We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,751,695.18 | Books Available: 730,337 | Members Online: 142

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - Scuttlebutt - Seafaring History & Lore

Scuttlebutt Seafaring History Lore
Author: John H Guest

John Guest has written this very interesting and informative book after many years of research into seafaring traditions, stories and the history of the sea. An "Old Salt" himself, this book was the next, natural step for John after his retirement from the US Coast Guard. In this book you'll find the origins of sea-born words that have come asho... more »re, stories of famous and infamous ships and people. This book will fulfill the common interest for little known seafaring facts we all have in our lives. It will definitely answer the question, "I wonder where that started?" Everyone from the armchair sailor to the life long sea dog will be amused, educated and often dumbfounded as the pages are turned. So Why No Open The Cover And Enjoy! ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John H. "Jack" Guest was born into a Navy family in San Pedro, California, in 1926. In 1944, he graduated from high school and joined the Merchant Marine, signing on his first ship as an acting able-bodied seaman. In 1948, Jack passed the examination for Third Mate and quickly rose through the officer ranks. When he was 27, he became a licensed Master Mariner. Unfortunately, by that time he was also trying to be a husband and father, which was nearly impossible, since he was on a tanker running between Japan and the Persian Gulf. In 1957, the Coast Guard offered him a direct commission as a Lieutenant (junior grade), and after accepting, he returned to his family and began a new career. He retired as a Captain in 1984. After retirement, Jack accepted a position as the Executive Director of the Marine Exchange of Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbors, where he assisted in the establishment of a vessel traffic information service, whose purpose is to expedite the safe movement of ships navigating in the area. He retired again in 1993. Jack's wife of 53 years is the former Gloria J. Young, of Wellington, New Zealand. AUTHOR COMMENTS: Back in the days of sailing ships, a barrel was called a butt. A scuttlebutt was the barrel where the crew's daily allowance of fresh water was stored, and the parched sailors would gather there to slake their thirst. Of course, whenever more than one sailor was at the scuttlebutt, there were bits of gossip and rumors exchanged, and stories told. Over the years scuttlebutt is a word that has found its way into our everyday language, and is understood as being a rumor. Bits of interesting maritime lore such as this has always fascinated me, and the idea of gathering nautical trivia and determining word and phrase origins came to me long ago, while I was reading some long forgotten marine-oriented publication. In order to retain reader interest, which as I recall sorely needed it, the editor had included bits of little known (and sometimes imaginary) maritime wisdom where necessary to complete a page. Some of the items were so outlandish they could be instantly dismissed as having been an uncontrolled figment of someone's imagination. Others, however, I have found to be true, or my research has shown they are likely true. These tales and others collected in more than fifty years in the marine industry compile this collection, and they are printed herein. Some of my research has presented opposing information on the very same subject, and in each case it has been presented as being true. In these instances, I have taken the most plausible version and will keep my fingers crossed, hoping I won't be proven wrong. In yet other cases I have summarized both versions. After collecting sea-born etymologies for a while, I find they have become sea stories in themselves. I have spent many pleasant hours in smoky waterfront taverns, or sat in the comfort of my own living room, or researched in the tranquility offered by a library, poring over musty old books in an attempt to verify what I have heard or read, or to identify something new. I am still constantly alert to some heretofore unknown -- or little known -- nautical fact, so my work obviously will never be completed. However, it is far from being labor. It has become a hobby of which I will never tire. Before beginning these vignettes, my non-seafaring friends should know most sailors readily admit that while at sea they are best at telling tales of sexual conquests in each of their various ports of call around the world. And while spending those few precious hours in port, what do they do? They talk about ships. All sailors seem to know when a story isn't true. They are immediately skeptical of a story that starts -- or ends -- with the words, "Now, this ain't no lie..." because it invariably is. However, it must also be recognized there is often a thin line between the truth and imagination. Sea stories, although usually containing at least a figment of truth, frequently cross the line because the truth is usually so colorless. Some of the tales that follow may cross that line, although I have tried to research and verify them insofar as possible. With that in mind, this old beached sailor would like to begin this saga by telling a sea story: It is said that sailors of yesteryear twisted the Middle English word "yea" into the now familiar "aye." Today every sailor knows he can always have the last word over any officer when he simply says "Aye, Sir." And that, my friends, ain't no lie. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Part 1 Page 13Stories of Ancient Times Part 2 Page 251500 to Present Part 3 Page 187Words And Phrases From The Sea Index FIRST CHAPTER EXCERPT: ANTIQUITIES The uncontested oldest piece of maritime history is an oar, dating back to 8,000 B.C., unearthed from an English bog. The oldest known completely intact ship dates to about 2500 B.C. It is a 142 foot Nile boat discovered near the Great Pyramid of Khufu. A very interesting antique ship was discovered in 1967 by a sponge diver off the coast of Cyprus, after it sat undisturbed in the sand for 2,300 years. This wreck was one of the richest in historical value in that upon sinking, it had been quickly buried by sand, effectively protecting it from attacking sea creatures. By 1969, Dr. Michael Katzev (1939 - 2001), a noted marine archeologist had identified the vessel as being a Greek merchant ship, one of the oldest, mostly intact vessels ever discovered. Of course, the ship was without a name, so he called it KYRENIA, for the city in northern Cyprus near where it sank. Dr. Katzev and his team labeled, measured, photographed, carefully dismantled and brought to the surface nearly 6,000 pieces of the hull, and reassembled them on the shore at the medieval Crusader Castle of Kyrenia, where it is presently on display. The boat is about 45 feet in length, with a beam of 14 feet. The cargo consisted of 404 terra cotta pots from Rhodes, which appear to have held wine, 29 millstones from Nisyros, which were either cargo or ballast, or perhaps both, and evidence of cloth bags of almonds. Carbon dating of the wooden hull, plus five Greek coins found helped determine the ship's age. Four sets of domestic pottery and fragments of four wooden spoons led to the conclusion that the ship was manned by a captain and three sailors, who ate and slept atop the cargo, typical of a coastal trader in the days of Alexander the Great. The discovery of iron spearheads under the hull led to the conclusion that pirates had attacked and captured the crew, who were then carted off, to be sold into slavery. There was a large hole in the hull, which was probably intentionally inflicted by the pirates to scuttle the ship and cover their crime. When she was advised of the find, the late actress, Melina Mercouri, who was the Greek Culture Minister at the time, became so interested in the wreck that an exact replica of the ship was built by the Hellenic Institute for the Conservation of the Naval Tradition. The replica, appropriately named KYRENIA II, was launched in 1985. The reconstructed KYRENIA II, under a single square cotton sail similar to the original, later retraced its namesake's assumed route in a study of ancient sailing. On 4 July, 1986, a proud Katzev was aboard KYRENIA II as she sailed past the Statue of Liberty in the parade of tall ships saluting the statue's centennial. This rare ship is presently on display in Greece. A newcomer by comparison, the third oldest intact vessel known is a homely fishing boat that lay submerged in the mud of the Sea of Galilee for two thousand years. In 1986, when a prolonged drought lowered the water level to a record low, an Israeli spotted a plank protruding above the surface. Curious, he investigated and discovered the only Galilee boat ever found dating from the time of Jesus. After a painstaking eleven-day excavation effort the boat was literally submerged in preservative, where it stayed for nine full years until the summer of 1995. At that time conservationist Orna Cohen, of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, removed the vessel from the preservative and visitors can now see it at its new site, the Yigal Allon Centre near the town of Migdal, in Israel. The boat is about 27 feet in length, and historians havE determined that it fished with a seine net. It was propelled by four rowers, while a helmsman steered. Scientists also found at least seven kinds of wood were used in constructing the hull, including several scraps from even older boats. IN APPRECIATION OF SEAMEN "It is only just that the poorer classes and the common people of Athens should be better off than the men of birth and wealth, seeing that it is the people who man the fleet and have brought the city her power. The steerman, the boatswain, the lieutenant, the lookout-man at the prow, the shipwright–-these are the people who supply the city with power rather than her heavy infantry and men of birth and quality." OLD OLIGARCH - 480 B.C. BARTHOLOMEW DIAZ -- THE NAVIGATOR WHO RECEIVED ASSISTANCE FROM MOTHER NATURE For some reason, history has nearly overlooked an explorer whose discovery was probably as important, or possibly even more so than that of Christopher Columbus. Prince Henry of Portugal, often called "The Navigator," because of his curiosity about the world around him, was one of those who believed that if a ship were to follow the coast of Africa, he would eventually reach India. But prior to his time, expeditions in that direction had failed, and the theory went unproved. It was in August 1486, when a young navigator, Bartholomew Diaz (1445 - 1500) set sail from Portugal, in an attempt to prove the Prince's belief. When the little fleet was off Cape Negro, they were struck by a storm of such severity that they were driven southward for nearly two weeks. The howling gale obliterated all signs of land, and just to keep his ships together was a magnificent feat. When the north wind finally stopped, the skies cleared and the seas calmed. The weather turned bitterly cold. Disappointed, Diaz thought he had been blown far south of the continent. He turned east, and then headed north. Ready to admit defeat, he decided to continue his northward course, and return to Portugal. However, when he again saw land, it was on his port side. It should have been on his starboard. While in the grasp of the furious storm, Diaz then realized, he had rounded the Cape of Good Hope without seeing it. The crews of the ships, however, were afraid of proceeding further, and demanded to return home. As he passed the beautiful promontory, which had been shrouded from view because of the weather, he named it "Stormy Cape." When Prince Henry learned that Diaz had actually rounded the cape, he changed the name to the "Cape of Good Hope," because it was a great step for man to reach India by sea. BEFORE COLUMBUS THE NORSEMEN To Europeans of the thirteenth century, the Mediterranean Sea was the center of the world, with Europe to the north of it, Africa on the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the edge of Asia bordering its eastern rim. They knew a little about North Africa and the Middle East, but not much more. The rest of the world was shrouded in guesswork, legend, and mystery. What the Europeans never knew, or had perhaps forgotten, was at about that time, some five centuries before Columbus, the Norse had sailed from island to island across the northern Atlantic to eventually land in America. According to Norse legend, their people had established a settlement in Iceland around 870 A.D. Some hundred years later, another Norseman, Eric the Red moved his family there, but his restlessness drove him farther west and in 985 A.D. he discovered Greenland, a much larger but more forbidding island. Undeterred, he founded a small settlement there. It is said that Eric the Red went west to discover America, but this is questionable and cannot be verified. What is known is that Leif Ericsson, the son of Eric the Red, heard of a shipload of Icelanders who were headed for Greenland but were blown far off course by a vicious storm. They reported seeing a strange, thickly wooded coast, but rather than venture ashore they had reversed course and found their original destination, Greenland. Ericsson decided to find that new land himself, so he and his party of Vikings headed west. When he found it, he named it Vinland, because the abundant wild berries there looked like grapes. His company stayed a few months, until three boats with 160 colonists arrived from Greenland to start a settlement. It appears these settlers stayed in Vinland for about three years, when for some unknown reason they were set upon by the natives and they fled back to Greenland. Because there was a dearth of concrete evidence, even the tales of the settlement by Leif Ericsson were doubted by some historians until the 1960's. At that time, however, archeologists discovered, and positively identified the ancient foundations of Norse houses in Newfoundland, along with some debatable evidence of settlements as far south as the New England Coast. It was more than 500 years later that Christopher Columbus, with far more fanfare, "discovered" America.

ISBN-13: 9781892216427
ISBN-10: 1892216426
Publication Date: 1/1/2002
Pages: 248
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Bristol Fashion Publications, Inc.
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 2
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Back to the Top ↑

Search - Scuttlebutt - Seafaring History & Lore

Loading...