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TELESCOPE Page 9 CROW'S NEST - The ship's lookout station was named for the cage which housed ravens carried by Norsemen at their mastheads. When those sea war- riors lost sight of land, they would release one of the birds, and as it headed for the nearest shore, they would follow its flight. A crude method of navigation, but within all limits, bothefficient and practical. DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA - In the days of large sailing ships, the shrouds on one side of a mast were fastened to a timber which was, by means of chains, fastened to a very heavy wale. When a ship was in heavy weather, most of the strain of the mast and sails, was held by this one plank, and consequently the seam below it would work open. Because this seam gave the sailors so much trouble it was called the devil seam and when it had to be caulked (which most cenveniently was only in bad weather) someone had to go over the Side and. pay. On) cauli<. they devil seam. Someone who was over the side paying the seam in bad weather was in a pretty precarious position, hence the expression, between the devii and the deep blue sea. To pay (Fr. poix) the seam meant literally tO ONtech the Seam, and Let was an unfortunate segilor who had, as the original expression said, the devil to pay and no pitch hot which later corrupted into the expression the devil to pay. FANNY ADAMS - Adout 1870 a certain Frances Adams was murdered and parts of her remains are said to have been found in Deptford Victualling Yard. It so happened that preserved mut- ton was first issued to the Service at this time and was given the above gruesome sobriquet. There are, how- ever, several other stories, all of equally unpleasant nature. FORECASTLE - The Forecastle was the raised or built-up part of the ship at the bows, a similar castle being built at the stern, known as the aftercastle. These casties were looked upon in the same way as cast- les ashore, andin them were station- ed the soldiers who shot arrows, threw stones, etc., during combat. In early times they were actually built up on scaffolding poles, when the ship was commandeered as a man- of-war. FUDGE - The nautical phrase you fudge it was associated in 1700 with the name of one notorious com- mander of a merchantman, a certain Captain Fudge (by some called Lying Fudge), who Upon return from a voyage, how ii/i fraught soever his ship was, aiways brought home his owners a good cargo of lies, GROG - The origin of the term Grog for watered rum is typical example of the sailor's aptitude for nick- names. Admiral Vernon, while com- mander-in-Chief West Indies, in 1740 introduced the watering of rum. He always wore a cloak of rough material called grogram (a corr- uption of grosgrain, a coarse kind of tatfeta), and the nickname of Oid Grog, by which he was known, was later given to this beverage. EALLIARDS Originally an order Haul Yards, these two words were merged to designate any lines used for holding sails, flags, etc. HAWSEPIPE, THROUGH THE - A ship- master who began his seagoing life before the mast is said to have 'come in through the hawsepipe, i.e; the hole through which the anchor chain passes. Alongshore it is a commendatory description of a self-made man. ILL WIND THAT BLOWS - The old saying its an ill wind that biows nobody any good, was originally nautical, and meant that nomatter which way the wind blew, some ship must surely profit from its direction. KNOCK OFF - Slang for quitting work. It arose from the custom aboard slave galleys to have a man beat time for the rowers. While he kept knocking on the block with his mal- let, they rowed; when he stopped, they could cease.