The front end is called the bow and the rear the stern. The main mass is termed the hull. The overhanging part of the stern is the counter. The raised deck at the bow is the forecastle – abbreviated to fo’c’sle and pronounced “foksul” – and the corresponding part at the stern is known as the poop. The poop was at one time called the “aftercastle” because in olden days the two ends of the ship were strongholds or castles from which boarding parties were launched or repelled.

The centre is the waist or well deck and the sides of the waist are the bulwarks. These stretch from the fo’c’sle aft to the poop. The left-hand side of the vessel looking forward is termed port and the right-hand side is starboard. The portside used to be called “larboard”. It was found that confusion arose in rough weather owing to the noise of the wind and the sea, so the name was changed to one that sounded quite different even in such conditions.

The lowest section of mast nearest the bow is termed the foremast, the middle section the fore topmast and the uppermost the fore topgallant mast. This bears a correlation to the names to the three spars forming the centre or main mast, namely the main, the top mast and the topgallant mast. Those of the third or mizzen mast are the mizzen, mizzen topmast and mizzen topgallant mast. A fourth mast would be termed the jigger, and a fifth one after that the jigger mast.

The names of their spars also follow the correlative pattern as those of the first three masts, so their names would be mizzen royal, mizzen t’gallant, mizzen upper topsail, mizzen lower topsail and cro’jac, with the lowermost spar being the mainsail on the main mast and the fore sail on the fore mast. The spar projecting from the fo’c’sle head is the bow spirit and lashed above this is the jibboom. The lower spar extending fore and aft from the mizzen mast is the spanker boom and the upper one the gaff.

The sails are divided into square sails and fore and aft sails. Of the former, the lowest sail on the main mast is the main sail or main course, then come the lower and upper topsails which are both attached to the topmast. Higher still is the topgallant sail and above this lie the royal and the skysail. Next comes the moonraker but we can disregard this one as it is not always necessary. The sails on the other two masts are classified in exactly the same way, with the name of the mast prefixed

About the year 1880 the topgallant sail was split into two parts: an upper and a lower t’gallant on the fore and main masts and a double topsail on the mizzen. Therefore four yards on the mizzen mast suggests a rig prior to 1880.

The fore and aft sails (that is to say the sails which are set approximately parallel with the sides of the hull) at the bow are termed the head sails and these are fixed to stays (the ropes that are used to brace the mast). These stretch from the fore, top and topgallant masts down to the bowspirit and jibboom. Some of them are named after the stay on which they are mounted. That farthest aft is the fore topmast staysail whilst forward of this comes the jib. Sometimes the jib is divided into an inner and outer jib. The headsail farthest forward is the flying jib, sometimes called the fore royal staysail.

The full rigged ship also carries fore and aft sails between the masts and here again these are named after the particular stay on which they are mounted, for example the mizzen topmast staysail. The large fore and aft sail between the boom and the gaff is the spanker. A barque may have a sail above the spanker in which case it is known as the gaff topsail.

When a ship is at sea under a full spread of canvas, there is an enormous force exerted on the masts. They would not be able to withstand without bracing in the form of ropes that run down to the deck. I have already described how the stays run between the masts and to the bowspirit and the jibboom, that take care of fore and aft forces applied towards he stern. Lateral rigidity is imparted chiefly by the shrouds and to some extent by the backstays. These latter pass slightly aft of the masts to the bulwarks and brace them in a fore and aft direction, thus taking care of forces imposed from astern.

A series of ropes or iron bars known as ratlines are lashed across the shrouds to enable the crew to gain access to the yards. The foregoing is known as the standing rigging. The yards are raised and lowered by ropes which are passed through the masts and are called halliards. They are supported when lowered by lifts, which when shackled to the mast form part of the standing rigging.

The running gear comprises ropes required in trimming the sails. The main items of running gear are the lifts for the fore, main and mizzen courses, the braces which are needed to set the yards at the requisite angle relative to the direction of the wind, the sheets which are bent (fastened) to the clew (bottom corner) of the sails and thence carried down to the deck. Then there are the clewlines (“clewgarnets” in the case of the foresail, mainsail and cro’jack) which stretch from the clew back to the yard close to the mast and finally to the deck.

Below the jibboom there is a strut, also known as the dolphin striker or martingale, whose purpose is to provide the means of bracing the jibboom by means of the martingale stays and backstays against the tension of the headstays. At right angles to the dolphin striker is sometimes found the strut called the spreader that, in conjunction with the jibboom guys imparts lateral stability to the jibboom.

In more modern vessels the spreader disappeared and whisker booms were added to the cat heads for carrying the jibboom guys. The bowspirit is held down by the bobstays and given lateral strength by the bowspirit guys.