Conquest Read online

castellan administrator/keeper of a castle

  ’Change the Royal Exchange in the City of London

  cobbs sailor’s term for Spanish coins

  coxswain in charge of a boat; captain’s coxswain – in charge of the captain’s barge

  cuddy small cabin or compartment

  Dutch East India Company English for the VOC, Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie

  field cornet subordinate to the landdrost

  fo’c’sle the foremost part of the main deck

  gimcrack cheap, showy object

  goose-winged running with one corner of the sail clewed up to give half the area drawing

  Great Karoo vast semi-desert area in southern Africa beyond the Swartberg range, north of Mossel Bay

  gunroom wardroom of a frigate

  howitzer a gun that lobs an explosive shot in a parabola

  Jonkheer honorific for a person of note or high birth

  Khoikhoi original peoples met by the Dutch in the Western Cape

  koeksister spiced syrup-coated small cake

  landdrost local magistrate, responsible for order and collection of revenues

  lee side opposite to that from which wind is blowing

  lobsterbacks nickname for soldiers, from their red uniforms

  loon slang for lunatic

  louring dark, threatening

  Mevrouw Mrs

  Ox-eye large-scale wind-squall associated with north-east monsoon

  pens en pootjies casserole of beans and trotters

  pickets soldiers detached from the main body to act as lookouts

  pinnace one of the smaller of the ship’s boats

  plain sail when the ship sails with all sail set except extras, such as stuns’ls

  quarterdeck brace authority position adopted by officer-of-the-watch; legs apart, arms thrust down behind

  Quarters after the ship is cleared for battle, the hands go to quarters for action

  rijksdaalder ‘royal dollar’, rixdollar, main Cape currency

  rooibos native red bush, leaves of which are used to make a herbal tea

  rutter old term for pilot book in navigational use

  Seringapatam, battle of 4 May 1799; final confrontation of the fourth Anglo-Mysore war

  shageerijen pot house frequented largely by sailors

  swallowtail distinctive v-shaped cut in a flag

  tarpaulin officer who has risen from before the mast and doesn’t care who knows it

  tie-mate special friend, helped plait each other’s pig-tail

  umngqusho savoury porridge, a traditional Xhosa dish

  vrouw housewife, woman

  Zuurveld buffer area between the Great Fish river and Sundays river to separate Boers and Xhosa