by a dry fosse, and the entrance is by a ladder at a door several feet from the ground.

MARTIAL LAW. The law of war, obtaining between hostile forces, or proclaimed in rebellious districts; it rests mainly on necessity, custom in like cases, and the will of the commander of the forces; thus differing from _military law_ (which see). Martial law is proclaimed when the civil law is found to be insufficient to preserve the peace; in the case of insurrection, mutiny, &c., the will and judgment of the officer in command becomes law.

MARTIN. A cat-sized creature with a valuable fur imported from Hudson's Bay and Canada in prodigious numbers.--"_My eye and Betty Martin_," is a common expression implying disbelief; a corruption of the Romish _mihi, beate Martine!_

MARTINET. A rigid disciplinarian; but one who, in matters of inferior moment, hara.s.ses all under him.

MARTINGALE. A rope extending downwards from the jib-boom end to a kind of short gaff-shaped spar, fixed perpendicularly under the cap of the bowsprit; its use is to guy the jib-boom down in the same manner as the bobstays retain the bowsprit. The spar is usually termed the _dolphin-striker_, from its handy position whence to strike fish.

MARTNETS. The leech-lines of a sail--they were said to be _topped_ when the leech was hauled by them close to the yard.

MARYN [Anglo-Nor.] The sea-coast.

MARYNAL. An ancient term for mariner.

MASCARET. A peculiar movement of the sea near Bordeaux in summer, at low water.

MASK. A cruive or crib for catching fish. A battery is said to be masked when its external appearance misleads the enemy.

MAST [Anglo-Saxon _maest_, also meant chief or greatest]. A long cylindrical piece of timber elevated perpendicularly upon the keel of a ship, to which are attached the yards, the rigging, and the sails. It is either formed of one piece, and called a pole-mast, or composed of several pieces joined together and termed a made mast. A lower mast is fixed in the ship by _sheers_ (which see), and the foot or keel of it rests in a block of timber called the step, which is fixed upon the keelson.--_Expending a mast_, or carrying it away, is said, when it is broken by foul weather.--_Fore-mast._ That which stands near the stem, and is next in size to the main-mast.--_Jury-mast._ (_See_ JURY-MAST.)--_Main-mast._ The largest mast in a ship.--_Mizen-mast._ The smallest mast, standing between the main-mast and the stern.--_Over-masted_, or _taunt-masted_. The state of a ship whose masts are too tall or too heavy.--_Rough-mast_, or _rough-tree_. A spar fit for making a mast. (_See_ BOWSPRIT and JIB-BOOM.)--_Springing a mast._ When it is cracked horizontally in any place.--_Top-mast._ A top-mast is raised at the head or top of the lower-mast through a cap, and supported by the trestle-trees.--_Topgallant-mast._ A mast smaller than the preceding, raised and secured to its head in the same manner.--_Royal-mast._ A yet smaller mast, elevated through irons at the head of the topgallant-mast; but more generally the two are formed of one spar.--_Under-masted_ or _low-masted ships_. Vessels whose masts are small and short for their size.--_To mast a ship._ The act of placing a ship's masts.

MAST-CARLINGS. Those large carlings which are placed at the sides of the masts from beam to beam, to frame the partners and give support.

MAST-COAT. A conical canvas fitted over the wedges round the mast, to prevent water oozing down from the decks.

MASTER. The epithet for the captain or commander of a merchant vessel.

When England first became a maritime power, ships with sailors, and a master to navigate, were furnished by the Cinque Ports, &c., and the fighting part of the men was composed of soldiers sent on board, commanded by generals, &c. Among the early voyagers there was a distinction between _master_ and _maister_, the latter being the office; as, "we spoke the _Dragon_, whereof Master Ivie was maister," in Welsh's _Voyage to Benin_, A.D. 1590. In most applications, _master_ denotes chief; as master boat-builder, master caulker, master sail-maker, &c.

MASTER OF A SHIP-OF-WAR. An officer appointed by the commissioners of the navy to attend to the navigating a ship under the direction of the captain, the working of a ship into her station in the order of battle, and in other circ.u.mstances of danger, but he reports to the first lieutenant, who carries out any necessary evolution. It is likewise his duty, in concert with lieutenants on surveys, to examine and report on the provisions. He is moreover charged with their stowage. For the performance of these services he is allowed several a.s.sistants, who are termed second-masters, master's a.s.sistants, &c. This officer's station has been termed the meridional alt.i.tude of the lower order of midshipmen, but it is requisite that he be both a good officer and a seaman. He ranks after lieutenants according to date, but is subordinate in command to all lieutenants.

MASTER AND COMMANDER. A t.i.tle which, in 1814, was simplified to commander, the next degree above lieutenant; he ranks with, but after, a lieutenant-colonel.

MASTER-AT-ARMS. In former times was an officer appointed to command the police-duty of a ship, to teach the crew the exercise of small arms, to confine by order of superiors any prisoners, and to superintend their confinement. Also, to take care that fires and lights were put out at the proper hour, and no spirituous liquors brought on board. He was a.s.sisted by _ship's corporals_, who also attended the gangway with the sentinels. Until 1816, the junior lieutenant was nominally lieutenant-at-arms, and drilled the seamen, a.s.sisted by the serjeant of marines.

MASTER-ATTENDANT. An officer in the royal dockyards appointed to a.s.sist in the fitting or dismantling, removing or securing vessels of war, &c., at the port where he resides; to inspect the moorings in the harbour, to visit all the ships in ordinary, and to attend at the general musters in the dockyard, taking care that all the individuals registered in the navy-book are present at their duty.

MASTER MARINER. Shipmaster or captain of a merchant vessel.

MASTER OF MISRULE. An officer of an hour or two, when the hands were piped "to mischief." The lord or abbot of misrule on sh.o.r.e has immemorially been a person selected to superintend the diversions of Christmas. In these larks, however, malicious mischief was unknown.

MASTER OF THE FLEET. A master on board the commander-in-chief's ship, who has a general superintendence of the stores issued to the fleet, and reports to the flag-captain any deviations from rule which he may observe.

MASTER-SHIPWRIGHT. The chief superintendent in the building and repairing of ships in the royal dockyards.

MAST-HEAD. The upper part of a mast above the rigging.

MAST-HEADING. A well-known marine punishment, said to give midshipmen the best time for reading. A court-martial, as a subst.i.tute, punishes the parents as well as the thoughtless youth.

MAST-HEAD MEN. The men stationed aloft to keep a look-out.

MAST-HEAD PENDANTS. _See_ PENDANT.

MAST-HIGH. A figurative expression of height.

MAST-HOLES. The apertures in the deck-partners for stepping the masts.

MAST-HOOPS. The iron hoops on made or built masts.

MAST-HOUSE. In dockyards, where masts are made.

MASTIC. An excellent cement latterly introduced into ship-building, instead of putty and other appliances, to protect the heads of bolts.

MAST-ROPE [Anglo-Saxon _maest-rap_]. That which is used for sending masts up or down.

MASULAH OR Ma.s.sOOLAH BOATS. Madras boats, of which the planks are sewed together with coir yarn, crossing the st.i.tches over a wadding of coir or straw, which presses on the joints, and prevents much leakage. The vessel is thus rendered pliable, and yields to the shock on taking the ground in the surf, which at times runs from 10 to 16 feet high. They are rowed by twelve men, in double banks, with oars formed by an oval piece of board lashed to the end of a rough piece of wood. They are guided by one man with a long steer-oar, who stamps and yells with excitement as he urges the men to pull when a rolling surf is coming up astern. These boats are from 30 to 35 feet in length, 10 to 11 feet in breadth, and 7 to 8 feet in depth.

MAT. To prevent chafing, a thick mat is woven from strands of old rope, spun yarn, or foxes, containing each a greater or lesser number of rope-yarns, in proportion to the intended mat to be made. The largest and strongest kinds are called _paunch-mats_. The _thrum-mat_ is precisely similar to the present cocoa-nut fibre door-mats. Where it is possible, rounding is now used instead of mats, it being neater and holding less water.

MATCH. A wager of emulation by rowing, sailing, manuvring, &c. (_See_ QUICK MATCH.)--_Slow match_, used by artillerymen, is a very loose rope steeped in a solution of nitre, and burns at the rate of about one inch an hour, and is either used alone, or for lighting the port-fires, by which guns are yet fired for salutes on sh.o.r.e.

MATCHLOCK. A musket fired with a match fixed on the c.o.c.k opening the pan; long out of use, except in China and some parts of India.

MATCH-TUBS. Conical tubs about 18 inches in height, which have a sunken head perforated with holes, to admit the slow match to hang with the lighted end downwards.

MATE. Generally implies adjunct or a.s.sistant.

MATE OF A MERCHANT-SHIP. The officer who commands in the absence of the master, and shares the duty with him at sea. (_See_ CHIEF MATE or OFFICER.) There are first, second, third, and fourth mates.

MATE OF A WATCH. The senior or pa.s.sed midshipman is responsible to the officer of the watch. He heaves the log, inserts on the log-board all incidents occurring during his watch, musters the men of the watch, and reports to the officer in charge, who, when he is relieved, writes his initials on the log-board.

MATE OF THE LOWER-DECK. An officer of considerable importance in former times in ships of the line; he was responsible for the state and condition of the lower deck, and the residents there.