This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. Searching, reading, printing, or downloading EEBO-TCP texts is reserved for the authorized users of these project partner institutions. Permission must be granted for subsequent distribution, in print or electronically, of this text, in whole or in part. Please contact project staff at eebotcp-info@umich.edu for further information or permissions.
There are two kind of Capstaines, the first called the capstaine, or the maine capstaine: and is that peece of timber which is over-placed, right up and downe, next abast the maine-mast, the foot standing in a step, on the lower-deck, and the head being, betwixt the two upper decks; The parts are these, the foot, the spindle, the whelps, the barrell and the holds for the barrs, to which also belongs the darle of
Iron; the use of it, is chiefely to weigh our Anchors, and generally to hoyse our strike-downe top-masts, or to have in any thing of weight, as Ordnance or the like, or indeed, to straine any roape that requires great force. The second, is a Geere capsthine, which is placed in the same manner, betwixt the maine, and fore-masts; the use whereof, is chiefely to heave upon the Geere-roape, or else to hold off by, when we weigh the Anchor: At the foot of this, there are whelpes placed, in a lesser proportion, which is to heave upon the viole for the help of the maine capstaines, in weighing a great Anchor. Come you up-cap∣staine, that is, those at the capstaine must goe backward, and slacken the roape or cabell which they did heave at. In the same sense, they also use these words, Launch at the capstaine, that is, heave no more; rowle the capstaine, that is, to stay it with the iron paule, which bearing against the whelpes, keep the capstaine from turning back.