"beril" of a ship? (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Possibly a barrel, rolling around on deck?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Joel S. Berson
> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 11:42 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: "beril" of a ship?
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      "beril" of a ship?
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------
>
> What, in the 18th century, was a "beril" on a naval vessel?  To quote
> Smollett:  "the knee of a fifth [sailor] was crushed in a
> terrible manner between the beril and the mast".
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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