The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #144466 Message #3340561
Posted By: Lonesome EJ
19-Apr-12 - 03:45 PM
Thread Name: ADD/Origins: Hearts of Gold
Subject: RE: ADD/Origins: Hearts of Gold
Thanks leenia!
I would speculate that the term "Long jack" derives from the common term for sailor used aboardship in the 1800s...Jack tar, or just jack. My guess is that a "long jack" would be a long voyage sailor who might be at sea for a year or more as opposed to a coastal or packet sailor who would only be gone for short spans of time. The sailors aboard the Bengal, being a Massachusettes sperm whaler, would have been "long jacks" indeed.