"Sprit" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... o'clock on May morning a fishing-boat, with a small row-boat in tow, stole up the harbour between the lights of the vessels that lay at anchor. She came on a soundless tide, with her sprit-mainsail wide and drawing, and her foresail flapping idle; and although her cuddy-top and gunwale glistened wet with a recent shower, the man who steered her looked over his shoulder at the waning ...
— The Delectable Duchy • Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
... did them little harme, and by shooting a piece out of our forecastle being close by her, we fired a mat on her beak head, which more and more kindled, and ran from thence to the mat on the bow-sprit, and from the mat vp to the wood of the bow-sprit, and thence to the top saile yard, which fire made the Portugals abaft in the ship to stagger, and to make shew of parle. But they that had the charge before encouraged them, making shew, that it might easily be put out, and that it was ...
— The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of - The English Nation, Vol. 11 • Richard Hakluyt
... driven from their anchors, were run out of the roads to sea, at all adventures, and that with not a mast standing. The light ships fared the best, as not so much labouring in the sea; but two or three of them drove, and came close by us, running away with only their sprit-sail out before ...
— The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808) • Daniel Defoe
... top-armings, which is a long red cloth ... that goeth round about the shippe on the out-sides of all her upper works and fore and main-tops, as well for the countenance and grace of the shippe as to cover the men from being seen. He furls and slings his main-yard. In goes his sprit-sail. Thus they strip themselves into their fighting sails, which is, only the foresail, the main and fore topsails, because the rest should not be fired nor spoiled; besides, they would be troublesome to handle, hinder our sights and the using of ...
— Elizabethan Sea Dogs • William Wood
... with brandy, and reserved the wine for the sick and convalescent. On the 26th the Prince Frederick made signals of distress, upon which we bore down to her, and found that she had carried away her fore-top-sail-yard, and to supply this loss, we gave her our sprit-sail top-sail-yard, which we could spare, and she ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 12 • Robert Kerr
... another top-mast very dangerous; and that, therefore, he must rig something lighter in its place. He also informed me, that he had lost his main-top-gallant-yard, and that he neither had another, nor a spar to make one, on board. The Resolution's sprit-sail top-sail yard which I sent him, supplied this want. The next day, he got up a jury top-mast, on which he set a mizen-top-sail, and this enabled him to keep ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 16 • Robert Kerr
... line-of-battle ship L'Orient took fire she endangered the Bellerophon. The boy, with wonderful presence of mind, called up some hands, cut the cables, and was running the ship out of danger under a sprit sail, when Captain Darby came on deck from having his wounds dressed. Nelson, hearing of the incident, thanked young Hindmarsh before the ship's company, and afterwards gave him his commission in front of all hands, relating the story to them. "The sequel," writes Admiral Sir T.S. ...
— The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders • Ernest Scott
... everything in his "Summa Theologiae," psychology, logic, policy, and morals. And thus it was that the Dominicans filled the world, upholding the doctrines of Rome in the most famous pulpits of every nation, and contending almost everywhere against the free sprit of the Universities, like the vigilant guardians of dogma that they were, the unwearying artisans of the fortunes of the popes, the most powerful amongst all the artistic, scientific, and literary workers who raised the huge edifice of Catholicism ...
— The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete - Lourdes, Rome and Paris • Emile Zola
... derived some merit in their opinion from this circumstance. The perforation of the cartilage that divides the nostrils, and the strange disfiguring ornament of a long bone or stick thrust through it, was now observed, as described by Captain Cook; and the same appellation of sprit-sail yard, was ludicrously applied to it by the sailors. But several very old men were seen in this excursion who had not lost the tooth, nor had their noses prepared to receive that grotesque appendage: probably, therefore, these are marks of distinction: ambition must ...
— The Voyage Of Governor Phillip To Botany Bay • Arthur Phillip
... sooner than first was purposed. For wee arrived there by three of the clock after midnight." It happened that a "ship of Spaine, of sixtie Tunnes, laden with Canary wines and other commodities" had but newly arrived in the bay, "and had not yet furld her sprit-saile." It was the custom for ships to discharge half of their cargoes at one of the islands in the bay, so as to draw less water when they ventured farther in. Perhaps this ship of Spain was about to discharge ...
— On the Spanish Main - Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of Darien. • John Masefield
... and hers the free-men Who scanned the stars and westward sung When a king commanded and the Atlantic thundered "Nay!" Hers as yours the pride is, for Drake our first of seamen First upon his bow-sprit hung ...
— Collected Poems - Volume One (of 2) • Alfred Noyes
... above me, without special form, and unrevealed by the slightest gleam of light, merely a vast bulk, towering between sea and sky. Forking out, however, directly over where I clung desperately to the wet hawser, my eyes were able to trace the bow-sprit, a massive bit of timber, with ropes faintly traced against the sky, the rather loosely furled jib flapping ragged edges in the gusts of wind. Suddenly, as I stared upward, I became aware that two men were working their way out along the foot-ropes, and, as they reached ...
— Wolves of the Sea • Randall Parrish
... / beleue not euery sprit / but proue the sprites / whether they are of Godd or not. For many false prophetes are gone out into the worlde. Hereby shall ye know the spirite of Godd: Euery sprite that confessith that Iesu Christe is comme in the flesh / is of Godd. And euery sprite which confessith not that Iesu Christe ...
— A Treatise of the Cohabitation Of the Faithful with the Unfaithful • Peter Martyr
... burn it ran to the next house, and rolled its way to the fireside. The goodwife was stirring the soup, and the goodman plaiting sprit-binnings for the cows. "Ho, Jock," quoth the goodwife, "here come. You're always crying about a wee bannock. Here's one. Come in, haste ye, and I'll help ye ...
— More English Fairy Tales • Various
... ceremonial at Sumter had now almost arrived. Hastily embarking on the transport "Golden Gate," the brilliant pageant in the harbor opened before us. As far as the eye could reach, its waters were thickly crowded with shipping, gaily decked from bow-sprit to yard-arm and top-mast, "with flags and streamers gay, in honor of the gala-day!" While on every ship and transport, in every available place, were assembled the ...
— The Flag Replaced on Sumter - A Personal Narrative • William A. Spicer
... time, I was surprised at the smallness of that vivid object—a tiny warm speck of crimson lost in an immensity of gray tones. I was startled, as if of necessity the principal beacon in the water-way of the greatest town on earth should have presented imposing proportions. And, behold! the brown sprit-sail of a barge hid it entirely ...
— The Mirror of the Sea • Joseph Conrad |
