Glossary
The following lists are included here as an aid to the reader's
understanding of Ruth Bradford's Journal; however, a number
of people and some places and terms mentioned in the book cannot
be identified, and others are assumed to be common knowledge.
Identification
Identification of some parts of a full-rigged ship may be seen in the diagram drawn by Samuel Robert Moore.
People and animals
Arthur (Arthur Benjamin Bradford). One of Ruth's brothers. He married Maria Robertson of Enon Valley, Pennsylvania. Kate Bradford (who married a Stockton) was his daughter and the mother of Marjorie Douthitt presently (1994) of Buttonwood.
Bell (Isabella Graham Bradford), a sister of Ruth's, born August 14, 1843, who later married Charles Atwood Hardy. Bell died around 1936 at Buttonwood.
Charlie. Charles Atwood Hardy. He lived down the road from Buttonwood. When Bell was 16, he gave her a saddle and wanted to give her a horse, but her family did not think that would be proper. After Charlie and Bell were married, they lived in France for some time. When Charlie died there, probably of consumption, Bell (Isabella) then returned to Buttonwood with their three daughters and lived there for the remainder of her life.
Cooper, Captain. Captain of the Julia
G. Tyler.
Cooper, Mrs. The captain's wife.
Jewett & Crockett. According to the records the ship was owned by J.C. Jewett and Co.
Joe (Josephine Frazier Bradford), a younger sister of Ruth's, born May 11, 1846, she was a tiny wisp of a girl and remained tiny and thin as a woman. Josephine was Marjorie Douthitt's favorite aunt, who always took niece's side in any matter.
Kane, Mr. Probably Richard Douthitt's great-grandfather, his grandmother's father.
Madge (Margaret Bradford), one of the two youngest Bradford children. she later married Sidney McCloud, lived in Knoxville, Tennessee and in Chicago. Oliver Bradford lived near them in Chicago for some time after his return from China.
Morgan. A Bradford horse that died in 1866.
It was buried in a pasture at Buttonwood. The grave is marked
by a stone on which are the words, Hic Jac, (from hic
iacet, meaning "here lies").
Ollie (Oliver Bloomfield Bradford., Arthur Bullus Bradford's eldest
son, who was born December 15, 1837, and died in 1905. He was
24 years old when Ruth began her journal in 1861. Oliver replaced
his father in China and remained there in the consular service
for about twenty years.
Pa. Arthur Bullus Bradford, Presbyterian minister appointed by Abraham Lincoln as United States consul to Amoy, China, in 1861. He stayed there eight months before returning home due to ill health and homesickness. Ruth returned with him, but Oliver remained in China to carry on his father's work.
Sam (Samuel Bradford). Ruth's youngest brother and the youngest in the family. He lived in North Dakota for many years.
Places
Alum Rocks. Huge rocks made of alum that
are on the sides and top of a cliff above the Beaver River in
Patterson Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and across the
river from downtown New Brighton, Pennsylvania. William Lloyd
Garrison in a letter to his wife written on August 16, 1847, stated
that he, Milo Townsend, and some others climbed the steep three
hundred foot eminence to view the prospect and in returning went
under the Alum Rocks, "Which presented a very wild and picturesque
appearance" (Walter M. Merrill, ed., The Letters of William
Lloyd Garrison, Vol. III. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap
Press of Harvard University Press, 1973).
The rocks are so named because they consist of high quality alum,
which in the past was collected by local women for mordanting
wool to be dyed. It was also used in the manufacture of glass
and iron in Pittsburgh and Wheeling, West Virginia, as well as
for making fire bricks and stone jugs. It was found valuable for
removing grease spots from silk dresses, for scrubbing floors,
as a whitewash, and in the cleaning of brass and silver.
The Alum Rocks became a favorite spot for picnics and adventurous
climbing, the latter sometimes resulting in a fatal fall.
Amoy. The name has been changed to Xiamen. It was the first Chinese port used by European traders in the 16th century. Amoy became a treaty port where foreigners could live and trade in 1842. It is now an area set up to attract overseas investment.
Bashees. The Julia G. Tyler seems to have passed through the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan (Formosa at that time), and it is apparently to this area that Ruth refers.
Buttonwood. The Bradford home and farm on Bradford Road between Darlington and Enon Valley in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
Cape Town. Seaport and capital of Cape Province, seat of the legislature of South Africa. It is near the southern tip of the African continent.
China Sea. The Julia G. Tyler entered this sea April 14 after the Bashees. Hong Kong is a port in the China Sea.
Formosa. Taiwan.
Kupang (in Timor). Capital and main port of East Nusa Tenggara province at the western tip of Timor.
Sandalwood Island. Old name of Sumba, an island of Indonesia west of Timor and south of Flores.
Swatow. Later known as Shantou. It is a city on the China coast about midway between Hong Kong and Amoy.
Timor. An island of Indonesia north of Australia and separated from it by the Timor Sea.
Tristan Da Cuna. A British island in the South Atlantic about half way between South America and South Africa. It is only 40 square miles in size and is formed almost entirely by a volcano, which erupted in 1961, forcing the population to evacuate to Britain. They returned to Tristan Da Cuna in 1963.
Definitions
Aft. Towards, at, or near the stern.
Assafoetida. A bad-smelling gum resin from various Asiatic plants used formerly to treat some illnesses and believed by some to repel disease.
Astern. Behind a ship or backward.
Balmoral. Here a figured woollen petticoat. The skirt was looped up to show the beauty of the balmoral beneath it. Named for Queen Victoria's residence in Scotland.
Barque (Bark). A sailing ship with its two forward masts square-rigged and its rear mast rigged fore-and-aft.
Belaying pin. Removable wooden or metal pin in the rail of a ship around which ropes can be fastened.
Boobies. Very large, gull-like sea birds. Their necks are longer and their bills are larger than those of gulls.
Bow. The front of a ship.
Brickbat. A piece of a brick.
Brig. A two-masted square-rigged vessel. It is the smallest seagoing vessel completely square-rigged, has a tonnage ranging from 200 to 350, and is 90-100 feet in length.
Brigantine. A brig without a square mainsail.
Cabbage. (Old British slang). To steal.
Cabin. Normally a private room on a ship such as a bedroom or office. The cabin of which Ruth writes, however, appears to serve as dining room and lounge for the passengers.
Cambric. A very fine, thin linen cloth or a cotton cloth like it.
Chin chin. Anglo-Chinese phrase. Polite, ceremonious conversation; chit-chat, a greeting.
Chow chow. Ruth uses this simply to refer to food. She bought ground nuts and referred to them as chow.
Come till (of a ship). To bring the ship's head near the wind.
Course. A sail on any of the lowest yards of a square-rigged ship.
Crossjack. (cro'jack). The mizzen course of a ship bent to the lower mizzen yard; the yard itself.
Crumshaw. Amoy dialect. A present or gratuity, tip.
Dead light. A round metal cover placed over a ship's porthole in stormy weather.
Dimity. A thin, corded or patterned cotton cloth.
Drawers. Underpants
Forecastle (fok's'l). The upper deck of a ship in front of the foremast.
Foremast. The mast nearest the bow of a ship.
Fore-top mast. The section of the foremast just above the bottommost section.
Fore topgallant. Of the mast, sail, yard, etc. just above the fore topmast.
Fore topsail. The sail set on the fore-topmast.
Full-rigged ship. A ship having three or more masts all carrying square sails.
Gallant. Formerly applied to all flags borne on the mizzenmast.
Gallanted about. To conduct, escort, convey, to act as escort to a lady, to attend or conduct her to some place.
Glass. 1. Barometer. 2. Small telescope or binoculars.
Hatch. A covering for a ship's hatchway. the hatchway being a covered opening on a ship's deck through which cargo can be lowered or entrance made to a lower deck.
Head wind. A wind blowing in the direction directly opposite to the course of a ship.
Hemicrania. Headache in only one side of the head as in migraine.
Hove to. To stop forward movement, esp. by bringing the vessel's head into the wind and keeping it there.
Jib boom. A spar fixed to and extending beyond the bowsprit of a ship, used in securing a jib or other headsail.
Joss. A Chinese figure of a deity; idol.
Laying to. To check a ship's forward motion, esp. by bringing the bow into the wind.
Lee. The side or direction away from the wind.
Levee. A reception of visitors in the morning held by a prince or person of distinction; an assembly, at which only men are received, held by the sovereign or his representative in the early afternoon.
Line, the. Here it refers to the equator.
Mainmast. The principal mast of a vessel.
Main sail. In a square-rigged ship, the sail set from the main yard.
Main yard. The lowest yard on the mainmast
from which the main sail is set.
Mangosteen. The fruit of the East Indian tree Garcinia Mangostana.
It is about the size of an apple, has thick reddish-brown rind
and a white pulp of delicious flavor.
Masts. The three masts of a full-rigged ship that has three masts are from front to back: 1. Foremast. 2. Mainmast. 3. Mizzenmast.
Midships. In or toward the middle of a ship, especially halfway between the bow and the stern. The middle part of a ship.
Mizzenmast. The mast third from the bow in a ship with three or more masts.
Monkey gaff. A small gaff. Gaff: 1. The spar to which the head of a fore-and-aft main sail is bent. 2. A spar angled to a mast, on which flags are hoisted at the peak. 3. An iron hook on a handee; e.g., for lifting fish overboard, hoisted or secured above the spanker gaff, for the flag.
Pigeon. Apparently her right or reimbursement as Ruth onsiders writing paper her pigeon when she keeps office.
Pilot biscuit or pilot bread. Hard tack (unleavened bread made in very hard, large wafers.
Pomaloes. grapefruits.
Port. The left side of a ship as one faces forward.
Port bow. Left side of the front of a ship.
Proa. A swift canoe-like Malayan boat having a lateen (triangular fore-and-aft-rigged) sail and one outrigger.
Quarterdeck. The after part of the upper deck of a ship, usually reserved for officers.
Reefed. To reef sails is to fold or roll up part of a sail and make it fast to reduce the size of the area exposed to the wind or storm.
Rigging. The ropes, chains, and other gear used to support, position, and control the masts, sails, yards, etc. of a vessel.
Roly-poly. A pudding made of suet pastry spread with jam, rolled up, and boiled, steamed, etc.
Royals. A small sail set next above a topgallant sail on a royal mast (a small mast next above a topgallant mast).
Schooner. A fore-and-aft rigged vessel with two or more masts, often called by its rig; e.g., topsail, staysail, gaff schooner, etc.
Sing song. Tone of voice marked by a monotonous rise and fall with a sort of singing effect.
Spanker. A fore-and-aft-sail usually hoisted on a gaff on the after mast of a square rigged vessel.
Squall. A brief, violent windstorm, usually with rain or snow.
Starboard. The right-hand side of a ship as one faces forward. Opposed to port.
Stern. The back of a ship.
Stunsail boom. Phonetic spelling of studdingsail. An auxiliary sail usually of light canvas set outside the edge of a working sail in light weather by means of an extendible boom.
Tacking ship. The direction in which a ship is moving in relation to the sails. A change of direction in which the sail or sails shift from one side of the vessel to the other. A course against the wind; any of a series of zigzag movements in such a course.
Take a stiff, make a stiff, cut a stiff. a formal show, make a good show.
Tansy. An herb (Tanacetum vulgare), a coarse, tall plant or the more genteel fern-leaf variety (crispun) with green, delicate foliage and yellow button flowers in clusters. Ruth believed that it would repel fleas.
Tiffin. British name for lunch. The term originated in India.
Yankee. A new Englander.
Yard. A long, nearly cylindrical spar, tapering the ends, and for supporting and extending a square, lateen or lugsail.
Yardarms. The part of the yard that extends beyond the sail.