{"id":3854,"date":"2013-06-17T16:20:29","date_gmt":"2013-06-17T16:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=3854"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:17:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T18:17:32","slug":"nautical-terms-phrases-found-in-old-newspapers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/nautical-terms-phrases-found-in-old-newspapers.html","title":{"rendered":"Nautical Terms & Phrases Found in Old Newspapers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak provides another fun quiz to test your knowledge of nautical terms and phrases you may encounter in your family history research\u2014and provides examples from historical newspapers. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.
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Sailing ships, steamships, and sea travel were a big part of our ancestors\u2019 lives, something genealogists often encounter when searching their family history. This blog article provides a fun quiz to see how well you know old nautical terms and phrases, then defines the terminology using examples from historical newspapers.<\/p>\n

When researching ancestral voyages in newspapers, you\u2019ll find that maritime language varies vastly from that on land.<\/p>\n

That is, unless you reside in a nautical community such as Nantucket, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

A newspaper article from the Idaho Register<\/em> in 1916 reported that \u201cNantucket speech is a museum of nautical expression.\u201d A departing guest might hear, \u201cWell, a fair wind to you,\u201d and \u201cwomen\u2019s work\u201d was referred to as \u201ctending the kettle halyards.\u201d Unless you know maritime terminology, you might not realize that a halyard is a rope (known on a boat as a line) used to hoist items, such as sails.<\/p>\n

So what is a kettle halyard? That stumps me, but I suspect it was a kettle attached to a halyard, either for hoisting fish aloft for drying purposes, or to assist in bringing newly caught fish into the boat.<\/p>\n

In 1841, a Nantucket mariner wrote his will strewn with nautical language. Obed Gardner wrote that he had \u201ccruised with wife Huldy Jane since 1811,\u201d and he wanted her and son Jotham to be \u201ccaptain and mate in bringin\u2019 to port\u201d whatever he left. His story was told in that 1916 Idaho Register<\/em> newspaper article.<\/p>\n

\"Made<\/a>
Idaho Register (Idaho Falls, Idaho), 19 September 1916, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps you are an expert in the language of the sea? Test your nautical knowledge with this handy terminology quiz and review the definitions below. You are welcome to share the nautical terms quiz and this blog article, with proper credit to me and GenealogyBank.<\/p>\n

\"quiz<\/a><\/p>\n

Nautical Locations and Directions<\/strong>: Sailors use different terms to refer to the front, middle or back of a boat or ship. Some common ship terms are:<\/p>\n