On the theme of every day being a school day, I was reading an 1845 letter to editor of the Glasgow Herald from an Ardrossan based sailor, in which he referred to a "LARBOARD" tack.
LARBOARD, apparently, is another name for PORT or "the left hand side of a ship, looking from the stern to the bow."
I don't recall ever having heard the word before (and it hasn't previously been mentioned on Threetowners) and wonder if it was dropped in preference to PORT to avoid confusion with STARBOARD during emergency manoeuvres.
Larboard
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Penny Tray
- Mega Heid Poster
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Larboard
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
Re: Larboard
I had heard the term larboard although I could not have said which side of the ship it referred to. I may have come across it in 'Hornblower' or the novel about whaling featuring the big tattooed guy but I can't remember the title. Your suggestion certainly sounds sensible.
Re: Larboard
I’d heard the term before, probably from a book, but never heard it used.
Wikipedia says that the original terms were “Starboard” and “Larboard”.
Starboard comes from “Steer board” - a steering oar, which was typically on the right hand side of the ship (since most steerers were right handed).
Ships would tie up at port with the steering oar away from the quayside. The side closest to the quay was the “Larboard”, from the old english “ladebord”, with “Lade” being “Load”. The words sounded similar, and in 1844, the Royal Navy ordered that the term “port” should be used instead of larboard.
The term was apparently used for some years afterwards, primarily by whalers.
Every day is a school day.
Wikipedia says that the original terms were “Starboard” and “Larboard”.
Starboard comes from “Steer board” - a steering oar, which was typically on the right hand side of the ship (since most steerers were right handed).
Ships would tie up at port with the steering oar away from the quayside. The side closest to the quay was the “Larboard”, from the old english “ladebord”, with “Lade” being “Load”. The words sounded similar, and in 1844, the Royal Navy ordered that the term “port” should be used instead of larboard.
The term was apparently used for some years afterwards, primarily by whalers.
Every day is a school day.