Period Terminology

[MadMike]

When doing research I refer to the Oxford English Dictionary to help clarify terms. I'm curious if anyone has any references to these terms and dates earlier than listed (with appropriate documentation)-

grog- listed in 1770, although probably in use when rum ration watered down around 1740.

scalawag- 1848 (may have Scottish origins, therefore was probably in use long before).

langrage- 1769 (also langrel and langridge)

buccaneer- 1661 (from the french boucan).

More origins and definitions of words most welcome.

Was also researching the use of waistcoasts from historical drawings, will post that info on a seperate entry.

Yours, &c.

Mike

[PirateQueen]

Here's a bit of history of grog:

Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon is known as the father of grog. Vernon was a noted seaman, and victorious at Porto Bello. He was also a constant critic of the Admiralty and a supporter of better conditions aboard ships. He derided pressment and advocated better treatment of sailors. His sailors gave him the name of "Old Grog" because of a waterproof boat cloak he wore. The boat cloak was made of grogam, a thick material which was a combination of silk, mohair and wool. Grogam was often stiffened with gum.

By Vernon's time straight rum was commonly issued to sailors aboard ship - and drunkenness and lack of discipline were common problems. On August 21, 1740, Vernon issued an order that rum would thereafter be mixed with water. A quart of water was mixed with a half-pint of rum on deck and in the presence of the Lieutenant of the Watch. Sailors were given two servings a day; one between 10 and 12 AM and the other between 4 and 6 PM. To make it more palatable it was suggested sugar and lime be added. In 1756 the mixture of water and rum became part of the regulations, and the call to "Up Spirits" sounded aboard Royal Navy ships for more than two centuries thereafter.

If the use of grog was common practice, the mixture was anything but standard. Vernon ordered a quarter of water to a half a pint of rum (four to one), others ordered three to one, and Admiral Keith later issued grog at five to one. The mixture seamen used for grog was named by compass points. Due North was pure rum and due West water alone. WNW would therefore be one third rum and two thirds water, NW half and half, etc. If a seaman had two "nor-westers," he'd had two glasses of half rum and half water.

From The Contemplator's Short History of Grog

[Lady Seahawke]

according to ...http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-sca1.htm

SCALLYWAG OR SCALAWAG

A scamp, rascal, or rogue; an amusingly mischievous child.

The word—very variably spelled—appeared first in the US. It was applied to undersized or ill-formed cattle, or to some disreputable person. After the Civil War, it became a term of abuse specifically aimed at those white Southerners who were prepared to accept the measures imposed during Reconstruction, often because they would profit from them. It shifted a little later to mean any politician who was corrupt or an intriguer. It has softened since, being a term these days of only mild reproach, often combined with gentle admiration.

Where it comes from is a matter of some dispute, though the Scots tongue seems to be an intermediary. Some authorities point to the Scots’ word scoloc, the name given to the first-born son of a tenant of a monastery who was given to the church to receive an ecclesiastical education. Later, the word could refer to any monastic tenant, and got turned into scallag for a farm servant or rustic person, also latterly a way of addressing a boy. And there’s also the word scurryvaig for a vagabond, lout or slattern, which might be an influence, if not the source. Either way, it looks as though Latin is involved, since scoloc is really the same word as scholar (from Latin schola) and scurryvaig may have originated in Latin scurra vagus, a wandering fool (scurra is also the source of our scurrilous).

Its abbreviation, scally, is widely known in the north-west of England, especially around Liverpool, for a roguish self-assured young person—typically male—who is boisterous, disruptive, or irresponsible.