Two weevils crept from
the crumbs. “You see those weevils,
Stephen?” said Jack solemnly.
“I do.”
“Which would you
choose?”
“There is not a scrap
of difference. Arcades ambo. They are the same species of
curculio, and there is nothing to choose between them.”
“But suppose you had
to choose?”
“Then I should choose
the right-hand weevil; it has a perceptible advantage in both length and
breadth.”
“There I have you,”
cried Jack. “You are bit – you are
completely dished. Don’t you know that
in the Navy you must choose the lesser of two weevils? Oh ha, ha, ha, ha!”
~ from The Fortunes of
War by Patrick O’Brian
What one should do in the Navy was always uppermost in
Triple P’s favorite fictional captain’s mind.
Jack Aubrey was bred to the service, knowing very little of life away
from his familiar wooden world upon wave.
And service, in the form of word and action, would have been equally
dear; it was and still is to men and women like Captain Aubrey.
Service is, as Admiral Smyth notes, the “general term” for
the profession of military men and women.
But the word had other meanings aboard ship in the Great Age of Sail
that may seem unusual, perhaps even surprising, to the modern mind.
To see service was a well-used term at the time for being
involved in fighting action. The risks
of same, of course, were and still are part of the general term.
A serving board was a flat piece of wood with a handle,
vaguely resembling a pizza board, which was used for passing items from one man
to another while working in the rigging.
The handle was usually attached to a so called served rope, which kept
the board or other tools from toppling to the deck. This rope, made of old yarns, was sometimes
simply referred to as a service. The
making of such a rope, and others besides, was accomplished in part with a
serving mallet. This had a groove on one
side and was used to wrap the yarns tightly to form a rope.
Serving out slops is the ancient phrase for handing out
clothing from the stores to men aboard ship.
This is not the same as the auctioning of personal effects that
sometimes occurred after the death of a mate at sea. The phrase became a euphemism for flogging or
other punishments on both sides of the Atlantic
by the middle of the 18th century.
Gun crews were said to serve their gun. Originally this meant supplying each
individual cannon with shot, powder and light but eventually the phrase took on
the meaning of the crew working together to see that their gun was fired fast,
clean and true.
Aboard ship, too, men, machines and stores were referred to
as serviceable. A man was serviceable if
he was able, stores serviceable if fit for use, and those aforementioned guns
serviceable if they could be used without fear of misfire or explosion.
And so then as now – keeping in mind that military service
has been voluntary in most places throughout most of history – those who choose
to serve deserve our thanks, respect and admiration. Triple P salutes you all; you are the true
heroes in our world.
Finally, just in case you were wondering, Dean King kindly
enlightens as to the meaning of the Latin phrase Arcades ambo in his A Sea of Words:
Two people of the same
tastes, professions or character, often used derogatorily. The Latin means literally “both Arcadians,”
i.e., two pastoral poets or musicians.
4 comments:
"worm and parcel with the lay, turn and serve the other way!"
Worming was to lay small yarns into the space between the yarns of a rope or cable to smooth the surface,
Parceling is to cover the rope or cable with a wrapped strip of cloth, usually canvas.
The serving is a winding of small rope over all, usually tarred to weatherproof the rope or cable.
A close look at a ship's shrouds will usually show a tightly wrapped horizontal line of small rope spiralling up the rigging, this is the serving.
Dale Burr
Well put, Dale, and an excellent addition to this post. Thankee!
"Two people of the same tastes, professions or character"... doesn't really sound all that derogatory to me, Pauline. But hey, what do I know?
That was a nice addition from Dale, though...
Well, I think the thing that's "derogatory" is the Arcadian reference. Also yes; excellent addition by Dale.
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